Queen Anne of Romania
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Anne | |
| Queen of Romania | |
| Full name | Anne Antoinette Françoise Charlotte |
|---|---|
| Titles | Princess of Bourbon-Parma, Princess of Hohenzollern |
| Born | September 18, 1923 |
| Birthplace | Paris, France |
| Consort to | Michael I |
| Issue | Princess Margarita of Romania Princess Elena of Romania Princess Irina of Romania Princess Sophie of Romania Princess Maria of Romania |
| Royal House | House of Hohenzollern House of Bourbon-Parma |
| Father | Prince René of Bourbon-Parma |
| Mother | Princess Margrethe of Denmark |
Queen Anne of Romania, (born Princess Anne Antoinette Françoise Charlotte of Bourbon-Parma on September 18, 1923), is the wife of the former King Michael I of Romania.
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[edit] Early life
Anne was born in Paris, France, the daughter of Prince René of Bourbon-Parma and Princess Margrethe of Denmark. Together with her three brothers she spent her childhood in France. In 1939 her family fled from the Nazis and escaped to Spain. From there they went on to Portugal and then to the United States of America.
Anne attended the Parson's School of Art in New York from 1940 to 1943. She also worked as a sales-person at Macy's department store. In 1943 she volunteered for military service in the French Army. She served in Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Luxembourg and Germany, driving ambulances, and received the French Croix de guerre.
[edit] Marriage and family
In November 1947 Anne met King Michael I of Romania who was visiting London for the wedding of Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom) to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Anne and Michael were engaged soon afterwards. Michael returned to Romania where he was forced to abdicate by the Communists on December 30.
Anne and Michael married soon after his deposition, on June 10, 1948 in Athens, Greece, at the invitation of King Paul of Greece. As a Catholic, Anne was bound by the Roman Catholic Canon law of marriage which required that she receive a dispensation to marry a non-Catholic Christian (Michael is Orthodox). At the time, such a dispensation was normally only given if the non-Roman Catholic partner promised to allow the children of the marriage to be raised Roman Catholic. Michael refused to make this promise since it would have had a detrimental impact upon any possible restoration. The Holy See (which dealt with the matter since Michael was a member of a reigning house) refused to grant the dispensation unless Michael made the required promise. Since no dispensation was given for the marriage, it was invalid according to Roman Catholic canon law. Many years later (reportedly in the 1990s) Anne and Michael had their marriage recognised by the Roman Catholic Church.
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Anne is by courtesy known as Her Majesty Queen Anne of Romania, although she married Michael after the loss of his throne.
Anne and Michael have five daughters:
- Princess Margarita of Romania (born 1949); married Radu Duda, later Prince of Hohenzollern-Veringen.
- Princess Elena of Romania (born 1950); married 1st and divorced Robin Medforth-Mills; married 2nd Alexander Phillips Nixon McAteer.
- Princess Irina of Romania (born 1953); married John Kreuger. Divorced 2003.
- Princess Sophie of Romania (born 1957); married Alain Michel Léonce Biarneix de Laufenborg. Divorced 2002.
- Princess Maria of Romania (born 1964); married Casimir Mystkowski. Divorced 2003.
For further details of her issue: [1]
After their marriage, Anne and Michael lived first at Villa Sparta, the home of Michael's mother outside Florence, Italy. In 1949 they moved to Lausanne, Switzerland, and in 1951 to England, where they lived at Bramshill House in Hampshire and then at Ayot St Lawrence in Hertfordshire. In 1955 they returned to Switzerland and settled in Versoix near Geneva.
In 1992 Anne and Michael visited Romania for three days; it was Anne's first visit to the country. From 1993 to 1997, despite repeated attempts, Michael was refused entry to Romania by a hostile Romanian government. During these years Anne visited the country a number of times representing her husband. Since 1997 there have been no restrictions on Anne and Michael's entry into Romania.
[edit] Bibliography
Radu, Prince of Hohenzollern-Veringen, Anne of Romania: A War, an Exile, a Life, Bucharest: The Romanian Cultural Foundation Publishing House, Bucharest, 2002 ISBN 973-577-338-4. (A quasi-official biography by her son-in-law, originally published in Romanian as Un război, un exil, o viaţă, Bucharest, 2000).[1]
| Styles of Queen Anne of Romania |
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| Reference style | Her Majesty |
| Spoken style | Your Majesty |
| Alternative style | Ma'am |
