Princess Sophie of Romania

Princess Sophie of Romania (Romanian: Sofia; born 29 October 1957) is the fourth daughter of King Michael I and Queen Anne of Romania.

Early Life

princess Sophie was born at Tatoi Palace in Decelea, Kingdom of Greece. She was baptized in the Romania Orthodox Church; her godmother and namesake was her father's first cousin Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark, later Queen of Spain. She was educated in Switzerland where her family lived and in the United Kingdom.

Education

Sophie studied at the University of North Carolina in Asheville, US, where she studied Fine Arts and Photography for a couple of years. Later she studied Graphic Design and Photography at Corcoran College of Arts and Design in Washington, D.C.

Activities

Princess Sophie has exhibited her photography for a number of years, and has held exhibitions in France and in Romania. She took part in the Royal Bridges Art Exhibition in Dubai in 2016.

Sophie's involvement in Romania changed significantly after the 1989 Romanian Revolution.

She accompanied her older sister Margareta as the first members of the Royal Family to set foot on Romanian soil following the revolution in January 1990. The visit received widespread press coverage and was beginning of the return of King Michael's family to public life in Romania. During the initial visit, Sophie was horrified at some of the appalling living conditions she encountered and became an active Vice-President of the newly formed Princess Margareta of Romania Foundation, involved in both fund raising and the distribution of aid. Sophie and Margareta both moved to their parent’s house in Switzerland to help co-ordinate the huge increase in activity in King Michael’s office in the months that followed the Revolution. In 1995 Sophie published a collection of children’s stories to benefit the Foundation.

After some years of being less frequently Romania, Sophie has been present in Romania more often in recent years attending the 25th Anniversary of the return of the Royal Family in 2015, the 150th Anniversary of the Royal House in 2016 and the annual reception for the Diplomatic Corps given by Crown Princess Margareta on 29 November 2017. The same day Princess Sophie was invested with the Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown in a ceremony conducted by Crown Princess Margareta at the Elisabeth Palace.

She was present at the Lying in State of King Michael I in December 2017 and Queen Anne in August 2016 (held firstly at Peles Castle, and then in the Throne Room of the Royal Palace in both cases), at their public funerals in Bucharest and at their burials in Curtea de Arges.

Family

Princess Sophie has a daughter from her former marriage to Alain Michel Leonce Biarneix "de Laufenborg" (b. Nancy, France on 10 July 1957). They married on 29 August 1998 in a civil ceremony in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. Later they divorced in 2002.

-Elisabeta-Maria de Roumanie Biarneix (b. Argenteuil, France on 15 August 1999).

Titles, Styles, Honours and Awards

As her father did not approve of her marriage in 1998, he stripped her of her titles of pretense, buy they were restored after her divorce.

Dynastic Honours

-House of Romania: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Crown

-House of Romania: Chancellor Knight of the Royal Decoration of the Custodian of the Romania Crown, 1st Class

Awards

United Nations

-United Nations Philanthropy International Organization and Saned International Organization: Recipient of the Kotinos International Award, Certificate of Excellence Archived 3 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine

Title

29 October 1957-29 August 1998: Her Royal Highness Princess Sophie of Romania

29 August 1998-2002-Mrs. Alain Michel Leonce Biarneix

2002-present: Her Royal Highness Princess Sophie of Romania

House: Romania (since 2011)

House: Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (until 2011)

Religion: Romanian Orthodox

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