Divorce
In July 1927 Helen's five-year old son Michael succeeded as king of Romania. Other than her rank as a princess of Romania, Helen held no official position; she was not a member of the regency council. In December 1927 Carol asked Helen for a divorce. At first she refused, but eventually she gave in to government advice. On 21 June 1928, the marriage was dissolved by the Romanian Supreme Court on the grounds of incompatibility.
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On 6 June 1930, Carol returned to Romania and was proclaimed king, with the help of politicians like Iuliu Maniu. Helen continued to live in her own home in the Chaussée Kyselef in Bucharest with her son Michael. There ensued several months of discussion about annulling the divorce. The government and public opinion were most desirous of Carol and Helen restoring their marital relationship. A joint coronation ceremony was planned for mid-September. Helen was even told by the Prime Minister Iuliu Maniu that as a result of the abrogation of the act of 4 January 1926, Carol had legitimately succeeded as king in July 1927, from which point she had automatically ranked as queen.
The government presented a decree to Carol for his signature officially confirming Helen as Her Majesty The Queen of Romania. Carol, however, crossed this out and declared Helen to be Her Majesty Helen (i.e. with the style Majesty, but not the title Queen). Helen refused to allow anyone to use this style in her presence. They ended up divorcing in 1928.
Eventually it became clear that Carol himself did not want the divorce annulled and that his lover Madame Lupescu was living with him at the Foishor. Because Helen would not oppose the government's plans to annul the divorce, Carol took measures against her: guards were place around her residence, those who visited her were persecuted, and she was deprived of her office as honorary colonel of the Roshiori regiment.
Faced with this treatment, Helen determined to go into exile. After a brief visit to London, she went to her mother's villa near Florence. There was ongoing conflict with Carol about how frequently and under what circumstances she should be able to see their son Michael. In October 1932 she returned to Bucharest. Carol initiated a campaign in the press against her, claiming that she had tried to commit suicide twice. The government issued a statement confirming Helen's civil list payment, and officially allowing her to reside in Romania six months each year, and to take her son Michael abroad one month each year.
In spite of the official permission to reside in Romania, Helen was expected to stay in exile and returned to Florence. With her financial situation now stable, she was able to purchase her own villa at the nearby town of San Domenico. In spring 1934 Helen moved into Villa Sparta with her brother Paul and her two sisters. She lived here for the next ten years, seeing her son Michael for a month or so each year.
Read more about this topic: Helen Of Greece And Denmark
Famous quotes containing the word divorce:
“Children of the same family, the same blood, with the same first associations and habits, have some means of enjoyment in their power, which no subsequent connections can supply; and it must be by a long and unnatural estrangement, by a divorce which no subsequent connection can justify, if such precious remains of the earliest attachments are ever entirely outlived.”
—Jane Austen (1775–1817)
“Counsel men to discipline their children, but not to divorce their wives.”
—Chinese proverb.