Princess Ileana of Romania was the youngest daughter of the future King Ferdinand I of Romania and Queen Marie (born of Edinburgh). In 1927, Ileana’s father died, and he was succeeded by her nephew, King Michael I, as her brother Carol had renounced his rights to the throne to be with his mistress and later wife, Magda Lupescu. Carol later deposed his son and became King of Romania in 1930.
Ileana was briefly engaged to Count Alexander of Hochberg before marrying Archduke Anton of Austria, and they had six children together. Following their divorce in 1954, Ileana married Dr Stefan Nikolas Issarescu. This marriage, too, ended in divorce in 1965.
Ileana was tonsured as a monastic in 1967, and she received the name Mother Alexandra. In Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, she founded the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration. She died on 21 January 1991.
Ileana of Romania: Princess, Exile and Mother Superior by Thom Nickels appears to be only the second biography of Ileana to appear in English. The first is Royal Monastic: Princess Ileana of Romania: The Story of Mother Alexandra (US & UK), and Princess Ileana herself wrote her memoirs, which are also available in English (US & UK).
The book encompasses not only Ileana’s life but also the path of the author’s research. And to be honest, I wish that hadn’t been included. Far more time could have been spent on Ileana’s life, rather than the author’s travels. I also did not enjoy the amount of time spent on some outrageous rumours such as the survival of one or more members of the Russian imperial family and the possibility (?!) that Ileana’s father was Emperor Nicholas II.
Overall, I would not recommend this book.
Ileana of Romania: Princess, Exile and Mother Superior by Thom Nickels is available now in the US and the UK.
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