Romanian royal family

House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (Romanian branch)
House of Hohenzollern-Romania
House of Romania
House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (Romanian branch); House of Hohenzollern-Romania; House of Romania
Parent house	Hohenzollern
Country	Romania
Founded	10 May 1866
Founder	Carol I
Current head	Margareta of Romania
Final ruler	Michael I
Titles	Prince (Domnitor, or Principe) (1866–1881),; King (Rege) (1881–1947)
Deposition	30 December 1947

The Romanian royal family (Romanian: Familia regală a României) was the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Romania, a constitutional monarchy in Central-Eastern Europe. The kingdom existed from 1881, when Carol I of Romania was proclaimed king, until 1947, when the last king, Michael I of Romania, was forced to abdicate and the Parliament proclaimed Romania a republic. Soon after, upon the establishment of the constitution of 13 April 1948, Romania became a people's republic, a state that lasted until 1989.

Current members of the former royal family include the daughters of the late, former King Michael of Romania. Some descendants have adopted the surname "of Romania". There are also descendants of Michael's older half-brother Carol Lambrino (also known as "Carol Hohenzollern" and "Carol Mircea Grigore of Romania" or, in Romanian, al României, on his amended, Romanian birth certificate^[1]), whose legitimacy was disputed and who were not recognised as royal during the reigns of Ferdinand, Carol II and Michael.

King Michael publicly renounced for himself, the former queen, and their five daughters any claim to the titles of "Prince/Princess of Hohenzollern", styles which were in any case not recognised under German laws since 1919 but had been attributed, along with the Romanian royal titles, to members of the Romanian dynasty in such subsequently published sources as the Almanach de Gotha and Burke's Guide to the Royal Family.^[2]

Descendants of King Michael

The list below includes members of the Romanian royal family, Descendants of King Michael I.

King Michael I (1921–2017)
m. (1948) Queen Anne (1923-2016)
- Margareta, Custodian of the Romanian Crown (b. 1949)
  m. (1996) Radu Duda, assumed the title Prince Radu of Romania (b. 1960)
- Princess Elena (b. 1950)
  div. (1983–1991) Leslie Robin Medforth-Mills (1942–2002)
  m. (1998) Alexander Philips Nixon (McAteer) (b. 1964)
  - Nicholas Michael de Roumanie Medforth-Mills (b. 1985)
    m. (2017) Alina Maria Binder (b. 1988)
    - Maria Alexandra de Roumanie Medforth-Mills (b. 2020)
    - Michael de Roumanie Medforth-Mills (b. 2022)
  - Elisabeta Karina de Roumanie Medforth-Mills (b. 1989)
- Princess Irina (b. 1953)
  div. (1983–2003) John Kreuger (b. 1945)
  m. (2007) John Wesley Walker (1945–2024)
  - Michael Torsten de Roumanie Kreuger (b. 1985)
    m. (2011) Tara Marie Littlefield (b. 1982)
    - Kohen Kreuger (b. 2012)
  - Angelica Margareta Bianca de Roumanie Kreuger (b. 1986)
    m. (2009) Richard Robert Knight (b. 1984)
    - Courtney Bianca Knight (b. 2007)
    - Diana Knight (b. 2011)
- Princess Sophie (b. 1957)
  div. (1998–2002) Alain Michel Léonce Biarneix (de Laufenborg) (b. 1957)
  - Elisabeta Maria Bianca Elena de Roumanie Biarneix (b. 1998)
- Princess Maria (b. 1964)
  div. (1995–2003) Kazimierz Wiesław Mystkowski (b. 1958)

Daughters of Romania's kings, such as Margareta, Elena, Irina and Sophie, as well as their descendants, had no rights of succession to the Romanian throne during the monarchy's existence, in accordance with the Salic law enshrined in both the defunct royal Romanian Constitution of 1938 and the Statute of the Romanian royal house, dated 1884. On 30 December 2007 in a private ceremony,^[3]^[4] King Michael issued a declaration in the form of a statute,^[5] an act of symbolic significance in the absence of its approval by the Parliament,^[6]^[7] promulgating new Fundamental Rules of the Royal Family of Romania.^[8]

Michael decided to add his daughters and their children to the headship of the royal house, further explicitly banning any other foreigners belonging to any other royal or princely house from succeeding. On the same occasion he asked the Romanian Parliament to abolish the Salic law, should it consider restoring the monarchy.^[9] By the same act, Michael designated his grandson Nicholas de Roumanie Medforth-Mills as a future member of the deposed royal family and future "Prince of Romania" with the style of "Royal Highness," effective either on his 25th birthday, 1 April 2010, or upon Michael's death, whichever might occur sooner. On 1 August 2015, however, King Michael issued a declaration retracting the style "Royal Highness" and "of Romania" previously conferred upon Nicholas, also excluding him from the line of succession to the headship of the dynasty, noting that his successors in that capacity should be persons of "principled modesty and morality."^[10] Children and consorts of the members of the family who do not bear a royal title are not recognised as members of the former royal family, according to the new rules.

Line of succession

According to the succession provisions of the Romanian kingdom's last democratically approved monarchical constitution of 1923, upon the death of King Michael without sons, the claim to the Crown devolves once again upon the Hohenzollern family. However, on 30 December 2007, on the 60th anniversary of his abdication, King Michael signed the Fundamental Rules of the Royal Family of Romania, by which he designated Princess Margareta as his heir.^[8]^[11] The document has no legal standing, as it regulates an institution that is no longer extant.^[12]^[13]

However the Fundamental Rules designated Margareta as heir presumptive to the defunct throne. On the same occasion, Michael also requested that, should the Romanian Parliament consider restoring the monarchy, the Salic law of succession not be reinstated, allowing female succession. According to the new statute of the Romanian Royal House as declared by Michael, no illegitimate descendants or collateral lines may claim dynastic privileges, titles or rank and any such are excluded from the Royal House of Romania and from the line of succession to the throne.^[14]

On 10 May 2011, on a background of lawsuits in Germany brought against his family by Michael’s German relatives regarding the former name Hohenzollern-Veringen of his son-in-law, Radu, and of fears^[15] expressed by some that the German Hohenzollerns may claim succession to the headship of the Romanian royal house, Michael severed all of the dynastic and historical ties with the princely house of Hohenzollern, changed the name of his family to "of Romania", and gave up all princely titles conferred upon him and his family by the German Hohenzollerns.^[16]^[17]

On 1 August 2015, Michael signed a document removing the title Prince of Romania and the qualification of Royal Highness from his grandson, Nicholas Medforth-Mills, who was also removed from the line of succession. The former king took the decision "with an eye on Romania's future after the reign and life of his eldest daughter, Margareta". The former king hoped that "Nicholas will find in future years a suitable way to serve the ideals and use the qualities that God gave him". Nicholas's mother, Princess Elena, received notification of the former king's decision in a personal letter.^[18]

Line of succession according to the Fundamental Rules:

Michael I of Romania
- Princess Margareta, the current Custodian of the Crown of Romania
- (1) Princess Elena
  - Nicholas de Roumanie Medforth-Mills (removed from line of succession in 2015)
    - Maria Alexandra de Roumanie Medforth-Mills (not in the line of succession as she was born after the removal of her father)
    - Michael de Roumanie Medforth-Mills (not in the line of succession as he was born after the removal of his father)
  - (2) Elisabeta Karina de Roumanie Medforth-Mills
- Princess Irina (removed from line of succession in 2014)
  - Michael Torsten de Roumanie Kreuger (removed from line of succession in 2014)
    - Kohen Kreuger (removed from line of succession in 2014)
  - Angelica Margareta Bianca de Roumanie Kreuger (removed from line of succession in 2014)
    - Courtney Bianca Knight (not in the line of succession as she was born out of wedlock)
    - Diana Knight (removed from line of succession in 2014)
- (3) Princess Sophie
  - (4) Elisabeta Maria Bianca Elena de Roumanie Biarneix
- (5) Princess Maria

Family of Carol Mircea Hohenzollern

Paul-Philippe of Romania (born 1948), son of Carol Mircea Lambrino
wed Lia-Georgia Hohenzollern (née Triff) (born 1949), with issue:
- Carol Ferdinand al României (born 2010)
Alexander Hohenzollern (born 1961), son of Carol Mircea Lambrino, unmarried.

Past members of the royal family

King Carol I (1839–1914) (Reign as Domnitor: 1866–1881) (Reign as King: 1881–1914)
m. Queen Elisabeth (1843–1916)
- Princess Maria (1870–1874)
King Ferdinand I (1865–1927) (Reign: 1914–1927)
m. Queen Marie (1875–1938)
- King Carol II (1893–1953) (Reign: 1930–1940)
  m. Queen Helen (1896–1982)
  - King Michael I (1921–2017) (Reign: 1927–1930 and 1940–1947)
    m. Queen Anne (1923–2016)
- Princess Elisabeth (1894–1956)
- Princess Maria (1900–1961)
- Prince Nicholas (1903–1978)
- Princess Ileana (1909–1991)
- Prince Mircea (1913–1916)