Princess Margarita of Romania

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Margarita
Princess of Romania, Crown Princess of Romania, Princess of Hohenzollern
Born March 26, 1949 (1949-03-26) (age 59)
Birthplace Lausanne, Switzerland
Consort Radu Duda, Prince of Romania, Prince of Hohenzollern-Veringen
Royal House Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
Father Michael I
Mother Anne of Bourbon-Parma
Religious beliefs Romanian Orthodox
Styles of
Crown Princess Margarita of Romania
Reference style Her Royal Highness
Spoken style Your Royal Highness
Alternative style Ma'am

Princess Margarita of Romania (Margareta in the Romanian language), Princess of Hohenzollern (styled Crown Princess of Romania) (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 in the line of succession to the British throne. Her father named her the heiress to the private royal family in 1997. She has no children. Her heiress is her next sister, Princess Elena of Romania. According to the last democratic royal Constitution, that of 1923, which established succession by salic law, Margarita and her sisters cannot succeed to the throne of Romania (see also "Line of succession to the Romanian throne").

On December 30, 2007,[3][4] King Michael designated Princess Margarita as heiress to the throne with the titles of "Crown Princess of Romania" and "Custodian of the Romanian Crown" through an act which, during the republican form of government and in the absence of its approval by the Parliament, has an eminently symbolic importance[5][6], an act considered by some editorialists as undemocratic[7]. On the same occasion, Michael also asked the Romanian Parliament that, should it consider restoring the Monarchy, it should also abolish the salic law of succession.

Contents

[edit] Private life

On September 21, 1996 in Lausanne Margarita married Radu Duda, also known as "HRH Prince Radu of Romania"[3] since December 30, 2007, and as "Radu, Prince of Hohenzollern-Veringen" since January 1, 1999[8], future "Prince Consort of Romania"[3], who either in her company or most often alone[9], represents the Royal Family publicly on various occasions. In her youth at the University of Edinburgh, Margarita was involved in a romantic relationship with Gordon Brown, who was later to become the British Prime Minister. 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."[10]

[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.

In 1990 Princess Margarita founded The Princess Margarita of Romania Foundation, a non-profit organisation that has contributed to the development of civil society in Romania.

Currently active in 6 countries (Romania, United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, Belgium and the US) the Princess Margarita of Romania Foundation develops programs that:

  • improve the living conditions of children and young people, families at risk and the elderly;
  • stimulate intergenerational solidarity and create bridges of communication between the young and the elderly;
  • contribute to the institutional development of NGOs working with children and seniors;
  • foster local creativity and talent.

During its existence, The Princess Margarita Foundation has collected more than 5 million Euro, through which it has contributed to the development of the Romanian civil society.[11]

[edit] Controversies

In February 1990, l'Humanité[12] 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 luggage.

BAE Systems[13], 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[14], some of which, it is also alleged[15], ended up in the pockets of the royal family of Hohenzollern to which Margarita belongs. The "Gardianul" newspaper[16][17], 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[17], 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.

Romanian Royal Family
Coat of arms of the Kingdom of Romania (1881-1947)

*titled accordingly in new family rules

[edit] Political support

The main pro-monarchist party PNŢCD, currently extra-parliamentarian, is ambiguous in its support for Princess Margarita. In 2002, it rejected any role for her or her husband in a restored monarchy[18][19], while in 2003 the Cluj branch of PNŢCD officially invited her to be its electoral candidate to the Senate of the Republic[20][21] in the upcoming elections.

The British expert in Romanian politics and history[22] and Encyclopaedia Britannica editor[23] Tom Gallagher reported that The Prince of Wales was offered the Romanian Throne, supposedly by Romanian monarchists[18], an offer which was reportedly turned down by Charles[24][25]. Despite this, King Michael has not given up the hope for himself or his family of returning on the throne: "We are trying to make people understand what Romanian monarchy was and what it can still do[26]."

[edit] Ancestors

Margarita's ancestors in three generations
Princess Margarita of Romania Father:
Michael I of Romania		 Paternal Grandfather:
Carol II of Romania		 Paternal Great-grandfather:
Ferdinand I of Romania
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Marie of Edinburgh
Paternal Grandmother:
Elena of Greece and Denmark		 Paternal Great-grandfather:
Constantine I of Greece
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Sophia of Prussia
Mother:
Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma		 Maternal Grandfather:
Prince René of Bourbon-Parma		 Maternal Great-grandfather:
Robert I, Duke of Parma
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal
Maternal Grandmother:
Princess Margaret of Denmark		 Maternal Great-grandfather:
Prince Valdemar of Denmark
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Princess Marie of Orléans

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Compression," Time, January 12, 1948
  2. ^ "Milestones," Time, June 21, 1948
  3. ^ a b c Fundamental Rules of the Royal Family of Romania
  4. ^ (Romanian) "Princess Margarita, heiress to the throne of Romania," Evenimentul Zilei, December 30, 2007
  5. ^ (Romanian) "The King and Margareta - On The "Day of the Republic" The King Designated His Successor", Jurnalul National, January 2, 2008
  6. ^ (Romanian) "The Actor Duda in The Role of A Lifetime: Prince Consort of Romania," Cotidianul, January 3, 2008
  7. ^ (Romanian) "A Dynastical Constitution," Romania libera, January 9, 2008
  8. ^ (Romanian) "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
  9. ^ (Romanian) "May 10 - Sad Destiny, Memorable Date", Dilema Veche, May 12, 2006
  10. ^ "Gordon Brown profiled", The Guardian, March 6, 2001
  11. ^ (Romanian) 2006 Annual Report, The Princess Margarita of Romania Foundation website
  12. ^ (French) Charité désordonnée, "Messy Charity", l'Humanité, February 8, 1990
  13. ^ "Blair hit by Saudi 'bribery' threat," The Sunday Times, November 19, 2006
  14. ^ "Bribery inquiry may force £7m refund to Romania", The Guardian, June 15, 2006
  15. ^ (Romanian) Zeamă de dude, "Mulberry Juice", Gândul, June 21, 2006
  16. ^ (Romanian) BAE - sponsor regal, "BAE: Royal Sponsor", Gardianul, June 16, 2006
  17. ^ a b (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
  18. ^ a b (Romanian) PNŢCD gândeşte revenirea la monarhie prin Prinţul Nicolae, "PNŢCD Plans The Restoration of Monarchy through Prince Nicholas", Ziua, March 1, 2002
  19. ^ (Romanian) PNŢCD caută un Rege, "PNŢCD Is Looking for A King", Evenimentul Zilei, March 1, 2002
  20. ^ (Romanian) Principesa Margareta invitată să candideze, "Princess Margarita Invited to Run for Office" , Ziarul Financiar, July 24, 2003
  21. ^ (Romanian) "The Princess in The Senate", Evenimentul Zilei, July 25, 2003
  22. ^ "The Balkans In The New Millennium," Radio Romania International
  23. ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica articles on Romania by Tom Gallagher - Google results
  24. ^ (Romanian) "The European Scapegoat", by Tom Gallagher, Romania Libera, June 30, 2006
  25. ^ (Romanian) "Prince Charles Bought A House among The Gypsies", Libertatea, September 24, 2006
  26. ^ "King Mihai I Turns 85", Ziua, October 25, 2006
Princess Margarita of Romania
Cadet branch of the House of Hohenzollern
Born: 26 March 1949
Romanian royalty
Preceded by
first in line		 Line of succession to the Romanian throne
1st position		 Succeeded by
Princess Elena of Romania
Preceded by
Benjamin Ferner Beckman		 Line of succession to the British Throne
84th position		 Succeeded by
Princess Elena of Romania