17 Facts About Queen Marie of Romania, Romania's Mamma Regina

Queen Marie and King Ferdinand of Romania. Image credit Wikimedia Commons

1. Her Royal Highness Princess Marie Alexandra Victoria of Edinburgh was born on October 29, 1875 at her parents’ home in Eastwell Manor, Kent. She was the eldest daughter and second child of Prince Alfred, the future Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, son of Queen Victoria; and, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, daughter of Tsar Alexander II.

2. She was fondly called “Missy” within the family circle.

3. Princess Marie did not see much of his father growing up because of Prince Alfred’s position in the British Royal Navy. She would eventually confess that she did not even know the color of his father’s hair until seeing later portraits of him. Much of her and her sibling’s lives were governed by their mother.

4. The grand duchess overlooked her daughters’ education as she believed they were neither gifted nor smart. Though they were permitted to read aloud, they were only given “pedestrian instruction” in drawing and painting, fields in which the young ladies’ showed massive potential as they inherited Queen Victoria’s talents in the said areas.

5. Princess Marie’s family transferred to Malta in 1886 following her father’s appointment as commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, taking up residence at San Anton Palace in Attard. It was in Malta where she met her first love, her “Captain Dear” Maurice Bourke, who was the captain of the Duke’s ship.


6. The family transferred to Coburg in Bavaria, Germany in 1889 as his father became heir presumptive to Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, his childless paternal uncle. It was during this time when the princesses’ education was broadened, putting more emphasis on music and painting.

7. “A lovely young woman” with “sparkling blue eyes and silky fair hair”, she caught the attention of many bachelors including Prince George of Wales, at the time was second in line to the British throne, and with whom she had a close relationship since she was a child. Princess Marie, however, had to refuse his marriage proposal due to numerous contradictions. Her mother did not approve of her marrying a first cousin, an act prohibited by the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Princess of Wales was not too keen on the prince marrying someone whose family had German sentiments.

8. Princess Marie ended up marrying Prince Ferdinand of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, nephew of King Carol I of Romania, on January 10, 1893 at the Sigmaringen Castle in three ceremonies—civil, Catholic, and Anglican. They had six children, including the future King Carol II.

9. King Carol I and Queen Elisabeth, thinking the couple were too young to look after their children, would often take them from their parents’—especially Marie’s—care.

10. While spending time with the Russian Imperial Family on the French Riviera, Princess Marie met and had an affair with Lieutenant Gheorghe Cantacuzène, with whom she allegedly had a child. She supposedly became pregnant in 1897 and eventually gave birth in Coburg, and the baby was either immediately sent to an orphanage or may have been a stillborn. It is even speculated that her second daughter was not his husband’s but of Cantacuzène’s. She became romantically involved with a number of men over the following years, including Joseph Whiteside Boyle, Prince Barbu Alexandru Știrbey, Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor, and Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich of Russia.


11. Ferdinand and Marie were proclaimed king and queen on October 11, 1914 following the death of King Carol I. The queen had an indomitable influence on her husband as well as the court, with historian A.L. Easterman saying, “…It was not [Ferdinand], but Marie who ruled in Romania."

12. Queen Marie—who supported the alliance with Triple Entente (composed of Britain, France, and Russia)—pressured King Ferdinand to enter the war. The latter eventually relented to her wife’s pleas, signing a treaty with Triple Entente on August 17, 1916. Ten days later, Romania declared war on Austria-Hungary.

13. In 1918, following the conclusion of the Russian Revolution and the success of the Bolsheviks, and with Romania becoming "an island surrounded on all sides by the enemy, with no hope of assistance from the Allies", according to diplomat Frank Rattigann, Queen Marie opposed the signing of the Treaty of Bucharest, which led to her being described as "truly the only man in Romania". The Armistice with Germany ended the war November 11 of the same year.

14. Queen Marie arrived in Paris on March 6, 1919 to attend the Paris Press Conference. She was met by French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau who told her upfront, "I don't like your Prime Minister," to which she, without batting an eyelash, replied, “Perhaps then you'll find me more agreeable." Her bold efforts—she would wave her ministers aside and do the negotiations all by herself—led to recognition of the Greater Romania that resulted to the expansion of the kingdom to 295,000 square kilometers. She also went home from Paris with huge supplies for Romania’s relief.

15. Ferdinand and Marie were crowned as the first King and Queen of Greater Romania in a huge and lavish ceremony held in Alba Iulia in 1922, and which took place in the Coronation Cathedral especially built for the historic event.


16. Queen Marie was widowed following the death of King Ferdinand on July 20, 1927. Her husband’s passing caused quite a dynastic crisis after Prince Carol earlier renounced his rights to the throne. The court had no choice but to have Mihai, their five-year-old grandson, succeed Ferdinand, and which forced the establishment of a Regency Council led by the queen’s younger son, Prince Nicholas. Three years later, however, Prince Carol returned to Romania and reclaimed the throne, which Queen Marie likened to the “return of the Prodigal Son”.

17. After falling ill (cirrhosis of the liver) in the summer of 1937, Queen Marie died on July 18 of the following year at Pelişor Castle. She was buried at the Curtea de Argeş Cathedral in Romania, with her heart separately interred in the Stella Maris Chapel at the Balchik Palace upon her request. In 2015, Queen Marie’s heart was finally brought to The Pelisor Castle, displayed in the same room where she breathed her last.