Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Queen Marie left very little in Ferdinand's will

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 July 28, 1929 

 The AP reports today that Queen Marie of Roumania is a "relatively poor woman," and may have to sell some of her jewels and other possessions into cash.

 Her late husband, King Ferdinand, left a fortune of about $1,300,000, which will be "apportioned equally among the king's five children, Prince Carol, Queen Elizabeth of the Hellenes, Queen Marie of Yugoslavia, Prince Nicholas and Princess Ileana. Each of the children will receive about $400,000. 

Queen Marie receives nothing apart from the use for her life of several of Ferdinand's properties. However, the Roumanian government is proposing to split the $180,000 Civil List which the king had received among Queen Marie, King Michael, the Princess Mother Helen, Prince Nicholas, and members of the Regency. 

Queen Marie would receive about $30,000 annually to pay for the maintenance of her homes and pay for staff salaries. The allowance would also cover "entertainment purposes and other expenditures." 

 She is "said to feel keen distress over her financial situation. Friends have been an effort to "induce the Cabinet to recommend to Parliament a liberal allowance" to allow the Dowager Queen to "maintain the former dignity and liberality of her court." The Queen will receive a fraction of the income of Ferdinand's estates, but her share of the holdings, which are valued at $180,000, "is almost negligible." The monies she received for her "American writings was insignificant as compared with the cost of her American trip."

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