Radio România Internațional

Tag: Royal Family

  • Queen Anne, the last homage

    Queen Anne, the last homage

    Deep silence fell upon the imposing Throne Hall of the Royal Palace in Bucharest, with the motto of the Royal House, ”Nihil Sine Deo”, (Latin for ”Nothing Without God”) shining above the doorframe. Women make a reverence at the catafalque of Queen Anne, some of the men kneel down, children make the sign of the cross, and some of the elderly who lived, part of their lives during the monarchy, shed a tear of grief.



    Romanians come to the Royal Palace to bid a final farewell to the wife of Romania’s last sovereign, Michael I, Queen Anne, who died on August 1, in Switzerland. They pay floral tributes, light candles and leave messages of condolences in front of the Royal Palace and then enter the Throne Hall to pay their respects.



    A funeral wreath of white lilies has been placed on the coffin, veiled in the royal flag and guarded by military of the “Mihai Viteazul” Honour Guard Regiment. “The royal family is a symbol”, “Monarchy is normality”, “She was a great lady”, “Her passing leaves a gap in our hearts”-are only some of the words expressed by those who come to pay their last respects.



    Some of those who bid farewell to Queen Anne have shared their thoughts:


    “A pious thought and feelings of regret that Romania didn’t return to monarchy. It is one of the simplest things that a true Romanian can do.”



    “I had war veterans in my family, who fought in the Royal Army. Out of respect for them, if not out of greater respect for Their Majesties, we should be here”.



    “I think this is a gesture that each person should make, each Romanian who has the possibility to come here should pay their respects to this Lady of Romania and think of what she has accomplished or what she tried to achieve in her lifetime”.



    Apart from numerous common citizens, prominent personalities of the Romanian political and public life have paid their last respects to the departed Queen, whose remains were brought to Bucharest on Wednesday evening, from Peles Castle in Sinaia, Southern Carpathians.



    After a two-day public vigil in Bucharest, the coffin with Queen Anne’s remains will be brought into the Palace Square, and the bells of all Orthodox churches and of the “Saint Joseph” Roman-Catholic Cathedral will be tolling. Afterwards, the coffin will be taken to Curtea de Arges Monastery, the final resting place of Romanian royalties, in Southern Romania.



    Among the personalities who have announced their presence at Queen Anne’s funeral there are members of the Imperial Families of Russia, Austria and Germany, and of the Royal Families of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, of Baden, Württemberg and Bourbon-Parma. A painful absence will be that of King Michael, who is severely ill and who will be praying in Switzerland for the soul of the woman who stood by his side, far away from the country, in exile, for 68 years.



    A day of national mourning has been decreed for Saturday in Romania and the neighbouring Republic of Moldova.

  • Funeral Ceremonies for Queen Anne

    Funeral Ceremonies for Queen Anne

    Queen Anne of Romania returns to the country that she always loved, but that she only got to know in her old age. For five days, ceremonies will be held in all the key geographic landmarks of Romanian royalty. Queen Annes body will first be taken to Peles Castle, built in the 19th Century in Sinaia, in the Carpathians, by the founder of the Romanian dynasty, King Karl I, and then brought to Bucharest, in the Throne Room of the Royal Palace. The public will have access to the Palace on Thursday and Friday, and the burial is scheduled for Saturday, in Curtea de Arges, the first capital of the medieval principality of Wallachia.



    Doctors did not allow King Michael to attend the funeral. He will stay at his residence in Switzerland, accompanied by close friends and two Orthodox nuns. “This decision was made with deep sorrow, reads a news release issued by the Royal House. Aged 94 and very ill himself, King Michael visited his wife every day at the Swiss clinic where she was hospitalized before dying on August 1.



    Born in Paris in 1923, Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma met King Michael in London in 1947. Later the same year, on December 30, when Romania was under Soviet military occupation and led by a communist puppet government, the Sovereign was forced into exile. From the USA, Britain or Switzerland, he endorsed the activity of the Romanian National Committee, presented as a government in exile, although Western democracies never recognised it as such.



    In Bucharest, the communist regime constantly fuelled an aggressive anti-monarchy propaganda, whose toxic effects are yet to fully recede. King Michael was only permitted to return to Romania after the anti-communist Revolution of 1989, when he also regained his Romanian citizenship, withdrawn by communists, and part of his property. As a special ambassador, he lobbied for Romanias NATO accession in 2004 and EU accession in 2007.



    At home, the Royal Family undertook constantly, after repatriation, various charity and art patronage projects, thanks to which Romanians were finally able to know their deposed sovereigns. In an interview to Radio Romania in 2008, Queen Anne said that while in exile she had heard a lot from her husband about his homeland, but that a one-month journey across the country, from Dobrogea, in the south-east to Banat in the south-west and Transylvania, in the centre, had exceeded her expectations. She said she had found impressive cities, villages and landscapes, and met outstanding people.

  • March 26, 2016

    March 26, 2016

    BRUSSELS ATTACKS – The Romanian Foreign Ministry announced that the security threat level in Belgium, in the wake of Tuesdays attacks in Brussels, was lowered to 3, indicating a “serious threat. The Brussels metro was reopened, but restrictions remain in place on several lines and security forces run random checks. The international airport remains closed at least until Monday. On Friday Belgian police arrested another three individuals suspected of having ties with the terrorist cell that staged Tuesdays attacks, which killed 31 people and wounded another 300. Six other suspects were arrested on Thursday, after French and German police also arrested presumed militants having ties with the perpetrators of the attacks in Brussels and those in Paris last November. In France, president François Hollande said the network responsible for those attacks was about to be annihilated, but that other networks remained a threat.



    ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS – In March, Romanian authorities decided to escort out of the country 23 foreigners who were staying in Romania illegally, the General Immigration Inspectorate announced on Saturday. According to a news release, nation-wide operations led to the identification of 163 illegal foreigners. The police also issued 475 warnings and fines against people who breached the Romanian immigration laws. During the same month, 78 asylum applications were filed in Romania, most of them by citizens of Syria, Yemen and Somalia seeking international protection.



    ROYAL CELEBRATIONS – The Romanian Royal Family celebrates today 135 years since the proclamation of the Kingdom of Romania, as well as the birthday anniversary of Crown Princess Margareta. On behalf of King Mihai I, she will award medals to a number of personalities and institutions in Romania, Germany, France and the UK. An anniversary concert will also be organised. The former sovereign of Romania, aged 94, retired from public life early this month, and appointed Crown Princess Margareta to represent him in all public activities. Diagnosed with two types of cancer, King Mihai has recently undergone surgery at a clinic in Switzerland.



    POLITICS – The National Union for the Progress of Romania (UNPR), a small party in the former ruling coalition, is today electing its president in a special congress. The position has been vacant since the ex-Interior Minister Gabriel Oprea resigned, further to a corruption scandal in which he is accused of abuse of office in two cases. The partys interim president, the mayor of Bucharests District 2, Neculai Onţanu, was also arrested for bribe taking. The participants in the National Extraordinary Conference will also discuss the partys political platform, regulations and preparations for the local and parliamentary elections due this year.



    EASTER – Roman-Catholic and Protestants celebrate Easter this Sunday, five weeks ahead of the Orthodox and Eastern Catholics. Romania has a Catholic and Protestant community of nearly 1.5 million people. At midnight, they will take part in the special mass celebrating the Resurrection of Christ.



    DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME – Clocks change in Romania on Saturday night, when 3 am becomes 4 am. The practice, known as Daylight Saving Time, is meant to use sunlight as much as possible. In summer, clocks are turned forward by one hour. When Romania switches to summer time, there will be a 3-hour difference between Romanias time and UTC. More than 100 different countries worldwide use Daylight Saving Time. In Romania, it has been used since 1932.