Marie of Romania

Romanian Queen Consort. She was the eldest daughter of Alfred, the sovereign Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and his wife, who was born Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia. Her father was the second son of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and his mother had granted him the titles of Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Ulster, and Earl of Kent on May 24, 1866. On the death of his paternal uncle, Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and the relinquishment of the right to succession of his elder brother (the future King Edward VII), he became the sovereign duke of that duchy on August 22, 1893. Marie's mother was the only surviving daughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. As her father did not become Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha until shortly after her marriage, Marie was known as Princess Marie of Edinburgh, in reference to her father's British title. She spent most of her youth in England and in Malta for several years while her father served as a Royal Navy o