Marie of Romania
Her Royal Highness Princess Marie of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, later Her Majesty Queen Marie of Romania, was a member of the British Royal Family. She was born October 29, 1875, at Eastwell Park in Kent, the eldest daughter of His Royal Highness Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia. Her father was the second eldest son of Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Her mother was a daughter of Alexander II of Russia and Marie of Hesse and by Rhine.
As her father was in the Royal Navy she spent much of her time abroad, particularly in Malta.
In her youth, Princess Marie was considered a suitable match for marriage to the royalty of Europe. Her first cousin, His Royal Highness Prince George of Wales, later George V, fell in love with her and proposed marriage. However, Marie's mother did not believe in marriage to first cousins as it was forbidden by the Russian church.
In 1893, Princess Marie married Crown Prince Ferdinand of Romania, nephew of King Carol I of Romania. The marriage produced three daughters and three sons:
- Carol II of Romania
- Elizabeth Hohenzollern
- Marie Hohenzollern
- Nicholas Hohenzollern
- Ileana Hohenzollern
- Mircea Hohenzollern
In 1914, Carol I died and Ferdinand ascended the throne of Romania. Crown Princess Marie then became styled Her Majesty Queen Marie of Romania. Due to World War I, they were not crowned as monarchs till 1922.
During the war, Queen Marie volunteered as a Red Cross nurse to help the sick and wounded. She wote a book, My Country to raise funds for the Red Cross. After the war ended, she represented Romania at Versailles, gaining back territory lost by Romania during the war. After the death of her husband in 1927, Queen Marie remained in Romania, writing books and her memoirs, The Story of my Life. She died July 10, 1938, and was buried in Sinaia. She is held in high esteem by members of the Baha'i Faith as she was the first royalty to declare faith in that religion.
Marie was famously mentioned in Dorothy Parker's poem "Comment".