Marie of Yugoslavia told to go home

Queen Marie                     

December 13, 1926

Queen Marie of Yugoslavia, the second daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie of Roumania, is "being hustled home to her people,"  reports the Chicago Tribune

Marie is currently in Bucharest visiting her very ill father.  Although the king's condition remains critical,  Queen Marie "will be shipped to Belgrade in the next few days, virtually as an undesirable."   The Roumanian government is concerned that Marie has been "meddling in matters concerning the succession to the throne," and government officials have asked Belgrade to "have her recalled her."

Serbia's minister in Bucharest does not deny "Marie's imminent departure," but he has "protested vigorously against the implications" that the queen has "tampered with Roumanian affairs."

Queen Elisabetha

Queen Marie's alleged tampering is a "touchy subject" at present as the Roumanian Premier Averescu has "been flirting with Italy, but does not trust Yugoslavia.
The queen's expulsion "throws into strong relief "  a scenario at Cotroceni Palace, where Ferdinand's "predominately petticoated family plots and counterplots for the spoils after his death."

The players include three queens, Ferdinand's wife, Marie, Elisabeth, the eldest daughter, and former Queen of Greece, and Queen Marie of Yugoslavia, as well as Princess Helen, the estranged wife of former Crown Prince Carol; and "little Princess Ileana."

Queen Marie of Yugoslavia is said to adore her older brother, "despite his wild ways, " and is playing the Crown Prince's cards for him."  Her eldest sister, Queen Elisabeth, said to be Ferdinand's favorite child, is siding with her.  Elisabeth may disapprove of Carol's treatment of his wife, but she "has bowed to what she knows are her father's secret desires," and is actively seeking support for her brother.  Both women are "trying to discredit the regency."

There is another force to be reckoned with, as well.  Ion Bratiano, described as the country's "invisible force," has put a stop to the Yugoslavian queen's intrigues and arranged for her to be called home.

It has been suggested that Prince Carol, now in exile, stands between his mother and his two oldest sisters.   Queen Marie of Roumania is "doing her own competent best" to have become a "member of the regency, solo agent, or even monarch."

Queen Marie:
  all images Marlene A. Eilers Koenig collection

Her two daughters are "spreading poisonous reports" of her ambitions and they have criticized her "bitterly for leaving King Ferdinand on what perhaps is his deathbed to trot to America."

Queen Marie was called home, and her youngest daughter, Ileana, "has been sat upon."  The New York Times reports that Elisabeth, an ardent Carolist, is primarily responsible for "the most biting comments on Queen Marie's American tour."  She has accused her mother of "forsaking her father" to "promenade Mlle. Ileana through the world."  Elisabeth "refuses "to regard Ileana as her sister."

Princess Ileana has taken her mother's side and has made it clear to everyone that her "brother Nicky is just sick at the prospect of being made a stuffy old regent, and would much prefer to return to a seafaring life."  This would create a vacancy in the regency that "would be quite convenient for her mother."

A court official said today:  Princess Ileana "has been sharply reprimanded by the proper authorities for presuming to discuss, much less attempt to influence changes to the regency, which is Ion Bratiano's masterpiece, and which he alone is destined to change."

The final woman in the drama, Princess Helen's only strength, and concern is her young son, Michael, now the heir to the throne.

Queen Marie of Yugoslavia's "continued presence is deemed undesirable," and her husband, King Alexander, has requested that she return home to Belgrade.