Carol trying to return to Romania

April 9, 1926

Former Crown Prince Carol is making an attempt to return to Romania by way of Hungary, according to a report by the New York Times correspondent in Budapest. Carol left Budapest at 10 a.m, in his own car in direction of the Transylvania border. He is accompanied by a woman believed to be Elena Lupesu, and by an aid.
The clerk at the Palace Hotel finally admitted to the New York Times reporter that the young Romanian who checked in two days ago, using the name Radu, was really "Prince Carol, traveling incognito." The clerk also confirmed that Mme. Lupescu was with the Crown Prince. The hotel clerk acknowledged, as well, that Hungarian detectives visited Carol at the hotel, but refused to "divulge the reasons of their visit, though silence has revived public suspicion that Radu really was Carol.
This suspicion was originally aroused when Radu arrived at the hotel. He was clean-shaven, but had a strong resemblance to the usually mustached Carol.
The hotel clerk was the "first to confirm his identity." He was asked: "Did the lady with Carol register as his wife?" The answer was "No, of course, not."
According to the clerk, "Radu" arrived in Budapest from Austria, driving his own car."
It is unlikely that the clerk is mistaken in identifying Carol, although his "whole manner indicates he telling list, rather than more than he knows." Foreigners who check into Hungarian hotels must immediately give their passports to the hotel clerks "for transmission to the police, so the clerks are in an especially good position to pierce incognitos."
Carol is very popular in Transylvania, and he is friends with the leaders of the Transylvania National Party. They are the ones who "can make an effort to prevent King Ferdinand from accepting his abdication." There is growing tension between the National Party and the Bucharest government. Time may be ripe for Transylvania to declare itself independent, and name Carol as their king.