Zizi Lambrino

Zizi Lambrino
Born	3 October 1898(1898-10-03)
Died	11 March 1953(1953-03-11) (aged 54)
Spouse	Carol II of Romania
Children	Carol Lambrino
Parents	Constantin Lambrino Euphrosine Alcaz

Joanna Marie Valentina "Zizi" Lambrino (3 October 1898 in Roman, Romania - 11 March 1953 in Paris, France) was the first wife of King Carol II of Romania. They had one son.

Life

The daughter of Colonel later General Constantin Lambrino and Euphrosine Alcaz, Lambrino met the Hohenzollern prince Carol, son of King Ferdinand I of Romania and Queen Marie of Romania, in Iaşi, Romania, in 1918, during World War I. The Romanian court had adjourned from Bucharest to Iaşi to keep its distance from a German invasion. Journalist A.L. Easterman would later write that "Carol fell violently in love and was at no pains to dissemble it," despite the obvious disapproval of the royal court for his bestowing his affections on a commoner.^[1]

Their union was opposed by his parents, but Carol "smuggled" her across the Russian frontier and they married in the Cathedral Church of Odessa, Ukraine on 31 August 1918, in contravention of royal law. The marriage was morganatic: that is, it was understood that any child of the union would have no claim on the throne of Romania or any other royal honors.^[2]

Carol's parents were furious. The king ordered him kept seventy-five days in close confinement in Bistriţa Monastery. Prime Minister Ion I. C. Brătianu practically accused him of treason. Carol threatened to abdicate his right of royal succession and, indeed, when the Romanian Supreme Court ruled the marriage unconstitutional and illegal, and annulled it, in 1919, he signed documents of abdication.^[3]

However, as Easterman describes it, "intriguers... cunningly... [threw] other young and attractive women in his view and society" and eventually "corroded his relations with his wife..."^[4]

King Carol and Zizi Lambrino had one son, Mircea Gregor Carol Lambrino (8 August 1920 – 27 January 2006). Carol and the Romanian government continued to pay Lambrino's maintenance and that of her son in their French exile. ^[5]

She died in Paris, France on 11 March 1953.

Descendants

Her son, Mircea Gregor Carol Lambrino, was named in memory of Prince Mircea of Romania (1913-1916), Carol's youngest brother, who had died four years previous to the former's birth, but he would later be known as "Carol" rather than "Mircea." Mircea/Carol married three times, firstly (1944-1950) to Helene Nagavitzine; they had one son, Paul-Philippe Hohenzollern. He next married Jeanne Williams (1960-1977); they had one son, Ion Nicolas George Alexander Hohenzollern (born 1961 in Dorset, England). He married his third wife, Antonia Colville, in 1984 and they remained married until he died in 2006.

In response to a suit by her grandson Paul, a Romanian Court determined in 1996 that her marriage was legal. This places a shadow over the status of Carol II's son, the former King Michael of Romania, because if Carol's morganatic marriage to Zizi Lambrino was never properly ended, that could invalidate his later royal marriage to Elena of Greece, Michael's mother. ChivalricOrders.org, however, sees this shadow as very slight: "The legality of the annulment of the marriage was not only unchallenged at the time, but significantly, after eventually becoming King, Carol II did not attempt to undo this act nor declare his son Mircea legitimate. Neither did he ever name Mircea as his heir..."; further, "the annulment" although contested by Carol at the time was "... eventually acknowledged by Carol II himself who remarried twice." ^{[6] [7]}

Notes

1. ^ Easterman, 1942, 33.
2. ^ Easterman, 1942, 33-34.
3. ^ Easterman, 1942, 34.
4. ^ Easterman, 1942, 34-35.
5. ^ ChivalricOrders.org for the name of her son.
6. ^ ChivalricOrders.org.
7. ^ Simpson, p. A-4. This is citation only for the date of the court decision.

References

• Easterman, A.L., King Carol, Hitler and Lupescu. London: Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1942.
• "Prince Paul of Romania" on ChivalricOrders.org. The quotation marks are part of the title; on their page Fantasy Royalty: Usurpers, Imposters, Illegal Claims they describe him as an "illegal claimaint". Accessed 29 November 2005.
• Simpson, Daniel (19 June 2002). "Bucharest Journal". New York Times. pp. A-4. 
• Marlene A. Eilers, "Queen Victoria's Descendants". Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1987

Persondata
Name	Lambrino, Zizi
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	3 October 1898
Place of birth
Date of death	11 March 1953
Place of death