Queen Maria of Romania, Part 3

[Laura_]

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[Laura_]

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/9485/maria0009.jpg

Another pose from famous sitting :-)

And another one (sorry for the low quality of this pic)




I love this series of pictures, they are definitely among my favourites photos ever taken of Marie.

I read that they were taken in the early 1900s. Marie was a very flamboyant character, to Romanians, however, images like this had great symbolic importance. Each element in the picture has a purpose. The costume evokes Romania’s medieval past. The candelabra give a religious atmosphere, accentuated by the model churgh; in Orthodox  imagery the ancient rulers often held models of the churches they had founded, so in some of the  photographs from this series Marie is shown holding the Church. These photographs would have told ordinary Romanians that their future Queen was identifying herself with their past; She wanted to belong!

As Charlotte Zeepvat notes in one of her wonderful books, ''Flamboyant Marie may have been, but she knew how to use her dramatic flair to enhance her position.''   

[Eric_Lowe]

Yes. She once said "Let other coronations be modern, let mine be Medieval !"

[historyfan]

Thank you, Laura! That explains what she is holding in the other picture. While I don't love the photos themselves, now that I understand a bit more of the symbolism, I do enjoy that aspect. Fortunately for Marie, she lived in a country that appreciated "dramatic flair". Had she been Queen of a more staid country, it might've gone a bit differently for her.

[CountessKate]

Yes, I somehow feel the striking poses and costumes would have gone down very, very badly had Marie married her cousin George and lived in Britain........

[Eric_Lowe]

Well...Missy did have Queen Elisabeth as an example. Had she married Georgie, she might become a fashion plate like her mother-in-law Queen Alexandra.

[Laura_]

This photograph is in Charlotte Zeepvat's Queen Victoria's Family 



And this one comes from Tom's Place  http://www.tkinter.smig.net/QueenMarie/Gallery/Marie56.htm

[Robert_Hall]

That was a DRAMA QUEEN  at her best !

[Laura_]

That was a DRAMA QUEEN  at her best !

Could you please elaborate on your statement?

[Robert_Hall]

What is to elaborate ? She was a queen and that photograph was pure theatrical drama. Which, BTW, she was quite well known for.

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi,

Wow, she looks like something out of the 11th century, not the 19th or 20th!!!!!!!

One might think she was Anna of Kiev, wife of France's Henry I and mother of Philip I......

Larry

[Kalafrana]

I agree with Robert. Marie definitely liked to be OTT!

Ann

[Laura_]

Hi,

Wow, she looks like something out of the 11th century, not the 19th or 20th!!!!!!!

One might think she was Anna of Kiev, wife of France's Henry I and mother of Philip I......

Larry

I read  that after the end of The Great War, Queen Marie thought of herself as a new Empress Theodora of Byzantium!

http://womenshistory.about.com/od/medbyzantempress/a/theodora.htm

There could be no Coronation until 1922, but when it happened, Marie arranged the ceremony, designed the costumes and chose for herself a high crown similar to this.

[Eric_Lowe]

Yes that is what I quoted her in saying that she wanted a medieval coronation ceremony.

[Laura_]

indeed!

http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/8053/reginamaria14.jpg[/img]

I forgot to mention that one can find this photograph in Dr. Diana Mandache's stunning photo-book on QM -- Marie of Romania -Images of a Queen

I wonder if there will ever be another good album on Queen Marie...Prince Radu once mentioned on his blog that he was working on a new photo book on her...