Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Boris to marry Kira: official



June 19, 1929

The New York Times is reporting that a "formal announcement is expected soon" of King Boris III of Bulgaria and Grand Duchess Kira of Russia, whose father, Kirill, "proclaimed himself head of the House of Romanoff in 1922, and is recognized as such by a considerable section of the former Russian nobility."

"It is quite a love match," according to White Russian circles in Paris. The parents of the 20-year-old Grand Duchess "are actively identified with the Russian monarchist cause," and members of their circle are "openly rejoicing" over the upcoming marriage with the Bulgarian sovereign.
In the last few years, King Boris "has been previously reported engaged to several Greek princesses and at one time it was believed that all arrangements had been made for his marriage to Princess Ileana of Rumania." More recently, the king was said to be engaged to Princess Giovanna of Italy, however, her parents, the king, and queen of Italy objected to their daughter renouncing her Catholic faith for the Bulgarian Orthodox church. (Giovanna's mother, Elena, converted from Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism when she married Vittorio Emanuele.)


The religious question is not a bar to a marriage with Kira, who is a member of the Russian Orthodox church.

It is understood that Kira's aunt, Queen Marie of Rumania, has played the matchmaker. It has been said that she had hoped for a marriage between Ileana and the king, but "have had something to do with the romance" between her niece and the king. Kira's mother, Grand Duchess Victoria, is Queen Marie's sister.

Queen Marie is "credited with introducing her tall blond niece to Boris."

Last April, Queen Marie and Princess Ileana were guests of Grand Duke Kirill and Grand Duchess Victoria at their home in St. Briac, and, "according to intimate friends" of Kira's family, Marie "was charged by Boris with a delicate personal mission."

2 comments:

Rex said...

I read somewhere, can't recall my source, that Boris ended any relationship he had with Ileana when he heard the rumours of doubts about her royal paternity. Have you heard this?

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

Unlikely, as there was never a relationship between them.