After the Communist fall in 1989, he made a number of visits back to his homeland and regained his Romanian citizenship in 1997. A regency council had been formed, consisting of the Romanian patriarch, the president of the Supreme Court and Michael’s uncle Prince Nicholas: but in what was formally a constitutional monarchy, real power after December 1928 rested with the new prime minister Juliu Maniu, whose centre-right National Peasants’ Party, formed two years earlier, swept the board in the general election.In September 1940, Carol reluctantly abdicated, propelling Michael to the throne for a second time.
Try again later.You can choose another language below:Failed to delete memorial. His English grandmother Queen Marie of Romania… In 1938, encouraged by Magda, Carol overthrew the corrupt parliamentary regime and established a royal dictatorship with strong fascist tendencies.Throughout this period, Michael was firmly under Carol’s tutelage. Where Carol nourished absurd delusions of grandeur (he had a special button to call the palace elevator, marked “M” for Majesty), the adolescent Michael was timid and unassuming.Michael’s royal career was turbulent from the outset. Michael of Romania — Michael Michael of Romania in 2007. Faced with an uprising by the Fascist Iron Guard – a rival to his own royalist movement – Carol fled Bucharest in a sealed train, accompanied by his mistress, his stamp albums and much of Romania’s national art collection.Despite his natural diffidence, Michael proved on two occasions that he possessed considerable political courage. Michael replied that this was a constitutional question which must be settled by the people. Start your Independent Premium subscription today.Sharing the full story, not just the headlinesIn 2005, Paul unsuccessfully attempted to stop Romania’s parliament granting Michael a compensation package for property confiscated by the communists, arguing that he had been a war profiteer who had connived at the deportation of Romanian Jews to extermination camps.In August 1944, with Axis troops in headlong retreat on the Soviet front, Michael finally steeled himself to overthrow Antonescu. In August 1944, he engineered the overthrow of the fascist dictator Ion Antonescu in a royal coup d’état that allowed Romania to defect from the Axis side just as advancing Soviet troops were about to cross the border.
Son of Carol II and Helen of Greece and Denmark, he was the King of Romania from July 20, 1927 to June 8, 1930 and from September 6, 1940 to December 30, 1947. Antonescu’s supporters, oblivious to the coup, were then brought to the palace and locked in the vault that had once housed Carol’s stamp collection. Groza refused, and in protest at what he saw as a breach of the constitution, Michael went on strike, refusing to sign any decrees.A second visit to Romania in 1994 also had to be aborted. Please try again later.You need a Find a Grave account to add things to this site.This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 20 photos to this memorialSave to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print.Also an additional volunteer within fifty miles.The email does not appear to be a valid email address. It allows our most engaged readers to debate the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world solutions, and more. A few hours later a “people’s republic” was declared, and on 30 December 1947 Michael left for Britain. To add a flower, click the “Leave a Flower” button.This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review.All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage.
According to Michael’s later account, when the news reached Bucharest that the Soviet army were about to cross the Romanian border, he summoned Antonescu to the royal palace, and ordered him to negotiate an armistice with the allies. In December 1990 he arrived in Bucharest on what he claimed was a private visit, and was greeted by rapturous crowds.