Mary of Romania, an icon of the Romanian people

A hundred years ago, the Treaty of Trianon gave birth to Greater Romania. Without the fierce determination of King Ferdinand's wife, Romania could have sunk. In this new episode of "At the heart of history", produced by Europe 1 Studio, Jean des Cars tells you the story of a charismatic sovereign, Marie of Romania. 

Wearing a gray astrakhan cap, with a leather chin strap, in her colonel uniform covered with a military cape with a fur collar, Queen Marie gets off the train which brings her back to Bucharest. On December 1, 1918, King Ferdinand and Queen Marie joined their capital to take part in the Victory Parade. 

At that moment, certainly, Marie thinks back to these two years of war, of exile in Iassy, ​​in the north of Romania. Two years during which she never really despaired even if defeats and diplomatic setbacks have accumulated. And then, in August, the offensive of the Orient army led by General Franchet d'Espérey led to a complete reversal of the situation. The defeats of the Central Empires and Bulgaria bring, finally, the hope of seeing the birth of Greater Romania. 

On her uniform, the queen proudly pinned the Croix de Guerre that the French ambassador had given her a few days earlier, on behalf of France, on behalf of Clemenceau. She no doubt remembers the words of the Ambassador, she was "a brave queen, an unshakable, loyal and faithful friend, as firm at the time of disaster as at the time of triumph."

Her horse, and that of King Ferdinand, her husband, were waiting for them at the station. Hers is gigantic and solid, Jumbo which she describes herself as "a real citadel of resistance, imperturbable before any provocation"!

Crown Prince Carol preceded them on horseback at the head of his regiment. Their three daughters had left before them in a four-horse crew. The King, the Queen, Prince Nicolas, their second son and the French general Henri Berthelot, who left last, ride side by side. It is a huge military parade comprising French, English and Romanian troops. Rosiori, the Queen's regiment, is in the lead.

Despite the rain, all of Bucharest is outside. It is a true triumphal march through the capital. Let the Queen tell us: "The city was elated. It seemed that the houses and the paving stones of the road cheered us with the crowd. Flags were floating everywhere, at each window, at the top of the houses, at the street lamps, in the hands of every child. It was a moving sea, dazzling blue, yellow and red. High perched on Jumbo's solid back, my gaze passing over the crowd, I could scrutinize the people at each window, the expression to respond to each smile, to be in intimate fellowship with the joy of the people. " 

But who is Marie of Romania, this Queen who receives, that day, the reward for her courage and her obstinacy?

The most beautiful princess in Europe

It is an understatement to say that Princess Marie of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was born "with a silver spoon in her mouth". Her ancestry makes her the cousin of almost all the ruling families of Europe. Her father, Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, is the fourth child of Queen Victoria and her second son. He is also the heir to the principality of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Her mother, also named Marie, is the only daughter of Tsar Alexander II of Russia. She has five brothers. Which means that little Marie, born in 1875, at Eastwell Castle in Kent, will have a very simple way of distinguishing her two grandmothers: there are "grandmother queen" (Victoria) and "grandmother empress ", wife of Alexander II. 

She has an older brother, Alfred, she will have three sisters, Victoria-Melita, one year younger and then Alexandra, two years later and Béatrice, in 1884. Marie is nicknamed "Missy". As for Victoria-Melita, we call her "Ducky". The blonde and the brunette, inseparable confidants that nothing will ever separate.

Mom, daughter of the Czar, feels a little demoted at the court of Saint James. She remained deeply Orthodox, practicing, having in each of her houses a small chapel and an Orthodox chaplain. She regrets that her children are Anglican. Dad is a sailor and therefore often absent. The children love it but it is mom who manages the whole house.

Children's lives are divided between Eastwell in summer and the palace of Clarence House in London. Of course, on the grandmother-queen side, there are idyllic vacations on the Isle of Wight, in Osborne, in a house made available to the family in the park of the Victoria residence. There are also in Scotland, Balmoral in summer and autumn. Grand Maman offers them the neighboring mansion of Birkhall. And then, from time to time, dazzling: a stay in Russia, first with Tsar Alexander II then, from 1881, with Alexander III. 

A childhood between England, Russia and Germany

Marie very well depicts the contrast between the confined and somewhat sad Court of Victoria and the riot of parties, pleasures and luxury of the court of the Tsars at this period. The British reservation against Russian exuberance: Marie has both. From 1886 to 1889, their father was appointed commander of the Fleet in the Mediterranean. The whole family comes to settle in Malta. An enchanted period for Marie and her sisters. The sea, the sun, swimming, free life, the passion for horses. Malta will never be erased from memories of Mary, like an escape to Paradise. She will always aspire to this freedom, essential for her, otherwise she will wither away. 

There are also, for children, stays in Coburg, Germany. She stays there regularly in a castle, Rosenau. It is another childhood paradise. The princess has a triple identity: she is English but also German, like the Victoria dynasty, and Russian. We hang out with all the cousins. We see each other non-stop at family reunions, weddings, funerals. There is cousin George (the future king George V), cousin Nicky (the future tsar Nicolas II) and cousin Guillaume (the kaiser William II).

Marie was therefore raised in three civilizations, the British, the Germanic and the Russian. It will not be easy to manage when the First World War breaks out. Nevertheless, Marie feels deeply English. This will count in his future choices. It must also be said that Missy is very beautiful and very attractive. She is 16 years old and we will have to think about marrying her.

An arranged marriage

It was Emperor William II who decided the fate of Mary in 1891. It was he who organized the first meeting in a castle near Cassel between the princess, aged 16, and the heir to the throne of Romania, Ferdinand de Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. It is important to quickly marry Ferdinand because a storm has just shaken the royal family of Romania. King Carol I had ascended the throne in 1866. He was a prince of the elder and Catholic branch of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, cousin of the Protestant Hohenzollerns of Prussia. Married to the whimsical Elisabeth de Wied, a poet under the pseudonym Carmen Sylva, he could not have had an heir. 

Ferdinand, naturally shy and withdrawn, is totally under the thumb of his uncle Carol. He is very bored in Bucharest. Carmen Sylva introduces her to one of her ladies-in-waiting, Hélène Vacaresco. He falls in love with her and wants to marry her. Scandal at Court! This unequal marriage is impossible. Hélène Vacaresco is banned. Worse still: the Queen, who supported the idyll, is herself sent into exile, with her family in Germany for two years! King Carol is a real tyrant. 

As for poor Ferdinand, he must be urgently married to a princess worthy of him. This is where William II comes in. With the complicity of the princess's mother, he organized the meeting of the two young people. He is not sorry to upset his grandmother Queen Victoria who wanted to unite Marie with the Duke of York, the future George V.

Marie's father, the Duke of Edinburgh, is furious: he hadn't been told. But when the engagement is announced, he can only bow. To say that Marie and Ferdinand are in love with each other would be excessive. Nevertheless, they believe it or pretend to believe it. This princely marriage is a marriage of reason. Marie will not be Queen of England but Queen of Romania and she will accommodate it.

The wedding took place in January 1893 at the castle of Sigmaringen, in the presence of the emperor William II. The bride is 17, Ferdinand is 27. The ceremony is lavish. Balls and receptions follow one another. The bride is delighted by her mother: a sumptuous wardrobe and extraordinary Romanov jewelry. What dazzle a little girl manipulated and nevertheless intoxicated by her new status as crown princess.

Difficult times

Carol 1er is delighted. By her birth, Marie brings a dynastic prestige to the recent Romanian monarchy, in lack of consideration. The bride will nevertheless experience difficult moments. Arrival in Bucharest, a small capital that cannot be compared to London, Berlin or Saint Petersburg. A sinister palace, an immediate pregnancy. She gave birth to her first child, Carol, on October 15, 1893, nine months after her marriage. Ferdinand and Marie will have six children. Carol, the heir and future Carol II, Elisabeth future queen of Greece the following year, Marie, future queen of Yugoslavia in 1900, Nicolas in 1903, Hélène in 1909 and the last, little Mircea, in 1913 who will only live three years.

The princely couple is totally under the thumb of King Carol I, who manages their existence. The queen's return from exile under the pseudonym of Carmen Sylva will not help. This woman is bruised by the impossibility of having children. She is jealous, probably in spite of herself, because she is rather benevolent and generous, of Marie, more titled than her, young, beautiful and fulfilled mother. This one does not support well the weight of the royal couple on its life. She calls them "uncle" and "aunt"! Sometimes the aunt is nicknamed the "Grand Inquisitor." That says it all!

Regular visits from her family, especially her mother and adored sister Ducky, comfort her. She takes a taste for life, begins to interest in Romania and its inhabitants, to be passionate about the history of the country. She stays in the Carpathians, at the Peles Castle, built by King Carol I, in the heart of magnificent nature.

But Marie will also be very criticized for her frivolity, her taste for fashion, jewelry, balls, receptions. She likes to please and seduce. We gossip a lot in Bucharest. It is suspected of an affair with the handsome Prince Stirbey. Marie doesn't care. She ends up taming the king. He recognizes her certain qualities and the queen too. Like Carmen Sylva, Marie will write and paint. She specializes in illuminations for which she has a certain talent.

Relations with her husband are, ultimately, quite harmonious. He needs her, her warmth, her energy. Marie helps her overcome her frustrations as a powerless and completely crowned crown prince. But it will take serious events for Marie, an attractive crown princess, to become an icon of the Romanian people.

Marie reveals herself during the Second Balkan War 

Before the 1914 conflict, the Balkans had been shaken by two conflicts known as the Balkan Wars. The first pitted Serbs, Greeks, Bulgarians and Montenegrins against Turks. Romania did not participate. The Ottoman Empire had been defeated. The second war pitted the Greeks, Serbs and Montenegrins against Bulgaria. This time, Romania made late commitments against Bulgaria. The Romanian army enters Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, where King Ferdinand demands peace on July 12, 1913. 

The Romanian troops did not have to fight in Bulgaria but they were victims of another plague, cholera. The crown princess decides to fight him. With a few friends, she organized hospitals to treat the sick and injured. Women are not allowed to cross the Danube to enter Bulgaria. But nothing stops Princess Marie! She crosses the river without authorization and realizes the horror of the situation. She asked King Ferdinand to allow her to take charge of a cholera camp at Zimnicea, one of the main points on the way back to the Romanians.

She devotes herself day and night in difficult conditions to organize and manage this camp. It isolates the patients to avoid contagion. Helped by nuns and friends, she comforted the sick in terrible conditions, lacking everything, even food. Like all epidemics, this one disappears. On the day the camp closes, Marie and her husband participate in a Te Deum thanksgiving for the end of the appalling plague. The crown princess had gained the status of a woman of action. She herself says that having already six children, she considered her main duty accomplished. From now on, she would devote herself to Romania. Another disaster would allow him to deploy all his talents ...

World War and the triumph of Mary 

The assassination, in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, of the heir-archduke of Austria-Hungary and his wife and the outbreak, a month later, of the First World War, put the Romanian monarchy to the test. Carol 1er wishes to fight alongside Germany, her homeland. But the majority of the Romanian people, totally Francophile, want to join the camp of the French and the British. Let us remember that it is to Napoleon III that Romania owes its existence. Romanians love France, its language and its culture. They do not imagine to betray her ...

In Bucharest, there are demonstrations against the King. The crowd sings Marseille and waved French flags. Carol 1st dreams of abdicating. Only one person in the family understood the challenge of this showdown, it is Marie, whose heart leans towards Great Britain and France. In order to protect the old king suffering from cancer, the Crown Council decides on the neutrality of Romania. Carol 1er died on October 11, 1914. Ferdinand ascended the throne and Marie was Queen of Romania.

She will have to convince her husband, Ferdinand, to end the Romanian neutrality. The various great powers are increasing the bids with the new sovereign. It is the Allies France-Great Britain and Russia who will prevail by accepting the territorial claims of Romania.

The kingdom went to war alongside the Allies in July 1916. A new front was opened in Eastern Europe, much needed by France to relieve the Verdun front. On August 28, 1916, Saint Mary's Day, Queen's Day, the Romanian armies entered Transylvania, then into Hungarian territory.  

The first victories were followed by appalling defeats. Ferdinand and Marie have the pain of losing their last born, the little prince Mircea, on October 20, 1916, carried away by typhoid. Marie will barely have time to bury her son before leaving for the north of the country: Bucharest is threatened by the Germans. The next two years will be in the north. France sends 2,000 officers responsible for supervising the Romanian army under the orders of General Henri Berthelot.

The Russian revolution is a disaster. Romania loses an ally at its borders. In May 1918, against the will of Queen Marie who advocated resistance, a treaty was signed by the Romanian government with the Central Empires. Links with the Allies are broken. Marie obtains from her husband that he does not sign this infamous treaty. For her, resistance continues. She is right: General Franchet d'Esperey, head of the Eastern Army, launched a victorious offensive in September 1918.

The capitulation of Bulgaria and the Central Empires will follow. Romania is in the victors' camp thanks to Queen Marie. As I told you at the beginning of this story, the royal couple returned to Bucharest.

A powerful and influential queen at Versailles 

Marie, it must be emphasized, is the only representative of a monarchy present at Versailles during the peace negotiations. De Clemenceau, impressed, she obtained a considerable enlargement of the Romanian territory. Its prestige is immense. The royal couple will finally be crowned on October 5, 1922. It is the triumph of Queen Marie. 

Alas, the behavior of the crown prince who abandoned his wife, born princess of Greece, and their son Michel for his mistress Magda Lupescu, forced the sovereigns to exile him. When Ferdinand died in 1927, his son, little Michel, aged 6, was proclaimed king. Marie is on the Regency Council. The unexpected return in June 1930 of Carol the exile, to recover her throne under the name of Carol II, signals the end of the influence of Queen Marie. Subject to harassment and constant surveillance, she will witness the fascinating excesses of her son. She died sadly in Sinai in 1938.

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"At the heart of history" is a Europe 1 Studio podcast

Author and presentation: Jean des Cars 

Project manager: Adèle Ponticelli

Realization: Laurent Sirguy and Guillaume Vasseau

Diffusion and edition: Clémence Olivier

Graphics: Europe 1 Studio

Bibliography: Marie, Queen of Romania History of my life (First French edition Plon, 1938. Reissue Lacurne, Paris, 2014). Jean des Cars, The Scepter and the Blood , Kings and Queens in the turmoil of the two World Wars (Perrin, 2014). Guy Gauthier, The Eagles and the Lions, history of the Balkan monarchies (France-Empire, 1996).