RUMANIA’S KING

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 20151, 21 May 1928, Page 12

RUMANIA’S KING

THE BOY MICHAEL PRINCE CAROL’S POSITION. The secret visit of Prince Carol and Madame Lupesco to England and the revolt of the Rumanian peasantry recall the fact that King Michael of Rumania owes his present high estate to his father’s escapades. Michael I. was born on October 25, 1921, as the son of Prince Carol (then Crown Prince) and his wife Princess Helen of Greece. He is thus a Hohenzollern on both sides. His name is that of the Rumanian patriot Michael the Brave. When Prince Carol fell into disgrace and renounced the succession to the throne, it was decided that it should fall to his son. On July 20, 1927, the day his grandfather, King Ferdinand died, Michael was proclaimed as monarch and a Regency Council consisting of Prince Nicholas, his father’s brother, Dr Christea, the Patriach of the Rumanian Orthodox Church and M. Buzdugan, the Chief Justice, was sworn in. The period that followed was one of much unrest, for there was a considerable section of the nation that did not approve of the composition of the Regency Council, and disliked the idea of this regime lasting for 13 years until King Michael came of age, and was therefore in favour of the return of Prince Carol, who from time to time indicated that he was ready to come, if he was called upon. Indeed, in February of this year he is said to have predicted that he would be on the throne within two months. Meanwhile the boy king appealed to the imagination of the people. At Christmas, 1927, he received over 5000 gifts from loyal Rumanians, these presents including a large number of live animals, mostly ponies and dogs.