Princess Margarita of Romania
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| Margarita | ||
|---|---|---|
| Princess of Romania | ||
| Born | March 26, 1949 (age 58) | |
| Lausanne, Switzerland | ||
| Predecessor | Michael I (incumbent) | |
| Consort | Prince Radu of Hohenzollern-Veringen | |
| Royal House | Hohenzollern | |
| Father | Michael I | |
| Mother | Anne of Bourbon-Parma | |
Princess Margarita of Romania, Princess of Hohenzollern (b. at Lausanne March 26, 1949) is the eldest daughter of Michael I (Mihai), King of Romania (now deposed), Prince of Hohenzollern[1][2], and of his wife, Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma. She is 83rd in line of succession for the British throne. Her father changed the House Law in 1997 and named her his heir to the leadership of the Royal Family. She has no children. Her heiress is her next sister, Princess Elena of Romania. For Margarita and her sisters to succeed to the Romanian Throne, the monarchy would need to be restored and the Romanian Parliament would have to amend the last democratic royal Constitution of 1923 as it established succession by salic law.
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[edit] Private life
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She was married in Lausanne on September 21, 1996 to Radu Duda, since 1999 also[3] known as Radu, Prince of Hohenzollern-Veringen. In her youth at the University of Edinburgh she was involved in a romantic relationship with one of the most prominent British Labour Party leaders, Gordon Brown. Margarita said about it: "It was a very solid and romantic story. I never stopped loving him but one day it didn't seem right any more, it was politics, politics, politics, and I needed nurturing."[4]
[edit] Education and work
After graduation from the University of Edinburgh, she worked in a number of British universities, specialising in medical sociology and public health policy, later on participating in an international research program coordinated by the World Health Organisation, focused on developing health policy recommendations and preventive pilot projects. In 1983 she moved to Rome and joined the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (UN), where, as a member the World Food Day project team, she worked on the public awareness campaign concerning agricultural programs, nutrition, and poverty alleviation. Three years later she joined the International Fund for Agricultural Development. In the autumn of 1989 she gave up her UN career and moved to Geneva to work with her father, devoting herself entirely to charity work for Romania.
[edit] Controversies
In February 1990, l'Humanité[5] wrote that Margarita was prevented by the Bucharest airport customs officers from smuggling out of Romania several paintings belonging to the national patrimony, which she had apparently hidden in her baggages.
BAE Systems[6], one of the donors to her charity, and its representatives, have been involved in a corruption scandal regarding the purchase by the Romanian Government of two decommissioned UK Royal Navy frigates refurbished by BAE, for which an alleged £ 7 million bribe was paid[7], some of which, it is also alleged[8], ended up in the pockets of the royal family of Hohenzollern to which Margarita belongs. The "Gardianul" newspaper[9][10], noting that both Princess Margarita and her husband, as Special Representative of the Government, had met a number of times with the BAE Systems representatives before and after the signing of the governmental contract, inquired whether the royal family was involved in any lobbying on behalf of the company. In an official communique sent to the newspaper[11], Prince Radu denied any such lobbying activities, stating that as patron of the British-Romanian Chamber of Commerce in which BAE Systems is a member, he met with this as well as other British companies' representatives.
[edit] Political support
The extra-parliamentary main pro-monarchist Christian-Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNŢCD) is ambiguous in its support for Princess Margarita. In 2002 it rejected any role for her or her husband in a restored monarchy[12][13], while in 2003 the Cluj branch of PNŢCD officially invited her to be its electoral candidate to the Senate[14][15].
[edit] See also
[edit] External link
| Styles of Princess Margarita of Romania |
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| Reference style | Her Royal Highness |
| Spoken style | Your Royal Highness |
| Alternative style | Ma'am |
[edit] References
- ^ "Compression," Time, January 12, 1948
- ^ "Milestones," Time, June 21, 1948
- ^ Not everybody recognizes Radu's new name. For more about this, see "The Prime Minister proposed Radu Duda a seat as a Senator of the Democrat Social Party (ruling party in Romania)," MEDIAFAX AGENCY, August 6, 2004 and Radu Duda - Filmography. IMDb.com website as of November 14, 2006
- ^ "Gordon Brown profiled", The Guardian, March 6, 2001
- ^ (French) Charité désordonnée, "Messy Charity", l'Humanité, February 8, 1990
- ^ "Blair hit by Saudi 'bribery' threat," The Sunday Times, November 19, 2006
- ^ "Bribery inquiry may force £7m refund to Romania", The Guardian, June 15, 2006
- ^ (Romanian) Zeamă de dude, "Mulberry Juice", Gândul, June 21, 2006
- ^ (Romanian) BAE - sponsor regal, "BAE: Royal Sponsor", Gardianul, June 16, 2006
- ^ (Romanian) Principele Duda, coleg la Colegiul de Apărare cu semnatarul contractului cu BAE, "Prince Duda, Classmate at The National Defence University with The Signer of The BAE Contract", Gardianul, June 17, 2006
- ^ (Romanian) Principele Duda, coleg la Colegiul de Apărare cu semnatarul contractului cu BAE, "Prince Duda, Classmate at The National Defence University with The Signer of The BAE Contract", Gardianul, June 17, 2006
- ^ (Romanian) PNŢCD gândeşte revenirea la monarhie prin Prinţul Nicolae, "PNŢCD Plans The Restoration of Monarchy through Prince Nicholas", Ziua, March 1, 2002]
- ^ (Romanian) PNŢCD caută un Rege, "PNŢCD Is Looking for A King", Evenimentul Zilei, March 1, 2002]
- ^ (Romanian) Principesa Margareta invitată să candideze, "Princess Margareta Invited to Run for Office" , Ziarul Financiar, July 24, 2003
- ^ (Romanian) "The Princess in The Senate", Evenimentul Zilei, July 25, 2003
| Preceded by Benjamin Ferner Beckman |
Line of succession to the British throne | Succeeded by Princess Helen of Romania |
