Queen Maria and the Outstanding Romanian Traditional Costumes

She fought like a real soldier, she loved with the soul of an artist and she nurtured her country like a caring mother. Queen Maria of Romania was born as Princess Marie Alexandra Victoria of Edinburgh on 29 October 1875 in England. Her father, Prince Alfred, was the second son of Queen Victoria. Her mother, Duchess Marie of Edinburgh (born Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia), was the only living daughter of Tsar Alexander II of Russia. Maria married the Crown Prince Ferdinand of Romania, in 1892. She dedicated her life to serving the country. After the First World War started, Maria became a Romanian patriot, and her influence in the country was large. People loved her as she loved them back. An amazing ambassador of Romanians for public opinion from Western Europe and North America in the interwar period, Queen Maria became an inspiration for promoting Romanian history, traditional art and culture.   

„Twenty-three years have I now spent in this country, each day bringing its joy or its sorrow, its light or its shade. (...) I want only to speak of its soul, of its atmosphere, of its peasants and soldiers, of things that made me love this country, that made my heart beat with its heart. I have moved amongst the most humble. I have entered their cottages, asked them questions, taken their new-born in my arms”. QUEEN MARIA OF ROMANIA           These are some of the opening lines from Queen Maria`s book called “My Country”.  Her thoughts reveal a woman who got to know her Romanians in a way like no other. She lived and breathed Romanian and brought the world’s attention on the Romanian culture and tradition.