Sunday marked 130 years since the birth of Queen Helen of Romania, posthumously honoured with the title of Righteous Among the Nations for saving the lives of thousands of Jews and, indirectly, preventing the deportation of tens of thousands more through her interventions with Ion Antonescu.
Alongside this courageous involvement in public affairs, she fulfilled her vocation as a mother with distinction, giving the country King Michael I of Romania, a wise sovereign who fully identified with the tragic destiny of post-war Romania.
Greek Origins
Born Princess Helen of Greece and Denmark, she was the daughter of King Constantine I of the Hellenes and Queen Sophia, born Princess of Prussia. She was a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and a great-great-granddaughter of Czar Nicholas I of Russia.
On 10 March 1921, she married Crown Prince Carol of Romania. In 1926, however, her husband renounced his succession rights and left to live abroad with his mistress. Princess Helen remained in Romania, where she raised their son Mihai, instilling in him faith in God and deep moral values.
Values of a Royal Family
In the volume Conversations with Michael I of Romania by Mircea Ciobanu, a chapter dedicated to Queen Helen offers a moving portrait drawn by her son, who speaks of the values he inherited from his maternal grandparents, the Greek royal family.
“It was probably a Sunday, at the Patriarchate — not in the main church, but in the chapel, where my mother always took me with her. And on that day, I remember very clearly, because the image has remained vivid in my memory, I turned my head and suddenly looked at her, and I saw her weeping. Later, I did not dare ask her why she was crying. I knew, more or less, what it was about,” King Michael recalled.
“This is, I believe, my earliest memory of my mother. It was in the years when I would go to her bedroom every evening to say my prayers. Whenever I came near her, I remembered seeing her weeping before the icons. That is why this image has never faded from my memory.”
“My mother’s relatives thought more about God than anyone else I have known. I do not know how to put it better — they were connected to life not through material goods, but through their faith. My mother inherited this good part from them, together with a gentleness that did not exclude firmness in dealing with people,” the King also testified.
Regency and an Early Reign
After the death of King Ferdinand the Unifier on 20 July 1927, the five-year-old Mihai became king under a regency composed of Prince Nicholas, Patriarch Miron Cristea and Gheorghe Buzdugan, President of the High Court of Cassation and Justice.
His mother became Queen Mother Helen, while his grandmother was Queen Mother Marie.
Queen Mother Helen stood beside Queen Marie with diplomacy and humility, earning her admiration and affection. She divorced Carol on 21 June 1928 but remained close to her son until 1932, when she was forced into exile. She settled in Italy, at Villa Sparta in Florence.
Meanwhile, Carol returned to Romania and, in 1930, became King Carol II. This marked the beginning of a long ordeal of humiliation and separation for both Queen Helen and her son, the former King Michael.
“In the years when she was absent from the country, I did not spend much time with her. It is difficult to calculate now, but if you add up those holiday weeks, they do not amount to many months spent in Florence,” King Michael later recalled.
“And yet, those weeks spent together with my mother mattered more than any other form of moral education. She never spoke ill of anyone. She always found something good to say about each person. From her I learned that every human being is founded upon good — whether much or little — and that this good alone sustains life.”
The Second Reign of King Michael
In 1940, not yet 19 years old, Mihai again became king, and Ion Antonescu recalled Queen Helen to Romania. She became a vital support to her son during deeply troubled times that demanded moral clarity and courage.
From 1945 until their departure from Romania on 3 January 1948, Queen Helen and King Michael stood almost alone against Soviet pressure. With courage, faith and at times even a sense of humour, they endured those years.
Queen Helen later became a moral and spiritual mentor to the daughters of King Michael and Queen Anne in exile.
She reposed in the Lord on 28 November 1982 in Switzerland.
“There are losses that no one can measure, not even those who suffer them. They belong to another order of reckoning, not of this world,” King Michael reflected in the same volume.
She was reinterred at Curtea de Argeș Monastery on 19 October 2019, by decision of Her Majesty Margareta of Romania, Custodian of the Romanian Crown, with the approval of Patriarch Daniel of Romania.
“I have often thought that the circumstances of life made my mother live as an ordinary person. But even so, she never ceased to think as a queen,” King Michael said.
Sources: Casa Regală a României; Europa Liberă; Stiripentruviata.ro
Photo source: Romanian Royal Family
