The Daily Alaska empire., 1938-07-18
Noted Royal Beauty, Euro pean Diplomat, Passes
 Away in Palace

BUCHAREST, July 18.-Dowagel Queen Marie of Rumania, who helped shape the destiny of hei country for a generation, died to- day in her 63rd year in her palace at Sinaia, the Royal summer resi- | dence.
 | Prime Minister Miron CriStea, also Patriarch of the Rumanian Ortho- dox Church, celebrated mass in the Palace immediately after Marie's passing, having previously admin istered the extreme function as death neared.
 In Bucharest all public buildings immediately displayed flags at half staff.
 Important Role Queen Marie attained interna- tional prominence by the important role she played in shaping the des- tiny of her adopted country during and after the World War.
 English by birth but reigning as consort of Hohenzollern, she was credited with keeping Rumania from being drawn into the struggle on the side of the central powers and ultimately bringing it into the 1 struggle as one of the allies. Its army was routed and the country | forced to sue for an armistice in December, 1917, but in the end the kingdom was materially expanded and, as a member of the little en- tente," along with CZechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, became pivotal state in the postwar Danubian problem.
 Family Affairs
 But while Rumania thus was in volved in a changing political pie ture, Queen Marie had to struggle with tangled family affairs. Be- fore her husband, King Ferdinand, died in 1927, her eldest son, Carol, had renounced his family and in- heritance to live in France with an inamorata, Mazda Lupescu The throne thereupon went to his g. year-old son Michael under a re- gency of five with Queen Marie and Prince Nicholas, her second son, as representatives of the dy- nasty.
 That regime lasted until June, 1930 when Carol, by a spectacular airplane dash, returned to oust his son and reclaim the throne. The coup virtually erased his mother as a political force. She had played that role for many years, for King Ferdinand was inclined to leave state affairs to his ministers and his queen.
 Visits U. s.
 Her trip to the United States in 1926, ostensibly to dedicate a muse um of fine arts built near Seattle by Samuel Hill, a former Red Cross officer in Rumania, was credited with having been a factor in bring ing American investments in Ru- mania up to more than $25, 100000 by 1880.
 Out of the political picture there after, Marie devoted herself to lit- erary work and charity. She was es- pecially active in child welfare and was instrumental in having the playgrounds of Bucharest improved and extended. Although, as she admitted, she sometimes spent 12 hours day at her writing, she was seen frequently at the opera and maintained keen interest in the theater.
 She and Carol long remained es- tranged over his abandonment of his wife, former Princess Helen of Greece, for Marie had been largely instrumental in arranging that match. But Rumanians saw hope Of a reconciliation between mother and son when, in October, 1886, she kissed him on the occasion of his 43rd birthday.
 Health Fails
 Her health failed in 1887 An at tack of grippe in March was com plicated by phlebitis and an inter nal hemorrhage. There was recur- renee of the latter in June and again early in November. The third was so severe that eight noted spe- cialists were summoned in consulta- ton. Carol cancelled a hunting trip to be near his mother and her daughters, Queen Marie of Yugosla- via and Archduchess Ileana, were summoned to Zotrozeni Castle. Noted For Beauty
 Noted for her beaHxy, she was re- sourceful, versatile and intellectual to degree perhaps unequalled by any other queen of her time Yet she was democratic, friendly and approachable and altogether one of the most human of sovereigns. Few royal consorts have wie1ded