Romanians Commemorate the Centennial of the Coronation of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie

The royal couple.

Today, Nicholas and Alina-Maria of Romania commemorated the centennial of the Coronation of Nicholas' great-great-grandparents, King Ferdinand and Queen Marie of Romania. 

The Coronation of King Ferdinand I and Queen Marie of Romania.

Photo (c) Tallandier / Bridgeman Images.

On 15 October 1922, King Ferdinand and Queen Marie were crowned as monarchs of Greater Romania in a lavish ceremony at Alba Iulia Cathedral, which is now known as Coronation Cathedral (Catedrala Încoronării). The importance of this event drew from the fact that the king and queen had overseen a massive expansion of the borders of the Romanian kingdom following World War I; this was greatly due to the diplomatic lobbying of Queen Marie at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. The coronation was attended by the Duke of York (future King George VI), the Duke of Genoa, Prince Paul of Serbia (later Regent of Yugoslavia), and the ceremony was witnessed by over twenty thousand Romanians. 

The resting place of the king and queen, Curtea de Argeș.

Nicholas and Alina-Maria, as well as students from the local technical school named after King Ferdinand, attended a service at Curtea de Argeș Cathedral, the burial place of all the departed kings and queens of Romania. Archimandrite Caliopie Ichim officiated over the ceremony.