Discussions about the Imperial Family and European Royalty > Balkan Royal Families
Princess Ileana of Romania,her life and family
Dimitri:
Sorry i really did not know where to put this, but it may belong here as her family was german and their family name was Hohenzollern.
What happened to princess Ileana?
I know that she married an Austrian Archduke and later divorced him and became a nun, but what was her life like in between that?
In `Imperial palaces of Russia`, she is shown hugging Alexis and seems very taken with him.
Janet Whitcomb:
Hi Dimitri--
My mother has in her bookcase an autobiography written by Ileana; at the moment the title escapes me. If someone else has the book they may wish to mention the title; if not, I'll get back to you with the title and publication date within the week.
I remember reading that during the brief 1914 visit of NAOTMAA to Constanza, Ilena took Alexei under her wing, so to speak, but that he and her slightly older brother Nicholas got into some mischief, playing a few little boy spitting pranks.
Ilena was probably the child that pleased her mother the most. She did marry and have a big family, then eventually was divorced and took the veil, living at a convent which is, as I recall, on the east coast of the United States.
Janet Whitcomb:
This is just off the top of my head--no books immediately by my side to reference--but Marie of Romania (a daughter of Prince Alfred of England, and therefore one of Queen Victoria's many grandchildren) was married to Ferdinand, and during the course of their marriage six children were born. The eldest, Prince Carol, was at one point considered a match for Grand Duchess Olga of Russia. The next son, Nicholas, was in fact named for Tsar Nicholas--Marie had always been fond of her cousin Nicky--and I will try to find a bit more information about him, his morganatic marriage, etc. (Unless someone beats me to it!) ;) The youngest child, Mircea, who is sitting on Grand Duchess Olga's lap in a photograph taken when the Romanovs visited the Romanian royal family in 1914, died in early 1915 when he was about three years of age.
The story of Marie of Romania's sons and daughters could fill several books . . . and actually has. I like Hannah Pakula's biography of Marie, and of course Marie's own works of autobiography. There are others, too, but--as I said--I'm away from my library at the present! :P
Thierry:
--- Quote ---My mother has in her bookcase an autobiography written by Ileana; at the moment the title escapes me. If someone else has the book they may wish to mention the title; if not, I'll get back to you with the title and publication date within the week.
--- End quote ---
The title is : I Live Again.
If I remember well, both Ileana and Elisabeth (Queen Marie's daughters) most sympathized with the Reds after their nephew's abdictation. Queen Marie has not been very lucky with her children...
LisaDavidson:
Ileana also had another marriage after Archduke Anton - to Dr. Stephen Issarescu. At any rate, much of her family now lives here in the United States - the American Hapsburgs.
I recall reading somewhere that Alexis promised Illeana that he would come back for her some day. Since he didn't she knew he was dead - in spite of rumors about his alleged survival to the contrary.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version