4218

Prince Michael of Romania, later His Majesty King Michael I of Romania 1936

Standing half-length in three-quarter profile to the right, full face illuminated from the left, wearing a grey-blue sports jacket over a white open-necked shirt and holding a shotgun with both hands, a blue and cloudy sky and distant landscape beyond

Oil on canvas, 90 x 70 cm (35 ½ x 27 ½ in.)

Inscribed lower right: de László  / BUKAREST 1936 III   

Sitters’ Book II, f. 40: Michael / 1936

Sitters’ Book II, f. 86: Michael / 7. III. 1936

Private Collection

De László spent nearly two months in Bucharest in early 1936 to paint the sitter's father King Carol II [4220], his grandmother Queen Marie [3211], and a posthumous portrait of his grandfather King Ferdinand [4217] for the National Bank of Romania. He had painted Prince Michael's mother [4221] in London in 1925. The preparatory oil sketch [3231] for this portrait was presented to the sitter’s mother by the artist in 1937.

According to the artist’s diary, Prince Michael’s first sitting was 5 March: “The[n] came the prince & did study for His pic. With a gun – in flannel - & in the open – which much appealed to the king. A nice boy – rather slow - & h[e]avy.”^[1] The present portrait was started the next afternoon: “began the wayward –Prince Michael –as He signed his name under his fathers – the King – prepared the whole portrait it will be a delightful – young – by – bright picture with the gun.”^[2] 

Although the sitter was in fact left-handed, for the purposes of the composition, the artist has portrayed him holding the gun as if he was right-handed, which King Michael himself observed had always bothered him.^[3] 

Queen Marie of Romania, grandmother of the sitter, was forced to leave during de László’s stay in the country as her sister the Grand Duchess Victoria was terminally ill.^[4]  The artist corresponded with her, keeping her informed of his progress with the other family portraits he was working on, the two study portraits of King Carol [3225] and [3222] and the present portrait, having been commissions suggested by the Queen herself:^[5] “H.M. (King Carol) is very happy with the portrait of Prince Michael. I painted the prince …with the gun ….  He is most charming.”^[6]

De László completed eleven portraits and six preparatory oil sketches of the Romanian royal family during his stay in Bucharest. These included: an unfinished formal three-quarter length of the Queen [2961] in full royal regalia, for which there are three preparatory oil sketches [3204] [84] [85], later in 1936 in London he painted a half-length portrait of her in traditional Romanian dress [3207] as a gift to thank her for all her kindness to the artist, a study portrait in mourning dress [3208], two portraits of the King’s mistress Elena Lupescu [3237] [3233], for which there is a preparatory oil sketch [3237] for the latter.

Prince Michael was born 25 October 1921 in Sinaia, Romania, the only child of King Carol II (1893-1953) and Princess Helen of Greece and Denmark (1896-1982). Carol had renounced his right to succeed to the throne in 1919 and so, on the death of King Ferdinand I in 1927, the sitter became King of Romania, at only six years old. He was the fourth king of the dynasty. A Royal Council was established to govern until King Michael came of age, however his father returned and gained power in 1930 by offering to act as Regent. He proclaimed himself King soon after and gave his son the title of Grand Voivode of Alba Iulia.^[7]

Prince Michael was educated by his mother and showed an avid interest in aeroplanes, military uniforms and royal ceremonies. On 6 September 1940 King Carol abdicated again and at 19 years of age Michael became King for the second time. He was largely powerless with General Ion Antonescu^[8] controlling the country as Prime Minister. Antonescu allied Romania with Germany in the Second World War and King Michael dramatically regained power in a coup in August 1944, joining the Allies.

After the war the King was forced to accept a communist government led by Petru Groza,^[9] which was backed by a Russian army of nearly a million soldiers. His efforts to persuade the communists to step down were in vain and, in retaliation, the King declared a ‘Royal Strike’, neither receiving ministers nor signing legal documents. On 30 December 1947, Petru Groza asked King Michael to abdicate, threatening the massacre of a thousand imprisoned pro-monarchy students if he did not sign the agreement. King Michael and his mother were forced to leave the country on 2 January 1948. The sitter renewed his claim to the throne from London on 4 March 1948, stating that his abdication was invalid as he had been forced to sign under duress.

On 10 June 1948, in Athens, King Michael married Princess Anne-Marie of Bourbón-Parma (born 1923), only daughter of Prince René of Bourbón-Parma and Princess Margarethe of Denmark, in Athens. They had five daughters: Crown Princess Margarita (born 1949) and Princesses Elena (born 1950), Irina (born 1953), Sophie (born 1957) and Maria (born 1964).

In 1992 King Michael was invited back to Romania for the rededication of St George in Bucharest, a ceremony that historically requires the monarch’s presence. Over 100,000 people welcomed him on his arrival and as a result the government refused him a permit to return until 1997, the 50th anniversary of his exile. King Michael, then aged seventy-five, and his wife were welcomed for a six day visit by the Prime Minister. The King was granted a Romanian passport in the name of Michael of Romania.

His wife Queen Anne died 1 August 2016. King Michael died in Switzerland 5 December 2017, aged 96.e

LITERATURE:  

•Roumania, Queen Marie (of). Diaries, Vol. III 195, rola 489, pp. 105-106, National Archives, Bucharest

•De László letters to Queen Marie of Roumania, dated 1 and 12 March 1936, Arhivele Nationale, Bucuresti, fond Regina Maria personale, V4673 & V4674

•Rutter, Owen, Portrait of a Painter, London, 1939, p.  376

•Point de Vue, « Images du Monde », no.2009, 30 January 1987, p. 8

•Hart-Davis, Duff, in collaboration with Caroline Corbeau-Parsons, De László: His Life and Art, Yale University Press, 2010, p. 268

•Field, Katherine, Philip Alexius de László; 150th Anniversary Exhibition, de Laszlo Archive Trust, 2019, p. 48

•Field, Katherine, with essays by Sandra de Laszlo and Richard Ormond, Philip de László: Master of Elegance,

Blackmore, 2024, pp. 34, 146, ill. 35

•DLA125-0006, Philip De László diary, 1936

SMdeL & KF 2014