02/06/2022
The wedding of exiled King Michael of Romania and Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma took place at the Royal Palace of Athens on June 10, 1948.
The bride and groom wore their Greek Orders as a sign of recognition and thanksgiving to their hosts, the Royal Greek Family: King Michael wore the Order of the Redeemer and the Order of Saints George and Constantine, and Queen Anne wore the Order of Saints Olga and Sophia.
Royal attendees included Michael's mother The Queen Mother of Romania, aunts Queen Frederica, The Dowager Duchess of Aosta and Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark; cousins Prince Amedeo, 5th Duke of Aosta, Princesses Sophia and Irene of Greece and Denmark, and Crown Prince Constantine of Greece, the three latter's as bridesmaids and pageboy; and many others.
King Michael was 26 years old when he was forced to abdicate by the communist regime, on December 30, 1947, and leave the country, which he was not able to see for 44 years. During his exile, he lived in several countries, namely Switzerland, Italy and England. During the exile in Switzerland, King Michael lived in five different houses.
Romania’s late King Michael had blood ties with the Imperial and Royal Families of Great Britain, Russia, Germany, Denmark, Greece and Portugal, the Great Ducal Family of Baden, and the Hohenzollern Royal Family, from which his grandfather came from. He was the great-grandson of Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland (both from his mother and his father side), as well as the great-grandson of Emperor Frederick III of Germany, the great-grandson of Tsar Alexander II and, on the mother's line, the descendant of Tsar Nicholas I, the great-grandson of Queen Maria II of Portugal, the great-grandson of Duke Alfred of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and the great-grandson of King George I of the Greeks.
