Margareta of Romania: Difference between revisions

Styles of
**Princess Margarita of Romania**
Styles of; Princess Margarita of Romania
	File:Stema mare a Regatului Romaniei.jpg
Reference style	Her Royal Highness
Spoken style	Your Royal Highness
Alternative style	Ma'am

Margarita
Margarita
Princess of Romania
Predecessor	Michael I (incumbent)
House	Hohenzollern
Father	Michael I
Mother	Anne of Bourbon-Parma
Religion	Romanian Orthodox

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Princess Margarita of Romania, Princess of Hohenzollern (b. at Lausanne March 26 1949) is the eldest daughter of Michael I (Mihai), King of Romania (now deposed), Prince of Hohenzollern^[1]^[2], and of his wife, Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma. She is 82nd in line of succession for the British throne. Her father changed the House Law in 1997 and named her his heir to the leadership of the Royal Family. She has no children. Her heiress is her next sister, Princess Elena of Romania. For Margarita and her sisters to succeed to the Romanian Throne, the monarchy would need to be restored and the Romanian Parliament would have to amend the last democratic royal Constitution of 1923 as it established succession by salic law.

Private life

She was married in Lausanne on September 21 1996 to Radu Duda, since 1999 also^[3] known as Radu, Prince of Hohenzollern-Veringen. In her youth at the University of Edinburgh she was involved in a romantic relationship with one of the most prominent British Labour Party leaders, Gordon Brown. Margarita said about it: "It was a very solid and romantic story. I never stopped loving him but one day it didn't seem right any more, it was politics, politics, politics, and I needed nurturing."^[4]

Education and work

After graduation from the University of Edinburgh, she worked in a number of British universities, specialising in medical sociology and public health policy, later on participating in an international research program coordinated by the World Health Organisation, focused on developing health policy recommendations and preventive pilot projects. In 1983 she moved to Rome and joined the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (UN), where, as a member the World Food Day project team, she worked on the public awareness campaign concerning agricultural programs, nutrition, and poverty alleviation. Three years later she joined the International Fund for Agricultural Development. In the autumn of 1989 she gave up her UN career and moved to Geneva to work with her father, devoting herself entirely to charity work for Romania.

Controversies

In February 1990, l'Humanité^[5] wrote that Margarita was prevented by the Bucharest airport customs officers from smuggling out of Romania several paintings belonging to the national patrimony, which she had apparently hidden in her baggages.

BAE Systems, one of the donors to her charity, and its representatives, have been involved in a corruption scandal regarding the purchase by the Romanian Government of two decommissioned UK Royal Navy frigates refurbished by BAE, for which an alleged £ 7 million bribe was paid^[6], some of which, it is also alleged^[7], ended up in the pockets of the royal family of Hohenzollern to which Margarita belongs. The "Gardianul" newspaper^[8]^[9], noting that both Princess Margarita and her husband, as Special Representative of the Government, had met a number of times with the BAE Systems representatives before and after the signing of the governmental contract, inquired whether the royal family was involved in any lobbying on behalf of the company. In an official communique sent to the newspaper^[10], Prince Radu denied any such lobbying activities, stating that as patron of the British-Romanian Chamber of Commerce in which BAE Systems is a member, he met with this as well as other British companies' representatives.

Political support

The extra-parliamentary main pro-monarchist party PNTCD is ambiguous in its support for Princess Margarita. In 2002 it rejected any role for her or her husband in a restored monarchy^[11]^[12], while in 2003 the Cluj branch of PNTCD officially invited her to be its electoral candidate to the Senate^[13]^[14].

The British expert in Romanian politics and history^[15] and Encyclopaedia Britannica editor^[16] Tom Gallagher wrote that HRH Prince Charles of Wales was offered the Romanian Throne, supposedly by Romanian monarchists ^[17], an offer which was reportedly turned down by Charles^[18]. Despite this, Michael has not given up the hope for himself or his family of returning to the throne: "We are trying to make people understand what Romanian monarchy was and what it can still do"^[19].

References

Preceded by Benjamin Ferner Beckman	Line of succession to the British throne	Succeeded by Princess Helen of Romania

[1] "Compression," Time, January 12, 1948

[2] "Milestones," Time, June 21, 1948

[3] Not everybody recognizes Radu's new name. For more about this, see "The Prime Minister proposed Radu Duda a seat as a Senator of the Democrat Social Party (ruling party in Romania)," MEDIAFAX AGENCY, August 6, 2004 and Radu Duda - Filmography. IMDb.com website as of November 14, 2006

[4] "Gordon Brown profiled", The Guardian, March 6, 2001

[5] "Messy Charity" (in French), l'Humanite, February 8, 1990

[6] "Bribery inquiry may force £7m refund to Romania," The Guardian, June 15, 2006

[7] "Blackberry Juice" (in Romanian), Gandul, June 21, 2006

[8] "BAE Royal Sponsor" (in Romanian), Gardianul, June 16, 2006

[9] "Prince Duda, Classmate at The National Defence University with The Signer of The BAE Contract" (in Romanian), Gardianul, June 17, 2006

[10] "Prince Duda, Classmate at The National Defence University with The Signer of The BAE Contract" (in Romanian), Gardianul, June 17, 2006

[11] "PNTCD Plans The Restoration of Monarchy through Prince Nicholas" (in Romanian), Ziua, March 1, 2002

[12] "PNTCD Is Looking for A King" (in Romanian), Evenimentul Zilei, March 1, 2002

[13] "Princess Margareta Invited to Run for Office" (in Romanian), Ziarul Financiar, July 24, 2003

[14] "The Princess in The Senate" (in Romanian), Evenimentul Zilei, July 25, 2003

[15] "The Balkans In The New Millennium," Radio Romania International

[16] Encyclopaedia Britannica articles on Romania by Tom Gallagher - Google results

[17] "PNTCD Plans The Restoration of Monarchy through Prince Nicholas" (in Romanian), Ziua, March 1, 2002

[18] "The European Scapegoat" (in Romanian), by Tom Gallagher, Romania Libera, June 30, 2006

[19] "King Mihai I Turns 85", Ziua, October 25, 2006

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 The extra-parliamentary main [[monarchist|pro-monarchist]] party [[PNTCD]] is ambiguous in its support for Princess Margarita. In 2002 it rejected any role for her or her husband in a restored [[monarchy]]<ref>[http://www.ziua.net/display.php?data=2002-03-01&id=84650 "PNTCD Plans The Restoration of Monarchy through Prince Nicholas" (in Romanian), Ziua, March 1, 2002]</ref><ref>[http://www.evz.ro/article.php?artid=80240 "PNTCD Is Looking for A King" (in Romanian), Evenimentul Zilei, March 1, 2002]</ref>, while in 2003 the [[Cluj County|Cluj]] branch of PNTCD officially invited her to be its electoral candidate to the Senate<ref>[http://www.zf.ro/articol_28580/principesa_margareta__invitata_sa_candideze.html "Princess Margareta Invited to Run for Office" (in Romanian), Ziarul Financiar, July 24, 2003]
 </ref><ref>[http://www.evenimentulzilei.ro/article.php?artid=126879 "The Princess in The Senate" (in Romanian), Evenimentul Zilei, July 25, 2003]</ref>.
+The British expert in Romanian politics and history<ref>[http://www.rri.ro/index.php?lmb=4&art=14003 "The Balkans In The New Millennium," Radio Romania International]</ref> and [[Encyclopaedia Britannica]] editor<ref>[http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=tom+gallagher+romania+site%3Abritannica.com Encyclopaedia Britannica articles on Romania by Tom Gallagher - Google results]</ref> Tom Gallagher wrote that HRH [[Prince Charles of Wales]] was offered the Romanian [[Throne]], supposedly by Romanian monarchists <ref>[http://www.ziua.net/display.php?data=2002-03-01&id=84650 "PNTCD Plans The Restoration of Monarchy through Prince Nicholas" (in Romanian), Ziua, March 1, 2002]</ref>, an offer which was reportedly turned down by Charles<ref>[http://www.romanialibera.ro/editie/NEW_SITE/index.php?a=1&fct=1&complet=1&idx=17&tab=z30062006 "The European Scapegoat" (in Romanian), by Tom Gallagher, Romania Libera, June 30, 2006]</ref>. Despite this, Michael has not given up the hope for himself or his family of returning to the throne: "We are trying to make people understand what Romanian monarchy was and what it can still do"<ref>[http://www.ziua.ro/display.php?id=209809&data=2006-10-25 "King Mihai I Turns 85", Ziua, October 25, 2006]</ref>.
 ==See also==