Diana and I would like to invite you to the new conference from the already traditional series inaugurated last year at the Liberal Cafe in Bucharest, on the royal and architectural history of Romania.
The subjects this year are the following:
Diana Mandache: “King Michael as a school pupil: curriculum, marks, fieldtrips”
Valentin Mandache: “Eastwell Manor: the birthplace of Queen Marie”
The event is organised by the National Liberal Party’s Bloggers’ Club, and is scheduled to take place on Wednesday 15 January, starting at 6.30 pm (The Liberal Cafe: 9, Doamnei Street, Lipscani quarter, just across the road from the National Bank).
Conference: *King Michael as a school pupil, *Eastwell Manor: the brithplace of Queen Marie
There will be shown and discussed photographs and period newsreel footage about the school pupil Michael, from the Regency period and then as a Crown Prince, and architectural photographs of Eastwell Manor, images of Queen Marie during her childhood and as an adult visiting her birthplace, and how these formative years in such significant circumstances and environments influenced those two royal figures later in their life.
Conference: *King Michael as a school pupil, *Eastwell Manor: the brithplace of Queen Marie
The Bloggers’ Club of the National Liberal Party and the presenters are looking forward to welcoming you at the conference!
Because the whole planet seems now captivated by the recent wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, now Duchess of Cambridge, I thought it would be a good idea to post an article touching the subject of historic Romanian architecture in the context of another wedding, more than a century ago, involving Romanian royals. Bellow is a very rare old postcard depicting the official cavalcade accompanying Marie, the Princess of Edinburgh, freshly made a Princess of Romania through the marriage with Crown Prince Ferdinand, when she first arrived, after the marriage ceremony and honeymoon, in her adopted country on the 24 January (4 Feb.- Julian calendar) 1893. Marie’s coach is seen acclaimed by Bucharest’s citizens, passing by two of the city’s architectural landmarks of the late Victorian era: the Unirii Market Hall (in the background), a large and beautiful iron frame structure similar with the ubiquitous Les Halles Centrales found in many of the late c19th French towns and the majestic Beaux Arts style building of the Brancovensc Hospital Establishment (in the foreground). Both these wonderful edifices, so important for Bucharest’s identity, were savagely demolished by the communist authorities in the mid-1980s, during dictator Ceausescu’s infamous vast and architecturally coarse remodelling of large areas of central Bucharest for his infamous “Victory of Socialism” project. That area is today full of ugly and badly maintained massive communist apartment blocks, which are also among the most expensive properties in Romania’s capital- a measure of the dismal level of culture and confused identity of the post-communist inhabitants of this city.
The arrival of Princess Marie of Edinburgh/ Romania in Bucharest, in Feb (Julian calendar) 1893, passing by the Brancovenesc Hospital building and Unirii Market Hall (old postcard dated 1901, undivided back, Diana & Valentin Mandache collection)
For more information on Queen Marie of Romania see “Marie of Romania. Images of a Queen” by Diana Mandache, Rosvall Royal Books, 2007.
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I endeavour through this series of periodic articles to inspire appreciation of the historic houses of Romania, a virtually undiscovered, but fascinating chapter of European architectural history and heritage.
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If you plan acquiring or selling a historic property in Romania or start a renovation project, I would be delighted to advice you in sourcing and transacting the property, specialist research, etc. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contactpage of this weblog.
This is a post first published on Diana’s blog on royal history. The first photo shows the actual four Balkan monarchs together at a royal event in Serbia this month. The photograph is evocative of the better times of stability enjoyed by this region during the reign of their predecessors, in contrast with the endemic volatility of the last seven decades of republican rule. For Romania, the monarchy has been the most beneficial form of government in this land’s history, a period of organic modernisation and integration with the advanced economies and cultures of Europe. Most of the historic architecture of the region has been developed during the reign of the Balkan monarchs. There is a second photograph in this post taken one century ago, showing the ancestors of the present kings, also gathered together, thus emphasizing even more the continuity, consistency and relevance of the royal era for this region of Europe.
This a rare historical image, the most recent gathering of the Balkan Monarchs, photograph taken on the occasion of the silver wedding anniversary of Crown Prince of Serbia. In the image l to r: King Simeon of Bulgaria, Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia, King Michael of Romani … Read More
I am honoured to be invited together with my husband, Valentin, to the 25th birthday anniversary of Prince Nicholas and Investiture Ceremony with the titles of Prince of Romania and that of Royal Highness. The ceremony … Read More
Valentin Mandache, architectural historian 