It is nearly certain that the heart of the late Queen Marie of Romania will remain "in its golden casket at Balcik," even though the town will be included in the part of Southern Dobruja soon to be ceded to Bulgaria," reports the New York Times.
The English-born Queen Marie loved Romania, "no less than any Romanian," and her favorite home was at Balcik, a small Black Sea port, where she had built a modest house in the "old Romanian style, half Byzantine, have Venetians, with terraces and gardens."
Queen Marie was fond of flowers, especially calla lilies. Although she had "no love for Bulgaria," she purchased her lilies from that country. Bulgarian gardeners "worked for many years to make the lilies grow."
The flowers are now like "fragrant sentinels around the little chapel where rests Queen Marie's heart."
In her will, Queen Marie stated that she wanted her body to be buried at Curtea-de-Arges, the royal family's crypt, near Bucharest, but she wanted her heart to remain at Balcik, which she hoped would forever remain Romania.
That is unlikely to happen, but the Bulgarians are touched by Queen Marie's final wish, and are likely to agree that "her chapel should be left as a small oasis of Romanian earth" with a guard of Romanian soldiers to "honor their dead Queen."
The flowers are now like "fragrant sentinels around the little chapel where rests Queen Marie's heart."
In her will, Queen Marie stated that she wanted her body to be buried at Curtea-de-Arges, the royal family's crypt, near Bucharest, but she wanted her heart to remain at Balcik, which she hoped would forever remain Romania.
That is unlikely to happen, but the Bulgarians are touched by Queen Marie's final wish, and are likely to agree that "her chapel should be left as a small oasis of Romanian earth" with a guard of Romanian soldiers to "honor their dead Queen."
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