Queen Elena of Romania / Helen of Greece-Romania

[Alicky1872]

I had been thinking of starting a thread on Helen for awhile now. She is another favorite of mine. I'm wondering, does anyone have any pictures of her as an elderly woman? She lived from 1896-1982, and it seems like after the 1950's, there are no more pictures of her to be found.

[Marlene]

I had been thinking of starting a thread on Helen for awhile now. She is another favorite of mine. I'm wondering, does anyone have any pictures of her as an elderly woman? She lived from 1896-1982, and it seems like after the 1950's, there are no more pictures of her to be found.

Alicky, there are family photos of Helen - and she was photographed at various events - but by the 60s and 70s, she was really not newsworthy.  I have a nice photo of Helen and her sister Irene taken only a few years before Irene's death but due to copyright restrictions -- I am a stickler about copyright due to my profession and respect for intellectual property laws.  I own the print, but not the right to post or publish without the permission of the photographer.

The same photo may be in Bobby Golden's book.

[kmerov]

Did she ever become queen? I still havnt figured it out!

[grandduchessella]

She was called Queen Mother since she was the mother of a King but never became Queen herself.

[Alicky1872]

On the Royal Family dvd, King Michael said that he was extremely close to his mother, and that he often saw her crying. Her husband Carol treated her so cruelly. He had an open affair within months of their marriage, and he only let Michael see Helen twice a year. Michael said that Carol insisted he always wear shorts. So when Michael was meeting King George V of England, Helen dressed him in long pants because she felt it was more appropriate. When Carol heard about this, he was furious and took Michael away from Helen. I don't know how long for, but anyway, what a life for poor Michael!

I've also heard that Carol used to up the stairs on all fours, howling like a dog!

Does anyone have any nice anecdotes about Helen?

[Marlene]

She was called Queen Mother since she was the mother of a King but never became Queen herself.

Helen was indeed known as queen - and styled as such by Carol II

[grandduchessella]

Well, you're the expert on these kinds of things so I'll defer to you. I just read something somewhere recently which said that King Michael gave her the title of Queen Mother to settle the matter. I guess they were wrong.  :-/

[Eurohistory]

There are some extemely nice photos of Helen of Greece/Romania in the book I co-authored to commemorate King Michael's 80th birthday.

I have some nice photos of her in the Eurohistory archive from birth to her old age and have also visited her grave several times.

Arturo Beéche

[Jim1026]

Where exactly is Pss Helen buried?

[Marlene]

Well, you're the expert on these kinds of things so I'll defer to you. I just read something somewhere recently which said that King Michael gave her the title of Queen Mother to settle the matter. I guess they were wrong.  :-/

There are references to Carol creating Helen Queen at the beginning of his reign. However, in 1940, the Romanian Parliament named her as Queen Mother.

[Marlene]

I had been thinking of starting a thread on Helen for awhile now. She is another favorite of mine. I'm wondering, does anyone have any pictures of her as an elderly woman? She lived from 1896-1982, and it seems like after the 1950's, there are no more pictures of her to be found.

Have you read Arthur Gould Lee's biography of Helen?

[Marlene]

She was called Queen Mother since she was the mother of a King but never became Queen herself.

The decree was on June 12, 1930.  King Carol II noted that his former wife was already queen before the divorce.  Carol's view "was that on the death of KIng Ferdinand he, as Crown Prince Carol, automatically became king by right. His wife, since they were not then divorced, became queen in the same manner."

according to the official decree "the king authorizes her royal highness Princess Helen, to bear the title "her Majesty."  The decree was published in the official monitor.

[Eurohistory]

Where exactly is Pss Helen buried?

She is buried in Lausanne, next to her beloved cousin Princess Paul of Yugoslavia (née Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark) and Olga's husband, Prince Regent Paul, and their son Prince Nicholas, who died tragically at too early an age.

Arturo Beéche

[Jim1026]

She is buried in Lausanne, next to her beloved cousin Princess Paul of Yugoslavia (née Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark) and Olga's husband, Prince Regent Paul, and their son Prince Nicholas, who died tragically at too early an age.

Arturo Beéche

Wasn't Prince Regent Paul originally buried in Paris or
is it something I imagined I heard?

[Alicky1872]

Have you read Arthur Gould Lee's biography of Helen?

No, I've never been able to find a copy. Well, at least a reasonably priced one! I would so love to read it though!