Thursday, June 21, 2018

Helen divorces Carol


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June 21, 1928


The tumultuous marriage between Prince Carol and Princess Helen of Greece ended today in divorce in Bucharest, reports the New York Times.

The divorce was pronounced in a "small, sombre, unadorned court room."  Neither the former heir to the Romanian throne nor his estranged wife were present for the pronouncement.  There were no witnesses to offer a "good word for the absent Prince," apart from his lawyer, "who read a brief defending the disinherited Prince."

The indictment against Prince Carol in the name of Princess Helen, stressed in "vigorous terms" the 'violation' of the "sanctity and dignity of his marriage" to Helen in 1921.   The princess' lawyer also charged Carol with abandoning his young son, King Michael.

After the arguments were heard,  the Court's decree was announced, granting an "absolute divorce" for Princess Helen.''

Carol has five days to appeal, but his lawyers noted that the procedure would be "futile."

The Court also ruled that the custody of the young King Michael had already been established as the "result of his kingly status" and court not be altered.

Princess Helen filed the petition to divorce two weeks ago following Carol's alleged plot to regain the throne while he was in England.

She was gracious, rather than joyful, about the end of her marriage.

Speaking about her former husband, Princess Helen said: "I hope that now he will begin a better life and will find the happiness that he apparently failed to find with me. I can forgive , but never forget the wrong he did to me and my child."

Helen is now free to marry again, but she said she will "devote her life to her adopted country and to making a good king out of her small son, Michael."

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