The Prince Paul of Romania “is a member of the Royal Family”

The Romanian Royal House considers that the decision of the High Court of Cassation and Justice through which Carol Mircea Grigore was acknowledged as a legitimate son of the King Carol the second does not create any dynastic rights and does not establish his membership or his descendants to the Royal Family.

In a release given to the press after the pronouncing of the Supreme Instance’s decision, the Royal House defines that his Majesty, King Mihai I, as Head of the Royal Family of Romania, is the one who can define his position regarding the dynastic interests and Mircea Carol Grigore Lambrino or his descendants have never entitled any princely title.

The High Court of Cassation and Justice (ICCJ) went in Prince Paul of Romania’s favor, denying King Mihai I’s appeal against the recognizing of a foreign decisions on the Romanian territory regarding the acknowledgement of Carol Mircea’ s full right, coming from the Prince Paul’s father.

This suit to obtain the acknowledgement of prince Carol Mircea’s status as a legitimate son of King Carol II, with all the rights derived thereof, lasted 21 years in Romania.

The marriage between Carol the second and Ioana Valentina Lambrino was not recognized by the Royal Family, but it was not annulled either by the Orthodox Church.

Their son, Carol Mircea, filed in 1955 a suit to the Lisbon Court, requesting to be acknowledged to be as King Carol II’s legitimate son.

The Paris High Court subsequently, confirmed the Lisbon Court ruling, establishing that Prince Carol Mircea of Hohenzollern was Carol II’s legitimate son, and, as such, a full- rights heir to the late King.

On 13th October,1995, Teleorman Court admitted the application for recognition of the Portuguese sentence, fact that permitted to the Lambrino’s representatives to request the annulling of this name and its replacing with Hohenzollern de Romania title.

On1st April, 1999, Paul Lambrino, Carol II and Ioana Valentina de Lambrino’s son ( known under the name of Zizi Lambrino), was acknowledged as successor of the Romanian Royal Family by the Court of Appeal of Bucharest.

The lawyer, Teodor Rus, Prince Carol Mircea and his son’s defensive, sustained in 1999 that their concern of pronouncing a correct ruling is not related at all to the dynastic pretences or with the intention of assuming goods of the Royal House, but they are exclusively animated by the intention of reestablishing a new historical truth.

On 19th February, 2002, the High Court of Cassation and Justice( ICCJ) the appeal of this, after Mihai I’s lawyer sustained towards the Romanian Supreme Court, that the Lisbon Court has made a mistake when it established the legitimate request of the Prince Carol Mircea to Carol II, with all the rights derived thereof.


Translated by Ana-Maria Petrache
MTTLC, University of Bucharest