{"id":569827,"date":"2026-05-04T13:31:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T10:31:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/?p=569827"},"modified":"2026-05-04T13:31:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T10:31:49","slug":"romanian-women-in-history-queen-helen-130-years-birth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/romanian-women-in-history-queen-helen-130-years-birth\/","title":{"rendered":"Romanian in history: Queen Helen, Righteous Among the Nations and the mother of a wise king"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>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.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<h2>Greek Origins<\/h2>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<h2>Values of a Royal Family<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_569405\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-569405\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/27-1-Elena-a-Romaniei-si-fiul-sau-viitorul-Rege-Mihai-I.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-569405 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/27-1-Elena-a-Romaniei-si-fiul-sau-viitorul-Rege-Mihai-I.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/27-1-Elena-a-Romaniei-si-fiul-sau-viitorul-Rege-Mihai-I.jpg 600w, https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/27-1-Elena-a-Romaniei-si-fiul-sau-viitorul-Rege-Mihai-I-593x890.jpg 593w, https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/27-1-Elena-a-Romaniei-si-fiul-sau-viitorul-Rege-Mihai-I-240x360.jpg 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 440px, (max-width: 768px) 354px, 890px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-569405\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Queen Helen holding the future King Michael in her arms. Photo: Muzeulfemeilorremarcabile.ro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In the volume <em>Conversations with Michael I of Romania<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was probably a Sunday, at the Patriarchate \u2014 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,\u201d King Michael recalled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mother\u2019s relatives thought more about God than anyone else I have known. I do not know how to put it better \u2014 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,\u201d the King also testified.<\/p>\n<h2>Regency and an Early Reign<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_569401\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-569401\" style=\"width: 453px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/42-Regina-Elena-mama-si-Mihai-I-453\u00d7628px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-569401 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/42-Regina-Elena-mama-si-Mihai-I-453\u00d7628px.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"453\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/42-Regina-Elena-mama-si-Mihai-I-453\u00d7628px.jpg 453w, https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/42-Regina-Elena-mama-si-Mihai-I-453\u00d7628px-260x360.jpg 260w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 440px, (max-width: 768px) 354px, 890px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-569401\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Queen Helen and King Michael. Photo source: Muzeulfemeilorremarcabile.ro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>His mother became Queen Mother Helen, while his grandmother was Queen Mother Marie.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_569403\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-569403\" style=\"width: 564px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/38-Regina-Maria-Regina-mama-Elena-si-Regele-Mihai.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-569403 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/38-Regina-Maria-Regina-mama-Elena-si-Regele-Mihai.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"564\" height=\"759\" srcset=\"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/38-Regina-Maria-Regina-mama-Elena-si-Regele-Mihai.jpg 564w, https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/38-Regina-Maria-Regina-mama-Elena-si-Regele-Mihai-268x360.jpg 268w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 440px, (max-width: 768px) 354px, 890px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-569403\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Queen Mother Marie, Princess Mother Helen and King Michael. Photo source: Muzeulfemeilorremarcabile.ro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIn 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,\u201d King Michael later recalled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd 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 \u2014 whether much or little \u2014 and that this good alone sustains life.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>The Second Reign of King Michael<\/h2>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_569407\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-569407\" style=\"width: 940px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/24301376_1781096841925180_132662939837235877_n.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-569407 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/24301376_1781096841925180_132662939837235877_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"940\" height=\"599\" srcset=\"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/24301376_1781096841925180_132662939837235877_n.jpg 940w, https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/24301376_1781096841925180_132662939837235877_n-890x567.jpg 890w, https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/24301376_1781096841925180_132662939837235877_n-360x229.jpg 360w, https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/24301376_1781096841925180_132662939837235877_n-768x489.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 440px, (max-width: 768px) 354px, 890px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-569407\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">King Michael and Queen Helen, Jimbolia train station, 1940. Photo source: Romaniaregala.ro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Queen Helen later became a moral and spiritual mentor to the daughters of King Michael and Queen Anne in exile.<\/p>\n<p>She reposed in the Lord on 28 November 1982 in Switzerland.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are losses that no one can measure, not even those who suffer them. They belong to another order of reckoning, not of this world,\u201d King Michael reflected in the same volume.<\/p>\n<p>She was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.romaniaregala.ro\/jurnal\/regina-elena-odihneste-la-curtea-de-arges\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reinterred<\/a> at Curtea de Arge\u0219 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.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_306497\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-306497\" style=\"width: 1012px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/regina-mama-elena-a-romaniei-vila-italia-5-1012x1024-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-306497 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/regina-mama-elena-a-romaniei-vila-italia-5-1012x1024-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1012\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/regina-mama-elena-a-romaniei-vila-italia-5-1012x1024-1.jpg 1012w, https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/regina-mama-elena-a-romaniei-vila-italia-5-1012x1024-1-880x890.jpg 880w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 440px, (max-width: 768px) 354px, 890px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-306497\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Unpublished image: Queen Helen at Villa Sparta, Florence. Photo source: Urban.ro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI 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,\u201d King Michael said.<\/p>\n<p>Sources: <a href=\"https:\/\/casamajestatiisale.ro\/familia-regala\/istorie\/regina-elena\/\">Casa Regal\u0103 a Rom\u00e2niei<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/romania.europalibera.org\/a\/regina-elena\/31527838.html\">Europa Liber\u0103<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/stiripentruviata.ro\/regele-mihai-despre-mama-sa-regina-elena-si-valorile-familiei-mostenite-de-la-bunicii-materni-despre-noblete-si-regalitate-ca-stari-de-spirit\/\">Stiripentruviata.ro<\/a><br \/>\nPhoto source: Romanian Royal Family<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BasilicaNews\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-495171\" src=\"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/banner-x-en-889x148.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"889\" height=\"148\" srcset=\"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/banner-x-en-889x148.gif 889w, https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/banner-x-en-1024x171.gif 1024w, https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/banner-x-en-1536x256.gif 1536w, https:\/\/basilica.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/banner-x-en-2048x341.gif 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 440px, (max-width: 768px) 354px, 890px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":569410,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[13461,25649,19061,34691,21194,37409],"class_list":["post-569827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cultural-en","tag-king-michael","tag-queen-helen-of-romania","tag-righteous-among-the-nations","tag-romanian-history","tag-romanian-royal-family","tag-romanian-women-in-history"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6 (Yoast SEO v27.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Queen Helen of Romania 130 Years Remembered - Basilica.ro<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"130 years since the birth of Queen Helen of Romania, who saved thousands of Jews and shaped 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