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MichaelIOfRomaniaKing Michael I of the Romanians (born October 25?, 1921?), Prince of Hohenzollern?<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,794131,00.html "Compression", Time, January 12, 1948]</ref><ref>[http://www.geocities.com/henrivanoene/genromania.html Genealogy of the Royal Family of Romania, web site as of October 2, 2006]</ref>, reigned as King of the Romanians? (in Romanian? Maiestatea Sa Mihai I Regele Românilor) from July 20?, 1927? to June 8?, 1930?, and again from September 6?, 1940? until deposed on December 30?, 1947?: he has since lived in exile. A great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria? and a third cousin of Queen Elizabeth II?, he is one of the last living public figures from the World War II? era. == Early life == Michael was born in the Foişor Castle, Sinaia?, Romania, the son of then Crown Prince? Carol? and Princess Elena?, and grandson of the then reigning King Ferdinand I of the Romanians. When Carol eloped with his mistress of Jewish descent Elena "Magda" Lupescu? and renounced his rights to the throne? in December 1925?, Michael was pronounced the heir apparent?, and he succeeded to the throne on Ferdinand's death in July 1927?. == Rule == thumb|150px|left|Michael as a child king? A regency? functioned on behalf of the 5-year-old Michael, but in 1930? Carol II? suddenly returned to the country at the invitation of politicians dissatisfied with the regency, and had himself proclaimed King, designating Michael as Crown Prince. In September 1940? the pro-German? régime of Marshal Ion Antonescu? staged a coup against Carol, whom it considered anti-German. Antonescu had the 18 year old Michael proclaimed King to popular acclaim, but legally Michael could not exercise much authority besides that of being supreme Head of the Army and of designating a plenipotentiary Prime-Minister ("Conducator")<ref>[http://www.unibuc.ro/eBooks/istorie/istorie1918-1940/13-15.htm "The History of the Romanians between 1918-1940" ("ISTORIA ROMÂNILOR ÎNTRE ANII 1918–1940") (in Romanian), page 280, by Ioan Scurtu,Theodora Stănescu-Stanciu, Georgiana Margareta Scurtu]</ref>. He already had a reputation for taciturnity. He once said to his grandmother, "I have learned not to say what I feel, and to smile at those I most hate." In August 1944?, however, as the Soviet? armed forces approached Romania's eastern border, Michael joined with pro-Allied politicians which included the Communists in staging a coup d'état? against Antonescu, whom he placed under arrest and who was immediately delivered to the Soviets. Michael proclaimed Romania's loyalty to the Allies and declared war on Germany, but this did not avert a rapid Soviet occupation and capture of about 130,000 Romanian soldiers transported to the Soviet Union, where many perished in prison camps<ref>[http://countrystudies.us/romania/23.htm Country Studies: Romania. Chap. 23. US Library of Congress]</ref>, facilitated by the King's cease-fire order given before any armistice was reached. The armistice was signed three weeks later on September 12 1944, on terms the Soviets virtually dictated<ref>[http://countrystudies.us/romania/23.htm Country Studies: Romania. Chap. 23. US Library of Congress]</ref>. The coup effectively amounted to a capitulation<ref>[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/148133682.html?did=148133682&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&dids=148133682:148133682:&date=Aug+25%2C+1944&author=&pub=The+Washington+Post++ "Hitler Resorts To 'Puppets' In Romania", Washington Post, Aug 25, 1944]</ref>, an unconditional surrender<ref>[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/nytimes/88607977.html?did=88607977&FMT=ABS&FMTS=AI&date=Aug+24%2C+1944&author=By+DANIEL+T.+BRIGHAMBy+Telephone+to+THE+NEW+YORK+TIMES.&pub=New+York+Times++ "King Proclaims Nation's Surrender and Wish to Help Allies", The New York Times, Aug 24, 1944]</ref> to the Soviets. King Michael was spared the fate of another former German ally, Prince Kyril, Regent of Bulgaria,? executed by the Soviets in 1945, and was also the last monarch behind the Iron Curtain? to lose his throne. By some accounts, the coup may have shortened World War II by six months. At the end of the war, King Michael was awarded the highest degree (Chief Commander) of the Legion of Merit? by U.S. President Harry S. Truman?. In March 1945?, political pressures forced Michael to appoint a pro-Soviet government dominated by the Communist Party of Romania?. Under the Communist-dominated régime Michael functioned as little more than a figurehead. Stalin? decorated him with the Soviet Order of Victory?, for his personal courage in overthrowing Antonescu, for putting an end to Romania's war against the Allies, and as a sign of gratitude for the King's cease-fire order<ref>[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/nytimes/88607977.html?did=88607977&FMT=ABS&FMTS=AI&date=Aug+24%2C+1944&author=By+DANIEL+T.+BRIGHAMBy+Telephone+to+THE+NEW+YORK+TIMES.&pub=New+York+Times++ "King Proclaims Nation's Surrender and Wish to Help Allies", The New York Times, Aug 24, 1944]</ref> given during the coup, which had speeded the Red Army's advance into Romania.<ref>[http://countrystudies.us/romania/23.htm Country Studies: Romania. Chap. 23. US Library of Congress]</ref> Moreover, there are several reports<ref>[http://www.evz.ro/article.php?artid=182292 Miscellaneous, Evenimentul Zilei daily, March 24, 2005]</ref><ref>[http://www.evz.ro/article.php?artid=181394 Miscellaneous, Evenimentul Zilei daily, March 14, 2005]</ref><ref>[http://www.evz.ro/article.php?artid=143367 "The Lia Roberts hope", Evenimentul Zilei daily, January 19, 2004]</ref><ref>[http://ds009.xs4all.nl/artnews/mvrhotartcoldcash.pdf "Hot Art, Cold Cash", pages 177,184, by Michel van Rijn, Little Brown & Co., October 1994.] Also [http://www.michelvanrijn.nl/artnews/archive/oct2001.htm the report "DEVASTATING ART NEWS", October 29, 2001, by the same UK police expert in art smuggling.] For more on Michel van Rijn?'s credentials, please, see [http://www.museum-security.org/cyprus-and-michel-van-rijn.htm 1] and [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3724256.stm 2.]</ref> that the Romanian Communist authorities obedient to Stalin presented King Michael with 42 valuable Crown-owned? paintings shortly before the King's abdication, some of which<ref>[http://ds009.xs4all.nl/artnews/mvrhotartcoldcash.pdf "Hot Art, Cold Cash", pages 177, 184, by Michel van Rijn, Little Brown & Co., October 1994.] Also [http://www.michelvanrijn.nl/artnews/archive/oct2001.htm the report "Devastating Art News", October 29, 2001, by the same UK police expert in art smuggling.] For more on Michel van Rijn?'s credentials, please, see [http://www.museum-security.org/cyprus-and-michel-van-rijn.htm 1] and [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3724256.stm 2.]</ref> were reportedly sold through the famed art dealer Daniel Wildenstein?. == Abdication == In November 1947 on the occasion of his trip to the wedding of future Queen Elizabeth II, King Michael met Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma?, who was to become his wife. In light of the increasing Communist pressures back home and the bleak prospect for the monarchy?, King Michael did not want to return from London according to royalist circles quoted by Washington Post?<ref>[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/293287632.html?did=293287632&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&dids=293287632:293287632:&date=Dec+31%2C+1947&author=&pub=The+Washington+Post "Churchill Advised Mihai to Return", Washington Post, December 31, 1947]</ref>; he did so only at the express advice of the British PM Winston Churchill? and at that of other American and British personalities present at the royal wedding. According to his own account<ref>[http://www.cs.kent.edu/~amarcus/Mihai/english/agende/mar2697.html SPEECH By His Majesty Michael I, King of Romania to the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies, London, March 26, 1997]</ref>, King Michael had no such intentions of not returning. After his return to Romania, Michael was forced to abdicate, on December 30?, 1947?. The Communists announced the abolition of the monarchy and its replacement by a people's republic? and broadcasted the King's pre-recorded radio proclamation<ref>"Friends & Enemies, Presidents & Kings" by Tammy Lee McClure, Accendo Publishing, page 99. Another account comes from the Romanian anti-communist disident Paul Goma's [http://paulgoma.free.fr/paulgoma_pdf/pdf/LRP_JURNAL_PE_SARITE.pdf "Skipped Diary" ("Jurnal pe sarite"), (in Romanian) page 57.]</ref> of his own abdication. On January 3?, 1948? Michael was forced to leave the country, followed<ref>[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/nytimes/85189260.html?did=85189260&FMT=ABS&FMTS=AI&date=Jan+7%2C+1948&author=By+W.H.+LAWRENCESpecial+to+THE+NEW+YORK+TIMES.&pub=New+York+Times++(1857-Current+file)&desc=AUNTS+OF+MICHAEL+MAY+BE+EXILED+TOO "Aunts of Michael May Be Exiled Too", New York Times, January 7, 1948]</ref><ref>[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/nytimes/85191692.html?did=85191692&FMT=ABS&FMTS=AI&date=Jan+13%2C+1948&author=Special+to+THE+NEW+YORK+TIMES.&pub=New+York+Times++(1857-Current+file)&desc=2+PRINCESSES+EXILED+BY+RUMANIAN+REGIME "2 Princesses Exiled By Rumanian Regime", New York Times, January 12, 1948]</ref> over a week later by his so called "Red aunts," Princesses Elisabeth of Romania? and Ileana of Habsburg?. When he left Romania, Michael's financial assets amounted to 500,000 Swiss francs<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4118629.stm "Exiled king 'should become pilot'", BBC News, January 2, 2005]</ref>, allegedly received from the Communist Government (see recently declassified Soviet transcripts<ref>[http://adevarul.cluj.astral.ro/arhiva/2005/04/13/p4.pdf "King Michael in exile - from poultry grower to test pilot and broker" ("Regele Mihai in exil - de la crescator de pui la pilot de incercare si broker") (in Romanian), ROMPRES news agency, April 13, 2005]</ref> of talks between Stalin and the Romanian PM Petru Groza?). In the past, King Michael repeatedly denied<ref>[http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/lobby/8957/adi.html Translation of King Michael's interview to Ziua daily, undated.] For the original Romanian version, please, see [http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/lobby/8957/960510.html this article.] Another similar [http://www.adevarulonline.ro/arhiva/2005/Mai/1092/127348.html interview] (in Romanian), Adevarul daily, May 3, 2005</ref> that the Communist Government had allowed him to take into exile any financial assets or valuable goods besides four personal automobiles loaded on two train cars. In January 1948, Michael styled himself Prince of Hohenzollern<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,794131,00.html "Compression", Time, January 12, 1948]</ref>, apparently in recognition of the fact that he no longer was King of Romania. However, in March 1948 he finally denounced his abdication as forced and illegal. He has since styled himself mostly as Michael of Romania. == Life after the throne == {{infobox hrhstyles| image=<!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: centre|60px? -->| royal name=King Michael I of Romania| dipstyle=His Majesty?| offstyle=Your Majesty| altstyle=Sir|}} In June 1948 he married Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma?, with whom he has five daughters. They lived first in Britain? and later settled in Switzerland?. The Romanian authorities stripped him of his Romanian citizenship in 1948. He became a commercial pilot and worked for an aircraft equipment company. In 1992?, three years after the revolution? which overthrew the Communist régime, the new Romanian government allowed Michael to return to his country for Easter? celebrations, where he drew large crowds. In Bucharest over a million people turned out to see him. Michael's popularity alarmed the government of President Ion Iliescu?, and Michael could not visit Romania again for five years. In 1997?, after Iliescu's defeat by President Emil Constantinescu?, Romania restored Michael's citizenship and again allowed him to visit. He now lives partly in Switzerland? and partly in Romania, in an official residence voted him, as former head of state, by the Romanian Parliament. Michael has the following children:
Both Helen and Irina have sons as well as daughters. Sophie, whose marriage was not accepted by her father, has a daughter. For further details, see the genealogical listing<ref>[http://www.btinternet.com/~allan_raymond/Roumanian_Royal_Family.htm Genealogy of the Romanian Royal Family, web site as of October 2, 2006]</ref>. == Political positions == Michael has not encouraged monarchist agitation in Romania and royalist parties have made little impact in post-Communist Romanian politics. He takes the view that the restoration of the monarchy in Romania can only result from a decision by the Romanian people. "If the people want me to come back, of course, I will come back," he said in 1990?. He said that "Romanians have had enough suffering imposed on them to have a right to be consulted on their future." The British expert in Romanian politics and history<ref>[http://www.rri.ro/index.php?lmb=4&art=14003 "The Balkans In The New Millenium," Radio Romania International]</ref> and Encyclopaedia Britannica editor<ref>[http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=tom+gallagher+romania+site%3Abritannica.com Encyclopaedia Britannica articles on Romania by Tom Gallagher - Google results]</ref> Tom Gallagher reported in June 2006 that HRH Prince Charles of Wales? was offered<ref>[http://www.romanialibera.ro/editie/index.php?url=articol&tabel=z30062006&idx=17 "The European Scapegoat" (in Romanian), by Tom Gallagher, Romania Libera, June 30, 2006]</ref> the Romanian throne?: "If, utopically speaking, His Royal Highness (...) had accepted the invitation to become the head of a state he had fallen in love with (...), perhaps he would have ended up proving himself to be the best sovereign Romania had since Carol I?." Michael has undertaken some quasi-diplomatic roles on behalf of post-Communist Romania. In 1997 he toured Western Europe, lobbying for Romania's admission into NATO? and the European Union?, and was received by heads of state and government officials. {{s-start}} {{s-hou|House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen?|October 25|1921||}} {{s-reg|}} {{s-bef|before=Ferdinand?}} {{s-ttl|title=King of Romania? |years=1927?–1930?}} {{s-aft|after=Carol II?}} {{s-bef|before=Carol II?}} {{s-ttl|title=King of Romania? |years=1940?–1947?}} {{s-non|reason=Republic declared}} {{s-pre}} {{s-new|reason=}} {{s-ptd|title=King of Romania?|years=1947– |reason=}} {{s-inc|heir=Margarita?}} {{end}} ==See also== ==Footnotes== <references /> ==External links==
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