by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2014
King Mihai I of Romania – photo source: Romanian Royal Family Website
King Mihai I of Romania (also known as Michael) was born on October 25, 1921, in a chalet on the grounds of Peleş Castle in Sinaia, Romania. He is the only child of King Carol II of Romania and his second wife, Princess Helen of Greece and Denmark. When he was just four years old, his father renounced his own right to the throne, and Mihai became the heir apparent to his grandfather King Ferdinand. Upon King Ferdinand’s death on July 20, 1927, Mihai took the throne as King of Romania. Because of his age (not yet 6 years old), a regency council was established, led by Mihai’s uncle, Prince Nicolas.
In June 1930, in a coup d’état engineered by Prime Minister Iuliu Maniu, Mihai’s father returned to Romania, declared his earlier renunciation invalid, and was proclaimed King by the Romanian Parliament on June 8th. Mihai was ‘demoted’ to Crown Prince. However, unhappy with King Carol II’s actions and policies, on September 6, 1940, another coup d’état took place, this time under Prime Minister Ion Antonescu, and Carol was forced to formally abdicate. Mihai was once again King of Romania.
King Mihai in 1947. photo: Wikipedia
In November 1947, while in London to attend the wedding of two of his cousins Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten, King Mihai first met his future wife (and second cousin once removed), Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma. She was the daughter of Prince René of Bourbon-Parma and Princess Margaret of Denmark. There was some matchmaking going on, with the King’s mother trying to get the couple together, as well as some help from Anne’s cousin, the future Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg. According to the King, he proposed a week later and the couple was engaged. Wanting to inform his government before making any official announcement, he returned to Romania.
On December 30, 1947, he was summoned to Bucharest to find his palace surrounded by troops loyal to the Communist regime. With threats of bloodshed, and according to the King’s own account, a gun to his head, he was forced to sign a document of abdication. Four days later, he was forced to leave the country. In March 1948, he publicly announced that his abdication was invalid, as it had been forced upon him, and that he remained the rightful King of Romania.
Meanwhile, plans were still underway for Mihai’s wedding to Anne. The couple had reunited in Switzerland and were facing one of the biggest obstacles in their upcoming life together – religion. Anne was Roman Catholic while Mihai was Orthodox. A dispensation was sought from the Pope, who insisted that Mihai promise any children would be raised Catholic. The King would not, and could not, make this promise as it would violate the Romanian constitution, and the Pope refused to sanction the marriage. But the couple, with the support of most of their families, vowed to marry anyway. Years later, in 1966, they had a second wedding in a Roman Catholic church in Monaco.
photo source: Romanian Royal Family Website
On June 10, 1948, Mihai and Anne were married in an Orthodox ceremony held in the throne room of the Royal Palace in Athens. Attendants included Mihai’s cousin Sophia (later Queen Sofia of Spain) and his uncle, King Paul of the Hellenes. Noticeably missing were the bride’s parents. Because of the religious differences, Anne’s uncle Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma had issued a statement refusing to condone a wedding that went against the wishes of the Pope. He also forbade her parents from attending. However, her maternal side of the family did attend and her mother’s brother Prince Erik, Count of Rosenborg gave her away. Upon the marriage, and despite Michael having lost his throne, Anne took the title of Her Majesty The Queen of Romania. The couple first lived at his mother’s home, Villa Sparta, in San Domenico, Italy before moving to Switzerland in 1949. Two years later they moved to England where they remained until returning to Switzerland in 1956.
Mihai and Anne had five daughters:
- Margareta, Custodian of the Crown of Romania (born 1949), married Radu Duda, no children
- Princess Elena of Romania (born 1950), married (1) Robin Medforth-Mills, had two children, divorced (2) Alexander McAteer, no children
- Princess Irina of Romania, (born 1953), married (1) John Kreuger, had two children, divorced (2) John Wesley Walker, no children; In 2013, Irina was stripped of her title, styles and rights to the throne following involvement with illegal cockfighting and arrest. She was restored to her original royal style and title by her elder sister Margareta, Custodian of the Crown of Romania, in August 2020.
- Princess Sophie of Romania (born 1957), married and divorced Alain Michel Biarneix, had one daughter
- Princess Marie of Romania (born 1964), married and divorced Kazimierz Wiesław Mystkowski
King Mihai worked as a commercial pilot and worked for an aircraft equipment company. It would be 43 years before he set foot on Romanian soil again. In December 1990, the King was given permission for a 24-hour visit. However, this ended up being cut short and he was forced to leave early. He visited Romania in again 1992 but the mass outpouring of crowds and supporters concerned the current government and he was banned again for several years. Finally, in 1997, the Romanian government restored Mihai’s citizenship and in the following years, several properties were returned to the royal family. The King and Queen lived primarily at the Elisabeta Palace in Bucharest, and their country home, Săvârșin Castle, in Transylvania. They also had a home in Switzerland.
King Mihai and Queen Anne waiving from the Elisabeta Palace, 2001. photo: The Guardian/AP
In the years after returning to Romania, King Mihai was active in the promotion of Romania around the world but did not make any overtures toward the restoration of the monarchy. However, he made changes to the House Laws to ensure the succession of the current royal family. In 2007, he established the Fundamental Rules of the Royal Family of Romania, changing the line of succession to allow his daughters to succeed. Until then, women had been excluded. He named his eldest daughter Crown Princess and Custodian of the Romanian Crown, and his heir as Head of the Royal House of Romania.
King Mihai and Queen Anne at his 90th birthday celebrations, with Queen Sofia of Spain.
photo source: Russian Imperial House
On March 2, 2016, it was announced that King Mihai had been diagnosed with chronic leukemia and metastatic epidermoid carcinoma and that he was withdrawing from public life. Crown Princess Margareta took on his public duties. King Mihai’s wife Anne died on August 1, 2016, in a hospital in Morges, Switzerland, at the age of 92.
King Mihai died at his residence in Switzerland on December 5, 2017, at the age of 96. After lying-in-state at Peleș Castle and then at the Royal Palace of Bucharest, his funeral service was held at Bucharest’s Romanian Orthodox Patriarchal Cathedral. King Mihai is buried at the new Archdiocesan and Royal Cathedral at Curtea de Argeș.
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