Prince Nicolae removed from the line of succession of the Romanian Royal House, stripped of ‘prince’ title

In an unprecedented move, Romania’s Royal House announced that Prince Nicolae, the son of Princess Elena, has been removed from the line of succession to the defunct Romania’s throne and has been also stripped of the “Romania’s Prince” and “Royal Highness” titles.

According to a Royal House’s press release, on August 1 this year H.M. King Mihai signed a document enforcing these decisions.

“As head of the Romania’s Royal House, King Mihai came to these decisions looking ahead the times when the life and reign of his daughter Margareta come to an end. His Majesty stated that the Royal House and the Romanian society of those times will need a ruling under the sign of well balanced modesty, with moral principles, respect and always thinking of the others.

Preserving the same affection for his grandson, King Mihai hopes that Nicolae will find in the upcoming years a right way to serve his ideals and to use the qualities that God gifted him with,” reads the press release, which also mentions that Her Royal Highness Princess Elena, Nicolae’s mother has been informed on this decision in a personal letter sent by the King.

Royal House adviser Ioan-Luca Vlad told Digi24 immediately after the decision was announced that the move came following “an emotional disparity between Nicolae’s ideals and the House’s standards.” It’s not a punishment, but a decision for the future, to which King Mihai came with a particular sadness, the royal adviser explained. He also mentioned the decision was taken ‘in harmony with the involved persons.’ ‘We should not look in any garbage cans  as we won’t find anything,’ the adviser added.

According to Luca Vlad, Nicolae will remain a member of the Royal House, but he will leave Romania, as there are many foreign NGOs that want to collaborate with him on various projects.

Nicolae, born Nicholas Michael de Roumanie Medforth-Mills on April 1, 1985, was third in line to the defunct throne of Romania after his aunt Margareta and his mother Elena, according to a family statute enacted in 2007. He is the eldest child and only son of Princess Elena of Romania and Robin Medforth-Mills.

Many believed that, as Nicholas’ aunt,  Crown Princess Margareta of Romania is childless, it was likely that upon the deaths of his grandfather, aunt, and mother, Nicolae would succeed as the future Head of the Romanian Royal House and pretender to the throne.

Since early 2008, Nicolae has become more and more involved in the public life of Romania, attending many public events in Romania and paying visits throughout the country with his aunt, Crown Princess Margareta and his uncle, HRH Prince Radu of Romania,  who used to serve as the Special Representative of the Government. At the same time, Nicolae was very active in NGOs activities in Romania.The last such action that the prince embarked on was the 1,000-km bike tour which crossed 10 Romanian important cities from Sighetu Marmatiei up to Constanta in order to promote reading and a healthy life style countrywide.

Nicolae was also attending the celebrations in Bucharest marking the King’s Day on May 10 this year, next to his aunt Princess Margareta and her husband Prince Radu.