Thursday, January 30, 2020

I am marrying for love: Ileana



January 30, 1930


Princess Ileana beamed as she spoke with a reporter at a dinner given in her honor at Predeal by the the Romanian Gymnastics institute.  The princess is the patron of the organization.

"I am marrying for love only," she said with joy, as her fiance, Count Alexander von Hochberg, stood beside her.   She described their relationship as a "happy love match."

The New York Times reports that after the princess' adjutant Colonel Manolescu formally announced her engagement of Count Alexander, there was "loud and prolonged cheering."

The president of the Gymnastic institute "expressed hope" that Ileana would not desert her country.  The Princess, showing signs of being "visibly touched" by the support for her engagement.

Count Alexander said he had promised to spend "the greater part of the year" in Romania and he and his wife would be "abroad for only a few months."

The princess, who was dressed in a Romanian national costume, and her fiance stayed until the end of the dinner.  Afterward she changed into an evening dress and she and her fiance left a night out at the Sinaia casino, where they "danced until 4 o'clock in the morning."

The Romanian court officially announced Princess Ileana's engagement this morning.   The formal betrothal, which is popular throughout the country, took place earlier today at Cotrocenci Palace.  The entire royal family was present including the three regents for the young King Michael and military and government officials, as well as the Prime Minister Julius Maniu.

The wedding will take place at Sinaia on April 27.   Count Alexander will return to London to visit his family.  His mother, Princess Daisy, is one of Queen Marie's closest friends.

The Queen and her daughter are planning to travel to Syria, Palestine and Egypt during February and will return to Romania together. 

Count Alexander, who is 25 years old, is the second son of the Prince of Pless.  He and Ileana have been together for several months.   

4 comments:

Anastasie said...

I am somewhat puzzled by your article.. According to what I found on Internet, Princess Ileana
never married Count Alexander von Hochberg, but in 1931 Archduke Anton of austria, Prince of Tuscany with whom she had several children.
She later divorced him, married Dr Stefan Nikolas Isarescu, marriage which also ended in a divorce in 1965.
She later entered the Orthodox Monastery of the Protection of the Mother of Good (in Buusy-en-Othe, France) and then moved to the United States and founded the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration, the first English Orthodox monastery in the United Sates. She died in 1991.

Does your article refer to another Ileana of Romania ? Thank you for clarifying.

Anastasie

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

why are you puzzled? Is it not possible that the marriage never took place because the Romanian government discovered that Lexel has been involved in a homosexual relationship (the government was given the police report). If you use my search box, type hochberg and you will find other posts.

The Epicurean said...

If you said that her marriage to Archduke Anton wasn't a love match, I'd like to think that Ileana had some feelings for him, as otherwise, they wouldn't have had six children. The photos of them also show that Ileana had feelings for him.

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

Arranged marriages - couples have sex and have children. Duty. However, by the mid-40s, they were living apart as Ileana and the kids were living at Bran. Anton spent little time there. She was having an affair with Emil Bodnaras,a senior official in the Communist government. Anton arrived in Romania at Christmas in 1947 - and they left together. But Anton remained in Europe when Ileana went to South America and then settled in the US. The marriage was dissolved by divorce.