Romanian prince
Prince Mircea of Romania
(
Romanian pronunciation:
[?mirt?e?a]
; 3 January 1913 – 2 November 1916) was the third son and youngest child of
King Ferdinand of Romania
and
Marie of Edinburgh
and the great-grandson of
Queen Victoria
through his mother. He died aged 3 in November 1916.
Birth
[
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]
Prince Mircea was born in
Bucharest
on 3 January [
O.S.
22 December 1912] 1913, as the third son and youngest child of the Crown Prince Ferdinand of Romania
Note 2
and the Crown Princess Marie of Edinburgh. He was baptised on 2 February [
O.S.
21 January] 1913 at the
Royal Palace
(presently the National Museum of Art).
Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia
arrived by train to
Bucharest
to represent his father. He was met there by
King Carol I
,
Crown Prince Ferdinand
and
Prince Carol
. His godparents were the
German Emperor Wilhelm II
,
King Carol I
,
Queen Elisabeth
and
Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia
. His mother, the Crown Princess, was absent due to a possible attack of
phlebitis
. During his short life, he was known to get along very well with his sister,
Princess Ileana of Romania
. His governess was Mary Green
Note 3
.
Death
[
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]
Prince Mircea died at
Buftea
on 2 November 1916
[
which calendar?
]
of
typhoid fever
during a time of war when the enemy troops were approaching
Bucharest
and many battles were taking place close to the city. The royal family had to quickly bury him on the grounds of
Cotroceni Palace
, before they went into retreat to
Ia?i
, the old capital of
Moldavia
, the unoccupied part north-eastern
Romania
. His death certificate was partially burnt. His original tombstone read:
Here lies the youngest son of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie, born 21 December 1912 and died October 1916, in time of war, while the soldiers of Romania were sacrificing their lives for the centuries’ dream of achieving national unity. For two years, he remained the sole guardian of the home of his parents, over which the country’s flag had ceased to fly. Mourn for him, for he shared with us the days of suffering, but the days of rejoicing he did not live to see.
In 1920, Mircea's eldest brother, the
future Carol II
, named his child with
Zizi Lambrino
Mircea Grigore
, in memory of Prince Mircea who had died just four years earlier. In 1941, Mircea was reburied, at the request of Princess Ileana, from Cotroceni to the little chapel of
Bran Castle
, close to the burial place of Marie's heart.
[
citation needed
]
In January 2018, it was announced that the remains of
King Carol II
will be moved to the new Archdiocesan and Royal Cathedral, along with those of
Queen Mother Helen
. In addition, the remains of Prince Mircea will also be moved to the new cathedral.
[
citation needed
]
Etymology
[
edit
]
Mircea
is an exclusively Romanian-used name that is derived from the
Old Slavic
mir
meaning "peace" or "world".
[
citation needed
]
Prince Mircea was named after
Mircea I of Wallachia
, a medieval Romanian
Prince of Wallachia
who organised a vigorous resistance to the Turks in the 14th century, and whose troops fought side by side with the Serbians on the fatal field of
Kossovo
.
[
citation needed
]
Ancestry
[
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]
Ancestors of Prince Mircea of Romania
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Notes
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- ^Note 1
The most common used date is January 3, but the date on his first tomb had the Old Style date, 22 December 1912.
[
citation needed
]
- ^Note 2
It was believed at the time that his biological father was Prince
Barbu ?tirbey
and now most historians agree that this is true.
[
citation needed
]
- ^Note 3
Mary Green was also the governess of his sister, Princess Ileana and his brother, Prince Nicholas.
[
citation needed
]
References
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Romanian princes
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1st generation
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2nd generation
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3rd generation
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4th generation
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5th generation
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*Title of pretense granted post-abdication by former King Michael I
^Stripped of title
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