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Romanian King removes grandson’s royal title

In a statement released yesterday, Romania’s King Michael has withdrawn his grandson’s royal title. The former Prince Nicolae of Romania, once third in succession to the throne, and only grandson of the ninety-three-year-old king will now be known as Mr. Nicholas Medforth-Mills. He became third in line to the throne on 1 April 2010 at the age of twenty-five.

King Michael of Romania.

King Michael of Romania.

Born in Switzerland to Princess Elena, he lived in and was educated in England. During the past five years, he participated in activities held at the Royal Household and other charitable events. To bring attention to literacy and reading, in April of this year, he biked across Romania, from the northern region of Transylvania to The Port of Constan?a, a distance of 1000 kilometers.

The statement expressed, “As head of Romania’s Royal Family, King Michael made the decision thinking at what Romania will be after his daughter Margareta, who’s the Custodian of the Crown will have reached the end of her reign and life. His Majesty asserted that the Royal Family and Romanian society of those times would need a modest reign, well balanced, with moral principles, and always thinking about others,”

King Michael reached this conclusion by observing his grandson’s behavior in public and in private. Ioan Luca Vlad explained further, “When you are in public, you must have a certain attitude, you must comply with certain norms. If you do this, but you are not happy with it, this won’t last long, so you must make a preventive step,”

The King is merely thinking of the future, stated the Royal House’s representatives. It isn’t a punishment for the former prince, who was in agreement with his grandfather’s decision. Mr. Methford-Mills issued his statement, “The royal life means leading my life in a way I find hard to accept,” he said. “For this reason, I accept with a lot of pain in my heart the decision of His Majesty King Michael for me.”

The household insists the King’s actions aren’t to cover up any scandal associated with the royal family. Rather, it was taken as a preventative measure to avoid any embarrassment in future. However, Romanians speculate that a jealous relative wished to edge the former prince from the line of succession.

Romania is a republic; the Monarch looks after the family’s properties and bestows honours. The Romanians say the royal family shows more elegance and dignity than their politicians. They were stunned by these latest events. After this announcement, Nicholas’s popularity has exploded, his Facebook page ballooning to over 23,000 likes. Despite this growing popularity, the former prince has left Romania.

Photo credit: Emanuel Stoica via Flickr

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