Description

The image shows the portrait of Prince Nicholas, viewed from the front.
He is a man in his 30s, with short hair, long nose and prominent ears, dressed in military uniform.
The forehead is contoured by the texture in gathered Xs, highlighting the hair combed to one side.
The high-collared suit is represented by the wavy texture.
On his shoulders he wears shoulder pads with voluminous tassels, descending on his arm.

Historical facts

Prince Nicholas (born 3 August 1903, Sinaia – died 9 June 1978, Lausanne, Switzerland), member of the Royal House of Romania, was the fourth child of King Ferdinand I and Queen Mary. Following the tradition of the royal family, Nicholas acquired military training (Bibliography 1), but his passions turned to the sports side, being a fan of automobile racing. Politically, his possible position as successor to the throne was discussed after the end of the First World War, with the abdication of his brother Charles, who had entered into a marriage not accepted by the Royal House, to Zizi Lambrino. As a result of Charles’s acceptance to annul this marriage, Nicholas’s presence is no longer necessary, so he returns to study abroad.

Moreover, Nicholas has shown no awe for politics. During the dynastic crisis, Nicholas was part of the Regency (1927-1930), along with patriarch Miron Cristea and the President of the Court of Cassation, Gheorghe Buzdugan. But the institution of the Regency will prove to be without authority, a situation due mainly to the reduced involvement of Nicholas, who ventures during this period into a love affair with the wife of the son of the liberal leader N.N. Saveanu, who will eventually become his wife after intense conflicts (Bibliography 2).

Following in his brother’s footsteps, Nicholas chose a partner who was not a member of a royal family and married Ioana Doletti in 1931. Returning to the helm of the country after the restoration of 8 June 1930, however, Charles II opposed this marriage and intervened to annul the marriage certificate. Nicholas, however, continued his life with Joan, making many trips abroad in the following years. Nicholas’s strained relationship with his brother and his disapproval of the Royal Camarilla led to increasing tensions between the two and Nicholas’s ties with Charles’s enemies, the Legionnaires. In 1937, Charles decides to end his brother’s uncertain situation and asks him through the government to choose unequivocally between the preservation of the marriage and the membership of the royal family. Nicholas chooses the first option, which leads to the exclusion from the Royal House and will live in exile as a private citizen, but receive a monthly subsidy from the Romanian state. According to Constantin Argetoianu’s memoirs, Charles’s decision was taken against the background of increased tensions and animosities between him and the Legionary movement, which enjoyed the support of Brother Nicholas (Bibliography 3).

Three years later, after the abdication of Charles II, Nicholas intervened with General Antonescu to be returned to the country, but only gained an increase in the subsidy. He tried to contribute from exile to Romania’s interests through cultural initiatives and philanthropic acts. After the death of his wife, Ioana, remarried and began a complex project to write memoirs that he partially carried out (Bibliography 4). In 1978 he died in Lausanne and was buried next to his first wife.

Bibliography
1. Diana Mandache, Regina Maria a României, Capitole târzii din viața mea. Memorii redescoperite, București, Editura Alfa, 2011, p. 8.
2. Constantin Argetoianu, Pentru cei de mâine. Amintiri din vremea celor de ieri, vol. IX, București, Editura Machiavelli, 1997, pp. 379-380.
3. Constatin Argeotianu, Însemnări zilnice, vol. II, 1 ianuarie-30 iunie 1937, București, Editura Machiavelli, 1999, p. 127.
4. Nicolae, Principe al României, În umbra coroanei. Documente, amintiri și comentarii, Iași, Editura Moldova, 1991.

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