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The former Romanian royal family, a branch of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen dynasty, ruled Romania until 1947, when the last king, Michael of Romania, abdicated his throne and the country became a republic.
Contents
- Descendants of the former royal family
- Family of Carol Mircea Hohenzollern
- Deceased members of the royal family
- References
Members of the former royal family include the former King Michael of Romania, his consort Queen Anne, and several of their daughters. Some descendants have adopted the surname "of Romania". There are also descendants of Michael's older half-brother Carol Lambrino (also known as "Carol Hohenzollern" and "Carol Mircea Grigore of Romania" or, in Romanian, al României, on his amended Romanian birth certificate)), whose legitimacy was disputed and who were not recognised as members of the royal family during the monarchy by King Ferdinand, King Carol II or by King Michael.
King Michael publicly renounced for himself, the former queen and their five daughters any claim to the titles of "Prince/Princess of Hohenzollern", styles which were not recognised under German laws since 1919 but had been attributed, along with the Romanian royal titles, to members of the Romanian dynasty in such subsequently-published sources as the Almanach de Gotha and Burke's Guide to the Royal Family.
Descendants of the former royal family
wid. (1948-2016) of Queen Anne of Romania (1923-2016, age 92)
m. (1996) Radu Duda, assumed the title Prince Radu of Romania (1960, age 56)
div. (1983-1991) Leslie Robin Medforth-Mills (1942-2002, age 59)
m. (1998) Alexander Philips Nixon (McAteer) (1964, age 52)
div. (1983-2003) John Kreuger (1945, age 71)
m. (2007) John Wesley Walker (1945, age 71)
m. (2011) Tara Littlefield
m. (2009) Richard Robert Knight (1984, age 32)
div. (1998-2002) Alain Biarneix (1957, age 59)
div. (1995-2003) Casimir Mystkowski (1958, age 58)
Daughters of Romania's kings, such as Margareta, Elena, Irina and Sophie, as well as their descendants, had no rights of succession to the Romanian throne during the monarchy's existence in accordance with the Salic law enshrined in both the defunct royal Romanian Constitution of 1938 and the Statute of the Romanian royal house, dated 1884. On 30 December 2007 in a private ceremony, King Michael issued a declaration in the form of a statute, (an act of symbolic significance in the absence of its approval by the Parliament) promulgating new Fundamental Rules of the Royal Family of Romania.
Michael therein purported to add his daughters and their children to the headship of the former Royal House, further explicitly banning any other foreigners belonging to any other royal or princely house from succeeding. On the same occasion he asked the Romanian Parliament to abolish the Salic law, should it consider restoring the monarchy (see "Line of succession to the Romanian throne"). By the same act, Michael designated his grandson Nicholas de Roumanie Medforth-Mills as a future member of the deposed Royal Family and future "Prince of Romania" with the style of Royal Highness, effective either on his 25th birthday, 1 April 2010, or upon Michael's death, whichever might occur sooner. On 1 August 2015, however, King Michael issued a declaration retracting the style Royal Highness and of Romania previously conferred upon Nicholas, also excluding him from the line of succession to the headship of the dynasty, noting that his successors in that capacity should be persons of principled modesty and morality. Children and consorts of the members of the family who do not bear a royal title are not recognised as members of the former Royal Family according to the new "rules".
Family of Carol Mircea Hohenzollern
wed Lia-Georgia Hohenzollern (née Triff) (born 1949), with issue:
Deceased members of the royal family
m. Queen Elisabeth, The Queen Dowager of Romania (1843-1916)
m. Queen Marie, The Queen Dowager of Romania (1875–1938)
m. Queen Helen, The Queen Mother of Romania (1896-1982)