Line of succession to the Romanian throne
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The succession law to the now defunct throne of Romania as established by the royal constitutions is Salic Law, that is agnatic primogeniture. As King Michael I of Romania has no male children, nor are there any legitimate male-line male descendants of the previous Kings of Romania, there is at present no one from the Romanian Royal Family in the line of succession to the throne. There are male line descendants Carol II—Paul Lambrino (b. 1948) and Alexander Lambrino (b. 1961), are the sons of Carol Lambrino, issue of Carol's morganatic marriage to Zizi Lambrino—but they are not entitled to succession rights, due to the nature of their grandparents' non-dynastic marriage. Following King Michael's abdication, the line of succession was discussed during a meeting between Michael, his uncle Prince Nicholas of Romania, and Friedrich, Prince of Hohenzollern (1891-1965). Shortly after this meeting, the spokesman of King Carol II, in an interview with the French paper Le Figaro, expressed his strong support for Prince Friedrich, additionally asserting that Michael would never regain the throne.<ref>Michael of Romania: The King and the Country by Ivor Porter, page 195, ISBN 0750938471</ref> Because of the Romanian succession law incorporated in the kingdom's last democratic Constitution of 1923, upon the death of King Michael (assuming he dies without any male children, as is likely now), in absence of its necessary change along with the Constitution, which would first require the restoration of the monarchy, the succession will devolve back into the main Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen line, with Prince Friedrich’s son Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Hohenzollern currently first in line.
- Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Hohenzollern (b. 1924)
- Hereditary Prince Karl Friedrich of Hohenzollern (b. 1952)
- Prince Alexander of Hohenzollern (b. 1987)
- Prince Albrecht of Hohenzollern (b. 1954)
- Prince Ferdinand of Hohenzollern (b. 1960)
- Prince Aloys of Hohenzollern (b. 1999)
- Prince Fidelis of Hohenzollern (b. 2001)
- Prince Johann-Georg of Hohenzollern (b. 1932)
- Prince Carl Christian of Hohenzollern (b. 1962)
- Prince Nicolas of Hohenzollern (b. 1999)
- Prince Hubertus of Hohenzollern (b. 1966)
- Prince Ferfried of Hohenzollern (b. 1943)
- Prince Meinrad of Hohenzollern (b. 1925)
- Prince Carl Alexander of Hohenzollern (b. 1970)
In 1997 King Michael designated his eldest daughter, Princess Margarita of Romania, as heir to the headship of the Romanian Royal Family. However, she will only become head of the family, because King Michael is unable to alter the old succession laws which perpetually excluded females and their descendants. Only the Parliament could amend these laws together with the Constitution in which they had been included, assuming the monarchy were first restored.
A second reason why Princess Margarita cannot succeed to the Romanian throne is her marriage against the 1884 Statute of the Royal House law of the Romanian Kingdom, which forbids marriages of the Royal Family members to Romanians or to unequally titled persons. Margarita's marriage broke this law twice, since her husband, Radu Duda, is a Romanian and is not titled. Radu was bestowed only a "name" of "Prince of Hohenzollern-Veringen" through the January 1, 1999 decree (urkunde) of the Head of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen princely house, Prince Friedrich Wilhelm. No coat of arms, nor any type of "Highness" predicate were given to Radu Duda through the princely decree, despite his usage of the latter.
[edit] External links
- FAQ on the Romanian monarchy
- The articles of the 1923 Romanian Constitution regarding the succession law
- On Line Gotha (Hohenzollern)
