Romania: 100 Lei "Queen Marie" (gold)

[chrisild]

The Romanian central bank (BNR) has just issued a 100 lei gold coin dedicated to Queen Marie who was born 135 years ago. She was born in the UK, in October 1875 (Princess Marie of Edinburgh), then married Ferdinand of Romania who later became Romanian king.

About her: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_of_Romania
BNR press release: http://www.bnr.ro/page.aspx?prid=4637
Image/info: http://www.bnr.ro/EmisiuniDetails.aspx?idd=1023&WebPageId=1164
(or go here http://www.bnr.ro/Numismatics-1164.aspx if the direct link does not work)

Christian

[Ukrainii Pyat]

Reading about her life

[chrisild]

Well, such marriages are strategic, not based on love and affection.   Guess what counts most is this part of the Wikipedia article: "As a direct result of her charismatic intervention, Romania won back the initiative and successfully achieved all its pre-conference aims, eventually expanding its territory by 60%" ... That is also the reason for the inscription REGINA MARIA A ROMANIEI MARI (Queen Marie of Greater Romania), I suppose.

As for why this piece came out this year, the 135th anniversary of somebody's birth is a somewhat strange occasion to issue a coin. But maybe any multiple of 5 counts these days ...

Christian

[translateltd]

The bit in the Wikipedia article about "George's mother did not like Germans" is just bizarre - what was George's family, in the first place?  And where did his eventual wife Queen Mary hail from?

[chrisild]

Just looked that up (I mean, what do I know about royals and who they may or may not marry? ), and apparently George's mother was from Denmark. And wasn't George the British king who renamed the royal "House"? Anyway, the primary point in my opinion is that Marie ended up being Ferdinand's wife and ultimately queen of Romania ...

Christian

[translateltd]

Just looked that up (I mean, what do I know about royals and who they may or may not marry? ), and apparently George's mother was from Denmark. And wasn't George the British king who renamed the royal "House"? Anyway, the primary point in my opinion is that Marie ended up being Ferdinand's wife and ultimately queen of Romania ...

True, but my point was that Alexandra married into what was essentially a German family - the Saxe-Coburgs (unless that was the reason for her later dislike of them) and George married May of Teck, so the comment as it stands in the article is odd.  George changed the family name in 1917 to avoid anti-German sentiment at home (a case of better late than never, perhaps?) which, if anything, reinforces the fact of the German-ness of the British royals during the period in question.

Anyway, yes, interesting item about Marie of Romania and her, erm, exotic lifestyle, which I didn't previously know about.  I've just been reading about her Dad, Prince Alfred, in a biography of Prince Albert, so this thread has been quite timely.