Carol II of Romania

Carol II ( 4 April 1953) was the King of Romania from 8 June 1930 until his forced abdication on 6 September 1940. As the eldest son of Ferdinand I, he became crown prince upon the death of his grand-uncle, King Carol I, in 1914. He was the first of the Hohenzollern kings of Romania to be born in the country; both of his predecessors had been born in Germany and came to Romania only as adults. As such, he was the first member of the Romanian branch of the Hohenzollerns who spoke Romanian as his first language, and was also the first member of the royal family to be raised in the Orthodox faith. Carol's life and reign were known for controversy and lack of duty, such as his desertion from the army during World War I. Another controversy was his marriage to Zizi Lambrino, which resulted in two attempts to give up the rights of succession to the royal crown of Romania, refused by King Ferdinand. After the dissolution of his marriage, he travelled the world, and met Princess Helen of Greece and Denmark, daughter of King Constantine I of Greece. They married in March 1921, having a child in the same year, Prince Michael. His continued affairs with Elena Lupescu obliged him to renounce his succession rights in 1925 and leave the country. His name was removed from the royal house of Romania by King Ferdinand. Carol moved to France with Lupescu, under the name Carol Caraiman. Michael, aged 5, inherited the throne on the death of King Ferdinand in 1927. Princess Helen eventually divorced Carol in 1928. In the political crisis created by the deaths of Ferdinand I and Ion I. C. Brătianu, as well as the ineffective regency of Prince Nicholas of Romania, Miron Cristea, and Gheorghe Buzdugan, Carol was allowed to return to Romania in 1930 and his name was restored by the royal house of Romania, dethroning his own son. He continued to be jealous of his mother’s leadership skills and popularity. Carol’s reign was marked at the beginning by the effects of the Great Depression.

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Related concepts (16)

Romanians

The Romanians (români, roˈmɨnj; dated exonym Vlachs) are a Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Romanian culture and ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they live primarily in Romania and Moldova. The 2021 Romanian census found that just under 89.3% of Romania's citizens identified themselves as ethnic Romanians. In one interpretation of the 1989 census results in Moldova, the majority of Moldovans were counted as ethnic Romanians in this country as well.

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