Prince Nicolae of Romania

Prince Nicolae was born in Sinaia on August 5, 1903.

Christine Leșcu, 21.10.2023, 12:32

120 years ago, on August 5, 1903, Prince Nicolae, the only male sibling of King Carol II, besides his three sisters, was born in Sinaia. The destinies of the two brothers were very different, but there were similarities between them in terms of behavior and private life, some even due to the way they were raised. Their mother, Queen Marie, wrote in her memoirs that she let her children grow up free, less concerned with the restrictions imposed by royal protocol.

Ștefania Dinu, head of the Cotroceni National Museum, continues the story of Prince Nicolae:

“He was christened on October 3, 1903 and named after Czar Nicholas II, who was first cousin to his mother, Princess and later Queen Marie. He was the second son of the couple formed by the future monarchs Ferdinand and Marie and the fourth child of the royal family. This placed him rather far from the throne. Since he was not going to be, in terms of succession to the throne, in a dominant position, Prince Nicolae had an as happy childhood as possible at the Royal Court. Because he was very naughty, all those who tried to educate him failed in their attempt. But they also ended up loving the little prince very much, and one of the people he was very close to was his father, King Carol I.”

Nicknamed Nicky, the young prince was King Carol I’s favorite and, after a carefree childhood in Romania, he was sent to Britain to attend Eton College. Prince Nicolaes passion for sports and cars is also rooted in his adolescence and early youth. During WWI, when the Royal Court withdrew to Iași in 1916, he used to take his mother for a ride in a small car called Bambino, to help her relax during that difficult time.

Ștefania Dinu tells us what happened with Prince Nicolae after the war and after the Great Union of 1918:

“He continued to attend Eton College, where he did fairly well, without being brilliant. He was a dreamy fellow, leaning more towards humanities, but at Eton he took military courses, as it was Queen Maries ambition that her boy should become a navy officer. This was also the career he pursued at Eton, and, after finishing college, he was an officer cadet with the British Royal Navy, planning to attend the Royal Naval War College in Britain as well. He did not get to do it because King Ferdinand died prematurely, in July 1927, so Prince Nicolae had to return to the country to take over the position of high regent. It is known that in 1925, Crown Prince Carol abdicated for the second time and went into exile in France, with Elena Lupescu, so King Ferdinand had to announce the establishment of a regency for the child king Mihai. When King Ferdinand passed away, the regency took over, the high regent being Prince Nicolae, aged 24 at the time. King Mihai was only 6 years old. So this regency had to take charge of the affairs of the state. Prince Nicolae was also the legal guardian of the child king Mihai.”

During the regency period, the prince fulfilled his duties well until 1930 when King Carol II claimed his throne and took over the leadership of the state. The two brothers, raised in the same unrestricted spirit, were also alike in their tumultuous love lives. Just like the king, the prince started an affair with a married woman, Ioana Doletti, whom, once divorced, he married against royal customs. The king, however, did not accept the situation, although he himself had been in almost identical ones.

Here is Stefania Dinu about the private life of Prince Nicolae:

“Meanwhile, his passion for automobiles, for aviation, for sports in general continued. Skiing was his favorite sport, but he also participated in motor racing. One of the races was Paris-Nice, in 1933, and the Le Mans race. He accompanied Queen Maria in 1926 on a visit to America and there he had meetings with several American car manufacturers, including Henry Ford, after which, coming to the country, he even purchased some American cars with which participated in those races. In 1931, on October 28, he married Ioana Doletti, without the permission of the king. King Carol II was a bit of a hypocrite when he asked his brother to give up Ioana Doletti and their marriage, concluded secretly in Tohani. This, of course, led to his exclusion. First he was sent abroad for six months, and the six months turned into six years, during which time Prince Nicolae would come to Romania to participate in a series of events together with King Carol II. “

It was only in 1937 that the prince renounced his royal title and went permanently into exile with Ioana Doletti, under the name of Nicolae Brana. The title of Prince of Hohenzollern was to be reassigned to him in 1942 by King Mihai, who also recognized his marriage. However, he would not receive the title of “prince of Romania”. In exile he lived in Italy and Switzerland, being followed by the inter-war and post-war secret services. When the communists grabbed the power, Prince Nicolae became one of the most dynamic representatives of the Romanian exile, trying to unite the Romanian diaspora around several projects, inaugurating Romanian libraries, such as the one in Freiburg, and cultural centers such as those in Madrid and Rome . He died in 1978 in Madrid, and was buried in Lausanne, Switzerland. (EE/MI)