Elisabeth of Wied

Elisabeth of Wied (Pauline Elisabeth Ottilie Luise; 29 December 1843) was the first Queen of Romania as the wife of King Carol I from 15 March 1881 to 27 September 1914. She had been the princess consort of Romania since her marriage to then-Prince Carol on 15 November 1869.

Elisabeth was born into a German noble family. She was briefly considered as a potential bride for the future British king Edward VII, but Edward rejected her. Elisabeth married Prince Carol of Romania in 1869. Their only child, Princess Maria, died aged three in 1874, and Elisabeth never fully recovered from the loss of her daughter. When Romania became a kingdom in 1881, Elisabeth became queen, and she was crowned together with Carol that same year.

Elisabeth was a prolific writer under the name Carmen Sylva.

Family and early life Princess Elisabeth with her parents Hermann, Prince of Wied and Princess Marie of Nassau in 1845. Princess Elisabeth was born on 29 December 1843 at Castle Monrepos in Neuwied near Koblenz in Germany as the eldest child of Herman, 4th Prince of Wied, and his wife Princess Marie of Nassau. Her father was the prince of the small mediatized German Principality of Wied. Her mother was the daughter of William, Duke of Nassau and a sister of Adolf, Duke of Nassau and Queen Sophia of Sweden and Norway.

Elisabeth had artistic leanings; her childhood featured seances and visits to the local asylum for the mentally ill. Elisabeth was spending the social season at the Berlin court, where her family hoped she would be tamed into a docile, marriageable princess. Princess Victoria told the Queen, "I do not think her at all distinguée looking—certainly the opposite to Bertie's usual taste", whereas the tall and slender Alexandra of Denmark was "just the style Bertie admires". In the end, Alexandra was selected for Albert Edward.

Elisabeth first met Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen in Berlin in 1861. In 1869, Karl, who was now Prince Carol of Romania, traveled to Germany in search of a suitable consort. He was reunited with Elisabeth, and the two were married on 15 November 1869 in Neuwied. Their only child, a daughter, Maria, died in 1874 at age three — an event from which Elisabeth never recovered. She was crowned Queen of Romania in 1881 after Romania was proclaimed a kingdom.

Funeral procession in 1916, with Princess Marie's coffin atop her mother's casquet. In the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, also known as the Romanian War of Independence, she devoted herself to the care of the wounded, and founded the Decoration of the Cross of Queen Elisabeth to reward distinguished service in such work. She founded the National Society for the Blind and was the first royal patron of the Romanian Red Cross.She fostered the higher education of women in Romania, and established societies for various charitable objects. She was the 835th Dame of the Order of Queen Maria Luisa. She died at the Golescu Mansion in Bucharest.

Early distinguished by her excellence as a pianist, organist and singer, she also showed considerable ability in painting and illuminating; but a lively poetic imagination led her to the path of literature, and more especially to poetry, folk-lore and ballads. In addition to numerous original works she put into literary form many of the legends current among the Romanian peasantry.

Translations of original works by "Carmen Sylva" have appeared in all principal languages of Europe and in Armenian.

Honours National Dame of the Order of Louise

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Carol I Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Romania Grand Master Knight of the Decoration of the Cross of Queen Elisabeth Recipient of the Ruby Jubilee Medal of King Carol I

Foreign Dame of the Order of the Starry Cross, 1st Class Decoration of Honour for Arts and Sciences, in Brilliants, 1896 Grand Cross of the Imperial Austrian Order of Elizabeth, 1913 Grand Cross of the Imperial Order of Saint Catherine Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Saint Sava Dame of the Order of Queen Maria Luisa, 26 December 1884 Royal Order of Victoria and Albert, 1st Class Dame of the Order of Olga, 1880

Legacy The Bucharest-born colonizer of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, Julius Popper, was a fan of her work and named some features after her. Sierra Carmen Silva (Chile) Río Carmen Silva (Argentina, also known as Río Chico) The Forest path of Carmen Sylva (Šetalište Carmen Sylve) in Opatija, Croatia Villa Carmen Sylva (Domburg) Villa Carmen Sylva (Varese)

Ancestry