King of Romania

King Of Romania

The King of the Romanians (in Romanian: Regele Românilor), was the sovereign of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947, when Romania was proclaimed a People's Republic following King Michael's forced abdication.

The state had been internationally recognized as the Principality of Romania since 1862, after the creation of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, a personal union between Wallachia and Moldavia, at that time vassal states of the Ottoman Empire. Alexandru Ioan Cuza became Prince of Romania after the official unification of the two formerly separate crowns, being elected prince of both states in 1859. He was deposed in 1866 by a broad coalition of the main political parties, after which the Parliament offered the crown to the German Prince Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who subsequently become the new Prince of Romania.

Romania's independence from the Ottoman Empire was recognized in 1878 at the Congress of Berlin; the principality turned into a sovereign kingdom in 1881, with Prince Carol becoming King Carol I of Romania.

In 1927, King Ferdinand died, and the country was left in the care of Michael despite Carol II being his father. Carol II, unlike King Carol I, in the beginning had no desire to rule Romania, and was frequently out of the country exploring the rest of Europe with his mistress. Michael's first reign would be short lived at only three years, until his father Carol II came back to contest the title at the behest of a dissatisfied political faction that staged a sudden 'coup d'état' (in spite of the fact that only a few years earlier he had renounced in official documents, written and signed in front of his own father, all his future claims to the throne of Romania).

After a ten-year rule, Carol II gave up his royal title to be able to leave Romania and marry his mistress Elena Lupescu. The couple ultimately settled in Portugal, and the 'playboy king' was never recalled back to Romania.

The kingdom of Romania was a constitutional monarchy for most of its existence with the exception of 1938–1944, during the dictatorships of Carol II (1938–1940) and Marshal Ion Antonescu (1940–1944). On 23 August 1944, King Michael restored the last democratic royal Constitution of 1923. However, during his second reign (1940–1947), Michael reigned mostly as an unconstitutional king, without a constitutional oath or a parliamentary vote. Parliament was initially suspended and reinstated only later, in 1946. Michael was instead crowned and anointed king by the Orthodox Patriarch of Romania, Nicodim Munteanu, in the Patriarchal Cathedral of Bucharest, on the day of his second accession, 6 September 1940. However, legally, Michael could not exercise much authority besides some prerogatives such as being the Supreme Head of the Army and designating a plenipotentiary Prime-Minister ("Conducător/Leader").

In August 1944, with Soviet troops already deep inside Romania's territory, King Michael deposed the Nazi-allied dictator Ion Antonescu at the urge of the opposition parties, and aligned the country with the Allies. Helped by the presence of Soviet forces, communists gradually took control of the administration. In December 1947 King Michael abdicated and left Romania at the request of the communist-dominated government, while Parliament proclaimed the country a republic.

After the Revolution of 1989, the former King Michael visited Romania to an enthusiastic reception in the streets of Bucharest, however the country preserved its republican character.