SENSATION IN ROMANIA

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21212, 7 September 1940, Page 9

SENSATION IN ROMANIA

CROWN PRINCE MICHAEL SUCCEEDS PRIME MINISTER'S DICTATOR POWERS PITCHED BATTLE IN STREETS PEOPLE KILLED (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) LONDON, Sept. 6 King Carol of Rumania has abdicated and Crown Prince Michael has been proclaimed King, state news agency reports received from Bucharest this morning. The Prime Minister, General Antonescu, was closeted with King Carol at the Royal Palace in the early hours of this morning, says the Bucharest correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain. He is reported to have demanded the King’s abdication at the request of the Rumanian leaders, who, according to informed sources, threatened an immediate armed rising unless King Carol relinquished the Throne. General Antonescu is reported to have told King Carol that there was a general demand for his abdication, and to have demanded that Carol solve the crisis.

Confused reports from Bucharest suggest that at least two demon- . strations occurred, the first one j against General Antonescu and the second against King Carol. The two ! lots of demonstrators clashed and the police clashed both. Machineguns and fire like artillery were heard. The police announced that shots which they fired in the air hit and ! wounded spectators on some balconies, but they did not hit any demonstrators. The correspondent says, however, that when the crowd which supported General Antonescue refused to disperse, the police fired on them, killing one and injuring seveTal. Pitched Battle A pitched battle between police ; and masses of Iron Guard supporters raged for an hour near the Royal \ Palace. The police were equipped ■ with gas bombs and machine-guns. The crowd, shouting anti-Carol slogans, seized an armoured car equipped with powerful hoses, with ; which they wrecked dozens of windows. They also dismantled kerbside cafes and threw the steel chairs ! at the police. Police and troops with bayonets ; charged the surging crowds and fire- j men played hoses on them. Tanks were then used to move the crowds ’ on, and police and troops occupied the streets, where civilians have been ! prohibited . * General Antonescu later announced j an armistice with the insurgent Iron ' Guards. The evacuation of! Cluj, Transyl- j vania, is almost complete, but a ! “Death Legion” is reported to have j been formed at Oradea, with 3000 j members pledged to resist the occu- j pation by Hungary at all costs. |

Carol’s Stormy Career Carol was proclaimed King of Rumania in June, 1930. In 1918, in his 25th year, he married Cecilie Lambrino, a member of a Rumanian family, but the following year the marriage was declared void. In 1921 he married Princess Helen of Greece, their son Michael being born on October 25, 1921. In 1926 he visited Venice, accompanied by Madame Lupescu, and addressed a letter to his father, King Ferdinand, in which he renounced the succession to the Throne and the rank of Prince. His renunciation was accepted, and, in July, 1927. when Carol’s father died. Prince Michael was proclaimed King. A Regency Council was established. In 1928 Princess Helen obtained a divorce. After his father’s death Carol declared that he maintained his right to the Throne. The period that followed was one of much unrest. In 1930 Carol returned to Rumania, and on June 8 he was proclaimed King by the National Assembly, which annulled the Act of 1926 barring him from the succession. Michael was regarded as not having reigned at all, and became Crown Prince. Michael has been given a strict military training. He speaks English, German, French and Italian. Devotion to sports has kept him fit, and he has made himself popular in Rumania.