Hello everyone, I'm Captain Nemo, and welcome aboard the Nautilus, who takes you on a journey through the ocean of knowledge.
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is known to be known as the "grandmother of Europe", while her granddaughter Mary of Edinburgh has the title of "Balkan mother-in-law". Why Mary received such a title, the captain will tell you in detail.
One, Mary's family lineage
Mary of Edinburgh was born on 29 October 1875 in Oriental Ville Park, England, the daughter of Prince Alfred Ernst Albert of England and Princess Maria Alexandrovna of Tsarist Russia. Since Alfred was canonized as the Duke of Edinburgh by his mother, Queen Victoria, this is where the "Edinburgh" in his daughter Mary's name comes from.
In 1893, Marie married Crown Prince Ferdinand I of Romania, who was renamed "Mary of Romania". Together they had 6 children, Carol II, Elizabeth, Maria, Nicholas, Elejana and Mircea. With the exception of the youngest son, Mircea, who died young, the other five children all grew up.
In 1914, King Carol I of Romania died, his nephew Ferdinand I became King of Romania, and Marie became Queen of Romania. At the outbreak of World War I, Ferdinand I, as a member of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen dynasty, was in the same family as Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, but was persuaded by his wife Marie to join the British Entente camp against the Allies.
Second, the marriage of Mary's children
Carol II was Mary's eldest son and the eldest brother of five other siblings, and the most capable of the siblings. Carol II secretly married Zizi Lambrino in 1918, at the end of World War I, taking advantage of his time to go out to command operations.
Although Zizi Lambrino was born into an old aristocratic family in Romania, his father was only a colonel in the Romanian army. According to the rules of the Romanian royal family at that time, the spouses of princes and princesses must be foreign princesses and princes, so their marriage was not legal. The marriage of naturally Carol II was strongly opposed by Mary and Ferdinand I. Even though Zizi Lambrino was pregnant, Carol II divorced her in 1919 under pressure from her parents, who arranged for her to travel the world to relax.
In 1920, Zizi Lambrino gave birth to a son, Carol Lambreno, but her marriage to Carol II was not recognized by the Romanian royal family, so Carol Lambrino was regarded by the royal family as an illegitimate child and naturally had no right to the throne.
In 1921, Carol II married his cousin Princess Elena of Greece at the arrangement of his parents and had their only child, Mihai I. However, Carol II was very dissatisfied with the arranged marriage of his parents and did not like his wife Elena. Carol II then found many lovers, made himself scandalous, and was forced to renounce the succession to the throne in 1925.
When Ferdinand I died in 1927, his grandson Mihai I took the throne. Carol II was in Paris, France, and returned home in 1930 to stage a coup d'état, ousting his son Mihai I and crowning himself King of Romania. During World War II, Carol II was ousted by the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and North Bukovina, and Mihai I was able to restore the throne. Carol II then went into exile until his death in 1953.
Elizabeth was the eldest daughter and married her cousin Crown Prince George II of Greece in 1921. In 1922, George II succeeded his father, Constantine I, as King of Greece, and Elizabeth became Queen of Greece. From 1924 to 1935, Greece implemented a republic, and George II and Elizabeth lost their Greek royal status. In 1935, George II was restored to the throne, but Elizabeth, who had broken up her relationship, voluntarily chose to divorce and stayed in her mother's home Romania.
Maria, the second daughter, became Queen of Yugoslavia in 1922 by marrying King Alexander I of Yugoslavia and had three sons, Peter II, Tomislav and Andrei, who succeeded her father to the throne in 1923 and became King of Yugoslavia.
Nikolai was the second son , serving as regent to his nephew Mihai I after his father died in 1927 , but was ousted in 1930 by a coup d'état by his brother Carol II. Nikolai was then forced into exile due to marital conflicts with his brother, and although he married twice, he left no offspring.
Elaiana was the third daughter and married Archduke Anton of Austria in 1931. But the Habsburg-Lorraine Austro-Hungarian Empire had long since collapsed in 1918, so Anton's status as a grand duke was only a false name, and Eliana was still a real princess.
Third, Balkan mother-in-law
Of Mary's three sons and daughters, one was a Romanian king, a Greek queen, and a Yugoslav queen, covering the entire Balkans except Bulgaria and Constantinople (Ottoman possessions), so she was known as the "Belle-mère des Balkans (Balkan mother-in-law)".