Queen Marie of Romania
From Bahaikipedia
Princess Marie Alexandra Victoria of Edinburgh, Queen of Romania (29 October 1875 – 18 July 1938) was the first monarch to embrace the Baha'i Faith.
[edit] Early Life and Before Becoming a Bahá’í
The Princess Marie of Edinburgh was born in Kent on October 29, 1875. Her father was Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Her mother was Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia, the only surviving daughter of Tsar Alexander of Russia and his German consort Marie. Regarded as a beauty in her youth she was seen as a good match for marriage to Europian royals. As a very young teenager her cousin Prince George of the United Kingdom, future King George V, fell in love with her and proposed marriage. Marie was forced to refuse and instead was married to Ferdinand of Romania at the age of eighteen. Although the couple had six children, they had a unhappy and difficult marriage.
Marie proved to be a good and loving Queen for the Romanian public. Bored most of the time, the rigid ways of the Romanian court was very hard for Marie to get use to. After her husaband's death in 1914 her eldest son Carol was made King and Marie went into seclusion. Whilst in Romania, Marie was payed a visit to by Baha'i teacher Martha Root.
