The Coronation of 1922

The coronation of 1922 was a watershed moment in Romania's modern history

Steliu Lambru, 24.10.2022, 14:00

On October
15th, 1922, Romanians witnessed an unexpected event, an event with a strong
impact in the mind of every Romanian, who had seen the years of the First World
War: the coronation of Romania’s sovereigns, King Ferdinand I and Queen Marie
in Alba Iulia. The kingdom of Greater Romania, took shape in the wake of WWI, being
the result of an incommensurable sacrifice of human and material resources, as
well as superhuman diplomatic efforts. Following that huge price in human lives
and material resources, the new Romania became the country where any citizen
could freely develop their personality and contribute to the general happiness
and wellbeing. The publications of the
time abounded in details on the organization of the aforementioned event. First
off they published the special venue, the city of Alba Iulia, where in 1600
Wallachian prince Michael the Brave entered in front of his army, an event
considered by historians the first political union of the Romanian
principalities.

Then there was the religious service
and the emotions caused by the coronation, the rituals going on and the leading
personalities attending the event. The press also wrote about the political
rivalries which didn’t cease to exist even during this event. The Liberal
government led by Ion I.C. Brătianu staged the entire coronation, which was
boycotted by the political opposition. At the same time, publications wrote
about the Pope’s disapproval of a Catholic king who was to be crowned in an
Orthodox church. However, these were all minor elements and the coronation went
on as planned, because there was nothing to hinder that major event in the life
of a nation.

In the
following minutes historian Ioan Scurtu is going to help us understand how that
moment was perceived by the main participants in the event, the king and the
queen. According to Ioan Scurtu the two very different personalities of the
king and his wife became very visible on that occasion.

Ioan
Scurtu: King Ferdinand was less
active and didn’t love public appearances, but he eventually accepted the
coronation protocol just like he did during the Crown Council in 1916 when he
announced he had to go against his will and accept Romania’s joining the war as
the Council had asked. Queen Marie had a more active role in politics unlike
Queen Elizabeth, who wasn’t allowed by her husband, King Carol I, to get
involved in Romania’s political life. Ferdinand believed that it was the
sovereigns’ right to coronation for their major contribution to the 1918 union
of the Romanian principalities. And that was also visible in the crowns of the
two royal figures. Ferdinand took over the steel crown of his predecessor, king
Carol, which had three precious stones added, representing Bessarabia, Bukovina
and Transylvania. Queen Marie decided that the crown she took over from Queen
Elizabeth was too modest, so she ordered one made up of gold adorned with a lot
of jewels, which was weighing more than two kilograms.

The extremely
strong personality of Queen Marie became very visible during the coronation,
but that strong personality was actually completing that of her husband. Here
is historian Ioan Scurtu at the microphone.

Ioan Scurtu: The
central figure in the programme of the Coronation Committee was of course King
Ferdinand. Queen Marie tried all the time to be close to the king, she wouldn’t
be overshadowed although she hadn’t had the king’s contribution to the union.
In her diary she wrote about a difficult moment for her when she had to kneel
before the king to have the crown placed on her head. However, the king helped
her to stand up and kissed her forehead. The king placed the crown on his head
like Napoleon Bonaparte.

The general happiness and the feeling of victory at the end of 1918
persisted right until the coronation. Here is historian Ioan Scurtu again.

Ioan Scurtu: The king was himself, he behaved in his style. After
the war, an armistice was signed and high officials, including the clergy had
to come to Bucharest those days. The queen was very happy and told him ‘Nando,
do you realize you have become the king of all Romanians, you’re a great man, a
historic personality?’ But the king had only a laconic reply ‘It was God’s
will!’ As if he hadn’t made such an extraordinary contribution to that union.
They were so different from each other, like I said, different personalities,
but what was important was the fact that they stayed together and everyone saw
the event as the coronation of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie.

The coronation of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie on October 15th
1922 was a triumph for an entire nation, which paid a huge price and the
sacrifice they made at that time will never be forgotten by the generations to
come.

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