Anne of Romania

**Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma**, also known as **Queen Anne of Romania** (*Anne Antoinette Françoise Charlotte Zita Marguerite of Bourbon-Parma*, 18 September 1923 – 1 August 2016), was the wife of former king Michael I of Romania.

## Early life
Anne was born in Paris, France, the only daughter of Prince René of Bourbon-Parma and Princess Margaret of Denmark. She attended the Parsons School of Design in New York City from 1940 to 1943. She also worked as a sales assistant at Macy's department store. In 1943 she joined the French Army as an ambulance driver. She served in Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Luxembourg and Germany. She received the French *Croix de guerre* for her wartime service.

### Wedding
Anne was a Catholic and under their rules, she needed the church's permission to marry Michael who was not a Catholic. This permission could be given if Michael agreed to allow their future children to be raised as Catholics. Michael refused to do this, as it was against the laws of Romania, and it would make it impossible for him to regain his position as king.

The couple took part in a religious ceremony on 9 November 1966, at the Roman Catholic Church of St Charles in Monaco, to make the marriage "legal" for the church. Events included a concert by the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra at the Romanian Athenaeum, an official reception at Athenee Palace in Bucharest, and book launch at the National Museum of Romanian History.

## Death
Anne died on 1 August 2016 in a hospital in Morges, Switzerland, at the age of 92. The family refused a posthumous military medal.  Romania's President Klaus Iohannis said "Her Majesty Queen Ana of Romania will remain forever in memory and in our hearts as one of the most important symbols of wisdom, dignity and, especially, as a model of moral conduct." The government made 13 August 2016 a national day of mourning. The Romanian flag was flown at half-mast on all buildings. Television and radio broadcasts were told to make their programs suitable for the memory of Anne of Romania. The funeral was held at the Curtea de Argeș Cathedral. The government of Moldova also held a national day of mourning on 13 August in memory of Queen Anne, asking for everyone to observe a moment of silence at 10 am on that day.

## Honours
### Dynastic honours
*  House of Romania: Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Carol I
*  House of Romania: Royal Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown
* France
**  Orléans-French Royal Family: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Lazarus
** : Recipient of the Croix de Guerre Medal 1939–1945
*  Greek Royal Family: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Olga and Sophia
* 
**  Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Dame Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Order of Saint John

## Bibliography
* Radu, Prince of Hohenzollern-Veringen, *Anne of Romania: A War, an Exile, a Life*, Bucharest: The Romanian Cultural Foundation Publishing House, Bucharest, 2002 . (A quasi-official biography by her son-in-law, originally published in Romanian as *Un război, un exil, o viaţă*, Bucharest, 2000).

## Ancestry
## References
## Other websites
* The Official Website of The Romanian Royal Family
* The Official Blog of The Romanian Royal Family
* The Official Website of The Parmese Ducal Family
* Obituary - Reuters