Povestea vieții mele Vol. 4

Regina Maria a României tells her story from 1906 onwards. This fourth and last volume ends with King Carol’s death. At that point, she and Ferdinand take the throne. She links her own grief with her new role’s weight. She recalls how she faced a crowd that cheered. At the time, war posed a threat to Romania’s borders.

This memoir gives her own view of royal life. It is for readers of life stories and Romania’s past. In four volumes, Maria writes of her years as a child. She covers her father’s post in Malta and life in Coburg. She gives her views of Carmen Sylva. She writes of her wedding and her life as a wife. She shares her first views of Romania’s capital. Its social world was new to her.

Maria’s birthplace was Eastwell Park in Britain, in 1875. People knew her as Missy. Her full name was Maria Alexandra Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Queen Victoria was her grandmother. Russia’s Tsar Alexander II was her grandfather. She was a princess of Britain and Ireland. She then became Romania’s crown princess and, later, queen.

This edition marks 100 years since her crowning. It keeps the four parts Maria chose for her account. Miruna Andriescu translated the text from English.