Nicholas Medforth-Mills (formerly His Royal Highness Prince Nicholas of Romania)

[Benjamin]

But the person "close to King Michael" (How close? In Romania? In Switzerland? Or are they profiling himself as "spokesperson"?) can have an own agenda as well. It are the Balkans you know...

The source I was referring to is not Romanian and is not a public person, so I cannot disclose their identity. However, they have known the Romanian Royal Family for decades, long before any of the family returned to their country.

Interestingly, as I was going through the archives of another site, I came across a posting from someone else whom I know personally. This individual was previously close to the King, the Queen, Princess Margarita and Radu for a period of time. During an interview that this person conducted with the latter couple in 2000, the husband (and not his bona-fide royal wife) stated: "We will decide who becomes the head of the family, it is up to us."

So, once again, people can believe whatever they wish to about whether or not Radu has any influence on his in-laws. I am rather inclined to think that he does based on what I have heard from people who have interacted with the people in question themselves. Obviously, his contribution to the Royal House has been positive in some ways, and that should be considered, too.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

But since Radu has no any children, what would be any win for him to block Nicholas and how is it possible that the three born royals before Nicholas (Michael von Hohenzollern, Margarita von Hohenzollern and Elena von Hohenzollern) apparently agreed when it was all from Radu 'Rasputin' Duda? I find it hard to believe.

 

[wartenberg7]

But since Radu has no any children, what would be any win for him to block Nicholas and how is it possible that the three born royals before Nicholas (Michael von Hohenzollern, Margarita von Hohenzollern and Elena von Hohenzollern) apparently agreed when it was all from Radu 'Rasputin' Duda? I find it hard to believe.

....formerly Hohenzollerns

 

[Benjamin]

But since Radu has no any children, what would be any win for him to block Nicholas and how is it possible that the three born royals before Nicholas (Michael von Hohenzollern, Margarita von Hohenzollern and Elena von Hohenzollern) apparently agreed when it was all from Radu 'Rasputin' Duda? I find it hard to believe.

Of course you find it hard to believe-this is perhaps why you keep offering up the unlikely scenario that Nicholas just up and decided recently that he wanted nothing to do with his royal role when such an action flies in the face of both his actions and his words since he relocated to Romania.

Also, where did you get the idea that Margarita or Helen personally agreed to the change? Did the sisters issue some sort of public statement that no one has seen? No, instead, the announcement about the sudden exclusion of Nicholas by the King was made on the website of the Royal Family (one that was formerly the personal website of Radu).

 

[Benjamin]

....formerly Hohenzollerns

Indeed, dynastically speaking.

What's more, much like the Greek royals, King Michael's daughters always used "de Roumanie" as their surname, never "von Hohenzollern."


Sent from my iPhone using The Royals Community mobile app

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

A logic assessment of the situation as it is now learns that the only one whom had any possible 'gain' with all this, is Nicholas Medforth-Mills. If it was his aim indeed, then he has his own life back, his own privacy, his own destiny, his own career.

That is why it is not at all so weird to imagine a situation in which Nicholas honestly told his grandfather and his aunt (and his mother, we may assume, that is why I included her in the "decision") about his real thoughts about "Project Romania".

There was no any gain, no any win, no any advantage for any other involved in this whole saga. That is why I personally assess a scenario in which Nicholas clashed with his aunt/uncle on character (and therefore thrown out of the line of succession) far, far less likely than that it just was his very own desire. Needless to say that such a scenario came as a blow straight in the face of the former King and his aunt and that indeed might have led to relations becoming sour.

 

[Lee-Z]

^^^^^^
because we don't know all the details, you can't draw this conclusion: if all the info was out in the open, it could turn out that someone else *did* have something to gain with this

because we just don't know (and probably never will), this thread is going around and around lately

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

^^^^^^
because we don't know all the details, you can't draw this conclusion: if all the info was out in the open, it could turn out that someone else *did* have something to gain with this

because we just don't know (and probably never will), this thread is going around and around lately

That is true. And that is why the one sees the evil genius of Radu Duda behind all this. But when asked what would be the gain for him, it remains silent. The other -likes me- tries to see who could win with such a change. Who is the one which is affected? Nicholas. What changes for him? He is again the director of his very own life. Who had to loose everything, the gold bar in their hands, the future of the Royal House? King Michael and Princess Margarita. As there are no any signals about scandals or whatever, that leads to a possible scenario that it was all on Nicholas' request.

In the eye of King Michael -noblesse oblige- this of course is an utter lack of loyalty, of morals, of having a backbone. Maybe therefore the pretty hard judgement by the King's communiqué ("Romania and the Royal House needs someone with well balanced modesty, with moral principles, respect and always thinking of the others"). Who knows. I have always stressed that each guess us as good as the other. But we can deduct for ourselves "logic scenarios" of course.

 

[tihkon2]

Since everyone is still speculating, I don't see why it can't be a case of an out of touch, very old man who might not be quite as sharp in his faculties anymore, making a unilateral decision that everyone is too scared to object to in case he should decide to remove them from the succession too. Seeing as he manages to fiddle with the succession and add and remove family members' titles at any time that it enters his head. I don't know if that's the case, but it wouldn't surprise me. King Michael was a very good monarch at one time, but it's been 68 years since he reigned.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

It seemed the outcome was discussed with the King's circle. Nicholas agreed with the decision. His mother Princess Elena was informed. Ultimately it was the Chef de la Maison who took the decision but it seemed discussed before.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

Why is everyone pointing to King Michael's age but say nothing about his colleague on the UK, sharing the same age?

 

[tihkon2]

Perhaps because we see Queen Elizabeth out and about nearly every day? And she seems alert and vigorous?
I have no information on King Michael's health, but rarely see him at all.

I can only judge what I read, and as I've said, he seems to add and subtract titles and membership in the royal succession willy nilly.

 

[Admiral Horthy]

Not all elderly people lose the ability to make sensible and informed decisions. The Queen not only seems on top of her game but so does Prince Phillip.

 

[LadyRohan]

I think this turn of events in the Romanian Royal Family, can simply be summed up with one word: sad.
In a country where the popularity of the Royal Family was on the up, a change like this cannot possibly be seen as positive, and I am truly wondering what the family will decide to do now.

It doesn't strike me as very likely that another heir can be conjured up from the family lineage, be introduced to the Romanian populace and be embraced, when most people who might be positively inclined or open-minded towards the RF and the monarchy itself, cannot know how long the next heir will be around.

At this point, we still do not know exactly what the reasons behind this decision is, but one can draw some clues from the information that has come out. Sources close to the family have made it clear there is no issue around sexual orientation, so that's not it. It would appear that the decision was not sought by Mr. Medforth-Mills himself, from the briefing given by His Majesty himself.

Without further knowledge, and without wanting to offend the King or his words, I wonder if this is not entirely truthful.
It cannot be more than speculation at this point, but I wonder if the King has not wanted to assume the blame and the annoyance around the decision, to shield his grandson from what is more likely Nicholas' own decision.

My reasoning for that thinking is this: His Majesty is first, and foremost, as a former reigning King, a father and grandfather. I do not imagine a scenario in which he would remove his grandson, whom he knows is the future hope of the monarchy in Romania, from the line of succession and the public eye, without his grandsons consent and following his wish. I would imagine he met with the Crown Princess and certain other senior members of the Royal Household to discuss how to best release this news, and that despite the slightly clumsily worded announcement, they agreed to shoulder the blame and shield Nicholas himself. From what has come out and what we know about the Romanian Royal Family, conjuring up a conspiracy of any kind, involving any other member of the Royal House, cannot be supported by any reasonable thinking or facts. The Crown Princess and Prince Radu have nothing to gain at all from this decision. The King loses an heir, in a country that was becoming comfortable with the growing presence of their RF, and Prince Nicholas himself.

When it comes to the mental health of His Majesty, I think we can safely assume that in this day and age, any king, reigning or not, would be kept from making questionable decisions, by those around him. The communiqué made it clear that this decision was made by the King, after consultations and discussions. It therefore stands to reason that it is not affected by any diminished mental capacities or undue influences.

With a Crown Princess who has no children, several estranged daughters and remaining heirs foreigners to their grandfathers country, it seems that there are no winners in this situation, except for Mr. Medforth-Mills himself, who is now able to piece together a life outside of a royal sphere.

Therefore, the only logical conclusion is that that was the outcome that was wanted. If this is the case, I am deeply disappointed, as Prince Nicholas was doing a very good job inside of Romania, connecting with a growing number of people, organizations and charities and that this would should had continued.

If not, this decision is an enormous blunder, and one that might prove to remove any hope of restoring the Romanian monarchy in the foreseeable future.

 

[LadyFinn]

Why is everyone pointing to King Michael's age but say nothing about his colleague on the UK, sharing the same age?

Because every people is different. One can be alert and vigorous to 100 years and one can be very frail and not able to function at 75. Alzheimers can start even before people are 50 years old. I'm not meaning that king Michael has Alzheimers.
No one of us knows how sharp king Michael is mentally nowadays. We see photos of him a couple of times a year.

And I still think that Nicholas didn't want that his title was taken.
If he would have wanted that, it would have been much better that his statement would have been published at the royal family website and the king's statement that he accepted Nicholas' decision. Nicholas would have been in Switzerland when the decision was made and we would have seen a photo of Nicholas and king Michael embracing or shaking hands after the king would have accepted Nicholas' decision to give up his title.
Nicholas was/is liked and popular in Romania, but people would have understood if he would have written a statement that due to his background and past outside Romania and that he wasn't raised to a HRH, he feels that a work as a HRH and a member of the Royal Family isn't the right thing for him.

Everything would have been clear then, some people would have been disappointed but understood Nicholas' decision in the long run. And king Michael, crown princess Margarita and prince Radu would have got out of the situation with an honor. There wouldn't have been any mystery in the whole thing and people wouldn't have to think what is behind all this.
But the King's statement hinted that Nicholas lacks modesty and the advisor of the Royal Family said at interviews that some of Nicholas' ways to work aren't suitable to a member of the Royal Family.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

Not all elderly people lose the ability to make sensible and informed decisions. The Queen not only seems on top of her game but so does Prince Phillip.

Interesting that you are able to draw conclusions about three people without any assessment. Maybe King Michael has a sharper insight and a clearer mind that Queen ELizabeth and Prince Philip together. Who knows? We have not seen them.

Anyway, neiter Queen Elizabeth II nor Prince Philip are on top of their game. Generally people are physically and mentally at their best between 30 and 50 years. A person of around 90 is nowhere "top of the game" compared with someone 50 years younger.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

I think this turn of events in the Romanian Royal Family, can simply be summed up with one word: sad.
In a country where the popularity of the Royal Family was on the up, a change like this cannot possibly be seen as positive, and I am truly wondering what the family will decide to do now.

It doesn't strike me as very likely that another heir can be conjured up from the family lineage, be introduced to the Romanian populace and be embraced, when most people who might be positively inclined or open-minded towards the RF and the monarchy itself, cannot know how long the next heir will be around.

At this point, we still do not know exactly what the reasons behind this decision is, but one can draw some clues from the information that has come out. Sources close to the family have made it clear there is no issue around sexual orientation, so that's not it. It would appear that the decision was not sought by Mr. Medforth-Mills himself, from the briefing given by His Majesty himself.

Without further knowledge, and without wanting to offend the King or his words, I wonder if this is not entirely truthful.
It cannot be more than speculation at this point, but I wonder if the King has not wanted to assume the blame and the annoyance around the decision, to shield his grandson from what is more likely Nicholas' own decision.

My reasoning for that thinking is this: His Majesty is first, and foremost, as a former reigning King, a father and grandfather. I do not imagine a scenario in which he would remove his grandson, whom he knows is the future hope of the monarchy in Romania, from the line of succession and the public eye, without his grandsons consent and following his wish. I would imagine he met with the Crown Princess and certain other senior members of the Royal Household to discuss how to best release this news, and that despite the slightly clumsily worded announcement, they agreed to shoulder the blame and shield Nicholas himself. From what has come out and what we know about the Romanian Royal Family, conjuring up a conspiracy of any kind, involving any other member of the Royal House, cannot be supported by any reasonable thinking or facts. The Crown Princess and Prince Radu have nothing to gain at all from this decision. The King loses an heir, in a country that was becoming comfortable with the growing presence of their RF, and Prince Nicholas himself.

When it comes to the mental health of His Majesty, I think we can safely assume that in this day and age, any king, reigning or not, would be kept from making questionable decisions, by those around him. The communiqué made it clear that this decision was made by the King, after consultations and discussions. It therefore stands to reason that it is not affected by any diminished mental capacities or undue influences.

With a Crown Princess who has no children, several estranged daughters and remaining heirs foreigners to their grandfathers country, it seems that there are no winners in this situation, except for Mr. Medforth-Mills himself, who is now able to piece together a life outside of a royal sphere.

Therefore, the only logical conclusion is that that was the outcome that was wanted. If this is the case, I am deeply disappointed, as Prince Nicholas was doing a very good job inside of Romania, connecting with a growing number of people, organizations and charities and that this would should had continued.

If not, this decision is an enormous blunder, and one that might prove to remove any hope of restoring the Romanian monarchy in the foreseeable future.

Your post largely fits in my way of thinking that it all originates from Nicholas. That the communication was -at best- 'misty' and leaving a lot of smoke, most likely has to do with the difficult message. The only "winner" of all this is King Michael's own chosen Heir according his own changed rules: he has regained his life and cut off all ties. And now King Michael has no serious Heir anymore: it remains to see if Karina Medforth-Mills and Elisabeth Biarneix have any interest at all.

The three options for the moment are:
- King Michael will be succeeded by Princess Margareta and it ends after her
- King Michael will be succeeded by Princess Margareta and then it will go to the House of Hohenzollern
- King Michael decides to undone all changes and follow the succession as worded in the last royal constitution: his Heir will be the Fürst von Hohenzollern

 

[wartenberg7]

Why is everyone pointing to King Michael's age but say nothing about his colleague on the UK, sharing the same age?

Possibly the Queen, for instance, didn´t ban her grandson Harry despite drug and alcohol abuse, "private" strip poker parties with questionable girls etc, etc from the line of succession, because he still remains a great trump for the monarchy...!?

 

[RomanianRoyality]

That is true. And that is why the one sees the evil genius of Radu Duda behind all this. But when asked what would be the gain for him, it remains silent.

Radu Duda past and his linkage with Securitatea (the infamous and mighty powerful secret service) still remains unclear
Some says Duda is only an undercover operative officer of secret service infiltrated in Royal House just to destroy it from the inside
Anyway the episode when Duda run for 2009 Romanian presidential remains a mystery even today. Why a very important member of a Royal family would run for President?

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

Possibly the Queen, for instance, didn´t ban her grandson Harry despite drug and alcohol abuse, "private" strip poker parties with questionable girls etc, etc from the line of succession, because he still remains a great trump for the monarchy...!?

You overlooked that the Queen -in contrary to Michael- has no any possibility or authority to exclude someone from the line of succession.

Funny that at the one side you seem to approve the unilateral decision by King Michael to change the succession, so that his children and grandchildren become successors. A most discutable decision purely based on personal will. But when King Michael makes another unilateral decison, then you suddenly blame him for making this sort of decisions...

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

Radu Duda past and his linkage with Securitatea (the infamous and mighty powerful secret service) still remains unclear
Some says Duda is only an undercover operative officer of secret service infiltrated in Royal House just to destroy it from the inside
Anyway the episode when Duda run for 2009 Romanian presidential remains a mystery even today. Why a very important member of a Royal family would run for President?

Anyone is free to run for a political office, see former King Simon of Bulgaria...

As you yourself indicate the links of Radu Duda with the Securitate are rumours ("some says") .

Ion Iliescu was a member of the Communist Party and it's Central Committee. He became President of Romania.

Traian Băsescu was a marine officer from the Romanian State Merchant Fleet, he was a member of the Communist Party and he had proven links with the Securitate althout he claimed these were "only functional". He became President of Romania.

Nicolae Văcăroiu was a member of the Communist Party and sat in the Committee for State Planning. He became President of Romania.

I fail to see why all these gentlemen with proven links to the Communist Party (clap-clap-clap! for Nicolae and Elena! clap-clap-clap!) could become President of Romania but now Radu Duda is "suspect"....

Jajaja....

 

[wartenberg7]

You overlooked that the Queen -in contrary to Michael- has no any possibility or authority to exclude someone from the line of succession.

Funny that at the one side you seem to approve the unilateral decision by King Michael to change the succession, so that his children and grandchildren become successors. A most discutable decision purely based on personal will. But when King Michael makes another unilateral decison, then you suddenly blame him for making this sort of decisions...

I bet she could if she wanted. You state that she had not the authority needed to be proven!
Both the Duchess of York as well as the Princess of Wales lost their "HRH", just like Nicholas, after they got divorced - I guess not the Prime minister nor anybody else stripped them from the title... And yes, I know the 2 ladies were never, unlike Mihai´s grandson, in the line of the british succession.
Queen Margrethe then again decided that her former daughter-in-law Alexandra remained a Princess and a HRH until she would remarry. Even then, though not from the danish Queen´s own blood, Alexandra was given a noble title.
This is not about judging a King´s decisions but about the lack of understanding why a monarch creates his own flesh and blood a royal Prince, then this grandson performs a great job, wins sympathies among royalists and even average romanians, which could have lead to a restoration some day, to be kicked out after only 5 years again, stripped of all honours while other Royals much more dramatic antics cause only some evil headlines and everything´s fine again after 1 or 2 weeks!

 

[Admiral Horthy]

Interesting that you are able to draw conclusions about three people without any assessment. Maybe King Michael has a sharper insight and a clearer mind that Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip together. Who knows? We have not seen them.

Anyway, neither Queen Elizabeth II nor Prince Philip are on top of their game. Generally people are physically and mentally at their best between 30 and 50 years. A person of around 90 is nowhere "top of the game" compared with someone 50 years younger.

I am sorry you can not read. I did not mention "three people" in my post.

As for being "at the top of her game", I did not mean that in an athletic sense. I meant, clumsily worded perhaps, that not all elderly people are feeble minded, which very obviously neither the Queen nor her consort are. My "assessment", from afar, is that they appear frequently in public, in the news, in videos, and keep up a rather rigorous schedule that would wear out quite a few people half their ages. My statement was a general "defense" of the elderly that not all old people are daft.

As for the King, the last speech I heard him make was in Parliament a number of years ago and he sounded rather weak. I understand he is very old and the Queen is frail but he has not made nearly the effort his daughter, her husband and his grandson have made in promoting the family. He is basically absent from the public eye. Do I expect him to keep up Nicholas' schedule, of course not, but he could be a bit more present.

There seem to be two vital elements to a successful monarchy: a respected monarch and a popular, young heir with children. The British have a beloved Queen whose grandsons and great-grandchildren point to the future.

In Romania Michael was respected and Nicholas was the future. Now, nothing. Margarita, though I have said many times how much I admire and respect her, is the period at the end of the novel without Nicholas.

 

[Benjamin]

Radu Duda past and his linkage with Securitatea (the infamous and mighty powerful secret service) still remains unclear
Some says Duda is only an undercover operative officer of secret service infiltrated in Royal House just to destroy it from the inside
Anyway the episode when Duda run for 2009 Romanian presidential remains a mystery even today. Why a very important member of a Royal family would run for President?

Thank you for reminding us of this, RomanianRoyalty.

Several people who were very friendly with the King and his family were quite dismayed when Radu's past involvement with the Securitate emerged after he married Margarita.

As to what he has to gain by shoving Nicholas out of the public eye, this should be rather obvious if one contends that his sole motivation is to promote himself, first and foremost.

People are naive to believe that these sorts of decisions are necessarily based on logic.

 

[CSENYC]

I bet she could if she wanted. You state that she had not the authority needed to be proven!

Queen Elizabeth cannot exclude someone from the royal succession. The British Parliament (and the governments of the Commonwealth Realms) together alone have that power.

See how a recent change was made: certainly not by the Queen herself:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Succession_to_the_Crown_Act_2013

In democracies, the people choose their leaders. Kings and queens who aren't directly elected by popular vote are still chosen by the people, indirectly through the constitutions or other laws of the countries where they reign. Kings and queens can't arbitrarily pick their successors. At least not in Europe.

 

[Blog Real]

Nicholas of Romania, dethroned by 'moral principles'?
Nicol?s de Ruman?a, destronado por 'principios morales' | loc | EL MUNDO

 

[fearghas]

Nicholas of Romania, dethroned by 'moral principles'?
Nicol?s de Ruman?a, destronado por 'principios morales' | loc | EL MUNDO

Google wont translate it for me, can you give me an idea of what it says

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

I bet she could if she wanted. You state that she had not the authority needed to be proven!
Both the Duchess of York as well as the Princess of Wales lost their "HRH", just like Nicholas, after they got divorced - [...]

The difference with Lady Diana Spencer and Sarah Ferguson was that they were no successors and only held a title by virtue of marriage. When those marriages ended, it was in the Queen's prerogative to decide upon the form of address of her two former daughters-in-law.

That is something completely different than removing, let us say, Prince Harry out of the line of succession. She has no any power, no any authority to do so. It requires a hefty and complicated political and juridical procedure to get her grandson Harry out of the line of succession. Not -like Michael- with one scratch of her pen.

At the same time, the Queen can also not change the line of succession and add, like Michael, new successors with one scratch of her pen.

 

[tommy100]

Google wont translate it for me, can you give me an idea of what it says

It basically talks about how no one knows for sure why he lost his place in the succession. It suggests it could be because he is gay, likes gambling or that his desire to go into business was incompatible with being Royal. It also talks about the fact Radu does not like being 'in his place, one step behind his wife' and is very 'ambitious' and wants to be King on day.
It also says that Nicholas has gone to Kenya to escape the fuss.

 

[eya]

In short nothing new