King of Romania
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The King of Romania was the title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947 when Romania was proclaimed a republic.
The state was previously the Principality of Romania from 1862 when the Ottoman suzerainties of Wallachia and Moldavia were formally united under Alexander John Cuza as Prince of Romania, or Domnitor. Cuza had become the prince of the separate principalities in 1859. He was deposed in 1866 by the Romanian parliament which then invited a German prince of the Hohenzollern family, Carol (Charles) of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, to become the new Prince of Romania.
Romania's independence from the Ottoman Empire was recognized in 1878 at the Congress of Berlin; the principality became a sovereign kingdom in 1881, with Prince Carol becoming King Carol I.
Romania was a constitutional monarchy for most of its existence as a kingdom with the exception for 1938-1939 when Carol II deposed his government and instituted a royal dictatorship.
In 1927, King Ferdinand passed away and left the country to Prince Mihai despite Carol being his father. Carol had no desire to rule Romania, and was frequently out of the country exploring the rest of Europe with his mistress. Mihai's first rule of two would be short lived at a span of only three years until his father came back to accept the title at the behest of dissatisfied politicians.
After ten years of rule, King Carol II gave up his royal title and all accoutrements attached to move from Romania and marry Magda Lupescu. They ultimately settled in Portugal, and the 'playboy king' was never called back to Romania.
Mihai's short years were about to seem much longer as 1944 brought the Soviet forces close to the east of Romania. Despite being polically aligned with the Allied forces after withdrawing Romania from its alliance with the Nazis due to the Ion Antonescu's politics, the Soviet occupation soon began. In December of 1947 the communists announced the abolition of the monarchy, so Mihai abdicated and left the country.
After the fall of communism in 1989, Prince Michael (or King Mihai, depending upon whom you ask) visited Romania to some of the largest crowds recorded in the streets of Bucureşti (Bucharest).
List of the Kings of Romania
- Carol I (1881-1914) (previously ruled as Domnitor or Prince of Romania from 1866)
- Ferdinand (1914-1927)
- Michael (Mihai) (1927-1930)
- Carol II (1930-1940)
- Michael (Mihai) (1940-1947) (still called "Majestatea Sa Regele Mihai I de Romania" by many Romanians)