Grandparents Carol II of Romania Children Michael Kreuger | Spouse John Kreuger (m. 1983) Name Irina Walker | |
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Issue Michael de Roumanie KreugerAngelica de Roumanie Kreuger Mother Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma Parents Queen Anne of Romania, Michael I of Romania Similar People Michael I of Romania, Princess Elena of Romania, Princess Margareta of Romania, Princess Sophie of Romania, Queen Anne of Romania | ||
Irina Walker (born 28 February 1953) is the third daughter of the former king of Romania, Michael I. She was stripped of her princess title that she held in pretence following involvement with illegal cockfighting at Irrigon, Oregon in 2013.
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Life
Walker was born in exile on 28 February 1953 at a birth clinic in Lausanne, Switzerland, the third daughter and child of King Michael I and Queen Anne. She was baptised in the Orthodox faith; her godmother and namesake was her father's maternal aunt Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, Duchess of Aosta.
Walker spent her childhood at her family homes in Lausanne, Switzerland and in the United Kingdom at Ayot House, St Lawrence, Hertfordshire; During holidays she and her sisters spent time with their grandparents, Helen, Queen Mother in Florence, Italy at Villa Sparta and in Denmark with Princess Margaret and Prince Rene. She and her sisters were told "fascinating tales of a homeland they couldn't visit" by their father.
Her teenage years were spent in Europe with her family, where she and her sisters received primary and secondary education.
In her mid-twenties, as her two elder and two younger sisters went away to work and study, Irina stayed with her parents at their family home in Switzerland and later moved to the United States to work.
In Romania
After 50 years of exile of the Romanian royal family from Romania, in 1990 Walker's eldest sister Margareta and younger sister Sophie visited Romania following the Romanian revolution and overthrow of the Communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu in December 1989; Walker, along with the royal family, were involved in helping the Romanians.
After the upheaval of the revolution had calmed down, Walker, with her two children Michael and Angelica, visited Romania along with the rest of the royal family to spend Christmas in 1997 and went back again with King Michael I, Queen Anne, Crown Princess Margareta and her husband Prince Radu in 1998.
Unlike her sisters, Walker did not perform many engagements for the royal house, except for a visit to the Romanian Academy with Princess Maria, an investiture ceremony, the 60th birthday celebration of the Crown Princess in 2009 and the 90th birthday celebration of King Michael I in 2011.
In 2013 for her 60th birthday, King Michael and Queen Anne hosted a party at Elisabeta Palace, attendees included: members of the royal family, John Walker, Michael de Roumanie Kreuger, Angelica de Roumanie Kreuger, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, Prince Michael of Kent and Irina's friends.
In 2004 Walker's ex-husband John Kreuger donated the 16th-century painting Madonna with the infant by Francesco Raibolini to the National Museum of Art of Romania; the painting was given to the couple as a wedding present which Kreuger kept after their divorce and later donated.
Marriages, divorce and family
On 4 October 1983 Irina married John Kreuger (born in Solna, Sweden, 3 August 1945) son of Torsten Kreuger and wife Diana Blanchefleur Hedberg (née Beve). in Scottsdale, Maricopa County, Arizona, United States in a civil ceremony and on 11 February 1984 in a religious ceremony at Holy Trinity Church in Phoenix, the ceremony was attended by the Royal family including her grand-aunt Princess Ileana, John's parents and family and also friends of the couple. On 24 November 2003 the couple divorced after 20 years of marriage. Irina and John have 2 children, a daughter-in-law, a son-in-law and three grandchildren
On 10 November 2007 Irina married secondly to John Wesley Walker (b. 30 December 1945 in Douglas, Missouri) at the Heart of Reno Chapel, Reno, Nevada.
In an interview with her daughter Angelica, she had said that she and her family were close, but that since her marriage to Walker she had become isolated.
Arrest
On 15 August 2013, Walker and her husband were controversially arrested for being part of an illegal cockfighting ring, being charged also for operating an illegal gambling business on their ranch near Irrigon, Oregon. The news had made headlines over nearly all news channels and papers around the world. According to the indictment, 10 different cockfighting derbies were organized at their ranch between April 2012 and April 2013, which brought up to $2000/day, from admission fees, food and drinks and gambling. Federal prosecutors announced that they will seek the forfeiture of their ranch. She and her husband were freed, but they were required to wear GPS bracelets and turn over their US passports. They awaited a two-week jury trial, which was set for 15 October 2014.
In October 2014, Walker was given three years probation, she and her husband pleaded guilty to operating an illegal gambling business; as part of the plea deal, the couple decided to sell real estate and pay $200,000 to the government. "I'm very sorry about my involvement in this business, It was not my intention to go against the law." - Irina told a federal judge before she was given the probation.
On 29 October 2014, Walker's father altered the line of succession, stripping Irina of her royal titles and removing her and her two children from the line of succession.