Ferdinand I (1865-1927) and Marie of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1875-1938)

[Cory]

She was quite good friend a while with Maruca Cantacuzino and Martha Bibescu, two wonderful romanian aristocrats.

[Cory]

On the 9th of July there was a Mass of Requiem for Queen Maria of Romania at the Orthodox Cathedral "St.Peter and Paul" in Chisinau (ancient romanian region of Basarabia):

Regina Maria, comemorată la ChiÈ™inău « Romania. Altfel

[Ekaterina Romanova]

Well..after seen pictures of Ferdinand as a toddler, i highly doubt that Mignon was Gd Boris `s daughter

Look

Ferdinand with his older brother Wilhelm



Mignon, to compare



The resemblance is strong!!

About Mircea and Ileana, i think both were Stirbey`s kids, tho, only Mircea was recognice such as.

[Rebafan81]

The above posted picture of the two toddlers, both are boys? I know I am ignorant about Eastern Europian Royalty, but they look like boy and girl.

[Russophile]

Originally Posted by Ekaterina Romanova

Well..after seen pictures of Ferdinand as a toddler, i highly doubt that Mignon was Gd Boris `s daughter

Per "Born to Rule" it is reported that Marie said it was GD Boris' child.

[Ekaterina Romanova]

Yes, i read that but its that a 100% reliable source? . Im not doubting , i d just want to know, cause i ve read so many stories like Marie telling this to Ferdinand, angry because she wanted to give birth in Coburg and Ferdinand didnt allow her this.


Yes, those are two boys. In victorian era toddler till 4 yrs old used dresses and some of them even banana curls! as king Manuel of Portugal

[Russophile]

Originally Posted by Ekaterina Romanova

Yes, i read that but its that a 100% reliable source? . Im not doubting , i d just want to know, cause i ve read so many stories like Marie telling this to Ferdinand, angry because she wanted to give birth in Coburg and Ferdinand didnt allow her this.

No I can't say that it's 100% accurate. I wasn't there either so I don't rightly know. Cited were sources from Van Der Kiste and that I don't have access to at the moment. Also the Hannah Pakula bio. is not in my vacinity. However, given the Ducky book (Fatal Passion) about how Missy flirted heavily with Boris and that in Born to Rule she cited Mignon as her "Love Child" to President and Mrs. Coolidge (which, it was reported went over like a Led Zepplin) , it stands to reason that Mignon was NOT Ferdinands.

[HazelFrance]

I have recently been informed that my great aunt was the governess to the children of the Romanian royal family. The children in question must have been those of Ferdinand and Maria, as it was in the years leading up to WW1 and also during the Austro-German occupation of Romania, as my aunt was forced to walk in the gutter whenever she passed the occupation troops in the street. Can anybody tell me how I could go about verifying this? My aunt was born Ruth Eleanor Pickering in 1877, married Edward Beck in 1902, so was probably known to the family as Mrs. Beck, or perhaps even Nellie. Any tips would be gratefully received. Thank you, Hazel (France)

[Warren]

In Hannah Pakula's biography of Queen Marie "The Last Romantic" several governesses are mentioned by name but there is no Pickering or Beck (this of course is not conclusive).

[HazelFrance]

Thanks for looking, Warren. It's possible her position in the household has become embellished over the years or that she exaggerated her status herself but, in my experience, family stories always have a grain of truth in them. I would be very surprised if she had been governess to the children, as she probably retained vestiges of her Northern accent. However, she must have been attached to the royal family in some way and with them in Romania c1916, as I'm sure she could not have made up the anecdote about the occupation troops. Also, she moved in upper class circles in later life in London.

[Charlotte1]

The best source of information on British governesses to the royal courts is Charlotte Zeepvat's excellent book (highly recommended!) "From the Cradle to Crown British nannies and governesses at the world's royal court"

There's an index at the back with the names of the governesses and nannies, there is no Pickering or Beck listed.

There is some information about who the governesses were in Romania.

In 1898 Saxton Winter (quite a famous governess as she was the governess of the young Queen Wilhemina) was employed to be governess to the young Carol (future Carol II). She had a falling out with Carol's mother and left in 1900, her successor was an Irish woman Anne Louisa Ffollliot. At the same time there was a nursery nurse who looked after the children, her name was Mary Green and she was called "Nana".

There's no further mention of nannies or governesses until the 1920s and the young Michael's feature.

[catsco]

In Charlotte Zeepvat's book or any other sources, is there any mention of Amy Smith as a nanny to Prince Carol? (Amy Smith was my great aunt)

[Cory]

Queen Maria was a very friendly person but there is no evidence she had an affair with her russian cousin Boris.

I have never heard anything about her.

[Cory]

Coronation of King Ferdinand I and Queen Maria at Alba Iulia :

YouTube - Încoronarea de la Alba Iulia

[Cory]

Funeral of Queen Maria:

YouTube - Funerales de la reina Maria de Rumania / Funeral queen's Maria of Romania

[Cory]

For who wants to remember Queen Maria here there is a short interview with her:

YouTube - Interview to queen Maria of Romania / Entervew of queen Maria of Romania

[Cory]

Visit of Queen Maria in the USA in 1926:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1OXY...eature=related

[Russophile]

Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,
A medley of extemporanea;
And love is a thing that can never go wrong;
And I am Marie of Romania. Dorothy Parker,

[Vasillisos Markos]

Originally Posted by Russophile

Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,
A medley of extemporanea;
And love is a thing that can never go wrong;
And I am Marie of Romania. Dorothy Parker,

I took English literature in college and we spent a little bit of time studying Dorothy Parker and the Algonquin Round Table. I always remember this little ditty by Parker. Another anecdote I will never forget was when Parker once arrived at a doorway the same time as Clare Booth Luce, who wrote The Women. Luce gestured for Parker to go first and sneered, "Age before beauty." Parker sailed past Luce and said, "Pearls before swine." What a wit!

In the you tube video of Queen Marie's funeral, it shows Grand Duke Dmitri in attendance. They were related through Marie's mother but does anyone know if they had a lot of contacts through the years or what exactly was their relationship (close, friendly, etc.)?

[Russophile]

I don't know VM. There wasn't much written about GDD. I didn't find anything about it in the book on Queen Marie (Born to Rule) and I haven't found anything in Queen Marie's autobio.
Here's another place to look, I haven't looked fully here yet. You might find something.
Queen Marie - Regina Maria of Romania