"Maria - Queen of Romania"
Maria Alexandra Victoria, who was to become the Queen of the Unified Romania in 1918, was born at Eastwell - Park on the 17th of October 1875. Her father was Alfred, Duke of Edinborough. Queen Victoria's son. Queen Mary's mother was duchess Maria Alexandrova tzar's Alexander 11 of Russia only daughter.
When she was only 16 she became engaged to be married to Ferdinand von Hohenzollern, the heir of the crown of Romania. The necessary steps had been taken by Charley, princess of Saxa-Meiningen, the German King's elder sister. The ceremony took place at the new palace in Potsdam on the 21st of May 1892. Wilhem 11 of Germany took part in this celebration.
This marriage could have had serious consequence not only for the Romanian kingdom which was to make an alliance with a great power but for the Great Britain as well where the succession to the throne was to come up. The Lord Chancellor had to eliminate the risk of any complication of this kind.
William Evart Gladstone was aquainted with the questions and events Romania experienced at that time. In 1878 he congratulated the independent Romania viewing it as a future "house of liberty" and he expressed his regrets for the loss of the south of Basarabia taken by Russia.
William Evart Gladstone drew up the treaty concluded between King Carol and Queen Victoria. According to an earlier stipulation - "Act of settlement" (1701) that provided the loss of the right to inherit the crown should the presumtive heir marry a Roman-Catholic - princess Mary gave up for ever all her rights to the succession to the throne of England.
Although Queen Victoria wanted the wedding to take place in the Chapel Saint George at Windsor she gave up the idea because of the controversies between the two churches. Vatican reproached the Catholic prince for the marriage with a Protestant.
The wedding was celebrated at Sigmaringen on the 29th of December 1892 according to the brides' both religions.
The Royal couple arrived in Bucharest on February 4, 1893. The President of the Council of Ministers made public an official paper in which King Carol said that his marriage was a successful completition of his work aiming at "the progress of the Romanian nation".
In that very day symbollically 32 couples each of the counties of the country married in 32 churches in Bucharest.
Upon the occasion, the wife of the Prime Minister collected an amount of money to purchase a tiara which the princess had asked to be used in a charity foundation "Domnita Maria" (Princess Mary) that later on supported and encouraged folk art and ressurection of old traditions.
As early as her arrival in Romania Princess Mary wanted to share the destiny of the country, the future of the Romanian. In 1914 before her crowning she gave birth to six children: Carol (the future King of Romania), Elisabeth (the future Queen of Greece), Marioara (the future Queen of Jugoslavia), Nicolas (the future heir to the crown of Romania), Ileana and Mircea.
Her efforts strengthened the ties of Romania with England and increased the importance on the young Romanian state which started playing an important role in European politics. Its role became more important as the likelihood of the national unification was increasing by a change in the Romanian foreign policy.
Under the political circumstanced of the war Queen Mary proved her skills in the field of diplomacy with a constant focus on the vital interests of Romania with in the network of international relationships. Even before her coronation in August 1914 she was against the involvement of Romania in the war on the side of the Central Powers supporting an alliance with the Entente in order to achieve the unification of the Romanian iprovinces still under the rule of the Austrian - Hungarian Empire
Throughout King Ferdinand's rule she was his constant collaborator taking part in the great decisions of vital importance for the Romanian people.
Queen Mary used her multiple skills, outstanding audacity and energy almost unknown to the Royal families becoming a nurse while Romania was at war.
After the enemy occupied Bucharest she took refuge in Iasi but she shared as always people's sufferings caused by the war.
Queen Mary was ready anytime to go anywhere sometimes risking her health while visiting the wounded and the sick returned from the front as she had done before in 1913 when she had gone to visit the cholera camps. Her presence everywhere aroused everybody's courage and gave them the hope in the final victory.
Queen Mary had never lost her confidence in the final triumph of the Entente and she carried out her difficult mission to persuade the political English leader of the rightfulness of the Romanian cause. In the letters sent to the British government during the war she made known the necessity that Romania should get back to its former bounderies. Queen Mary supported with her strong will and well-known energy the resistence of the Romanian army in the "triangle of death", the only free plot of land in Romania.
Queen Mary was rewarded for her tenacity throughout the Romanian tragedy in achieving the national ideal when the unification of the whole country was accomplished. Thus her prophecies came true.
While the Peace Conference in Paris (1919) was carried on she was undertaking an enormous activity for the international recognition of a Unified Romania. Many foreign countries viewed her as a symbol of the national resurrection. She made endeavors to present the interests of Romania the best she could paying official visits to the King of England, meetting political leaders of the states of the Entente and president Wilson in Paris in April 11, 1919.
After the coronation in Alba Iulia in October 15, 1922 King Ferdinand and Queen Mary visited several western countries while she made known the history and culture of the Romanian people. Her journey to the United States of America in 1926 was looked upon as a brilliant success.
In 1927 King, Ferdinand and I. C. Bratianu died. Queen Mary had a strong influence over the political life mainly directed towards regency.
After having been proclaimed king on the 8th of June 1930 Carol II consistently aimed at making Queen Mary give up the political matters. Consequently, she used to spend her time far away from Bucharest, at Bran and Balcic.
Her absence from the Royal court favored the influence of the court clique on Carol II, whose intentions to set up his personal authority became more and more obvious until February 1938 when he carried them out.
On the 17th of February 1938 Queen Mary left for Italy taking her doctors advice to spend some time at Merano because she had been ill since 1937. In April she went to dr. Lahmann's sanitarium in Weisser Hirsch near Dresden. Although the doctors considered her health unfit for a long and tiresome journey. Queen Mary decided to leave for Romania on the 27th of June to rest in peace for ever.
Queen Mary died at Pelisor castle on the 18th of July. Newspapers all over the world-even in the countries with which Romania had been at war - published articles to pay homage to the great departed. According to her will Queen Mary's body was buried in the church of Curtea de Arges and her heart was kept at her foundation "Stella Maris" at Balcic.
Her lifeless heart could not find its peace. After the Quadrilater was surrendered to Bulgaria it had to be taken away and put in the niche of the rock near Bran castle. In 1968 the casket with Queen Mary's heart put in the Bran castle and in March 1971 it was brought to the National History Museum of Romania.
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