| 90 Years since the Crowning of the Kings of Greater Romania |
| (2012-10-15) |
| Last updated: 2012-10-16 12:11 EET |
90 years ago, on October 15th, Alba Iulia saw the crowning of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie as sovereigns of Greater Romania. The crowning celebration took place in front of the Reunification Cathedral and marked the unification of all Romanian provinces in one single state after WWI. According to historians almost 80 thousand people participated in the celebrations, among whom members of the European Royal Houses and members of diplomacy.
Attending the ceremonies held Monday in Alba Iulia to celebrate 90 years since coronation were the heirs of the Romanian royal family, princess Margareta, prince Radu and prince Nicolae of Romania.
An outstanding personality of the Romanian monarchy, a symbol of national unity, Prince Ferdinand was born in Germany. He was a Roman Catholic and his full name was Ferdinand Viktor Albert Meinrad of Hohenzollern Sigmaringen, the son of Leopold and Infanta Antonia of Portugal. Young Ferdinand became the heir of his uncle, Carol I of Romania after his father and his older brother, Wilhelm, gave up the throne. In 1893 he married Princess Marie of Edinburgh, the niece of Queen Victoria of Great Britain and tsar Alexander II of Russia. In 1914, aged 49, after the death of his uncle, Carol I, Ferdinand became king of Romania, but the moment that made him famous for Romania’s history took place 2 years later.
In August 1916 the King presided the Crown Council when a dramatic decision was made, namely Romania’s entering the war against Germany, the king’s native country. Although his family rejected him, he was loyal to his adoptive country and took the most important step for the achievement of the Great Union of 1918 that led to the consolidation of the Romanian unitary nation state. During King Ferdinand 13-year kingship, Romania made extraordinary progress in the cultural, political and economic fields, which proved the will to develop and the intelligence of a people with whom King Ferdinand identified himself.
Since 1890 King Ferdinand was an honorary member of the Romanian Academy and since 1914 until his death, in 1927, he was the patron and honorary president of the Academy. Queen Marie permanently supported him during the crucial moments of Romania’s history. Active, intelligent and educated, Queen Marie got involved in Romania’s development, being a remarkable ambassador of Romania. “I knew how to put Romania on the map” said Queen Marie in her writings and historians cannot but agree with her statement.
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2025-04-03
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