Princess Irina of Romania
| Princess Irina | |
|---|---|
 Irina in September 2014 | |
| Born | 28 February 1953 Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Spouse | John Kreuger (m. 1983; div. 2003) John Wesley Walker (m. 2007) |
| Issue | Michael Kreuger Angelica Kreuger |
| House | Romania (from 2011) Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (until 2011) |
| Father | Michael I of Romania |
| Mother | Anne of Bourbon-Parma |
| Religion | Romanian Orthodox |
| Romanian royal family |
|---|
 |
|
| ‡Status disputed |
Princess Irina of Romania (born 28 February 1953) is the third daughter of King Michael I and Queen Anne of Romania.
She was stripped of her title, styles and rights to the throne following involvement with illegal cockfighting and arrest at Irrigon, Oregon in 2013.[1][2] In 2020 her elder sister Margareta restored her titles.
Early life[edit]
Irina was born on 28 February 1953 at Clinique de Montchoisi in Lausanne, Switzerland, the third daughter and child of King Michael I and Queen Anne.[3]
Irina spent her childhood at her family homes in Lausanne, Switzerland and in the United Kingdom at Ayot House, St Lawrence, Hertfordshire.[citation needed] During holidays she and her sisters spent time with their grandparents, Helen, Queen Mother in Florence, Italy at Villa Sparta and in Denmark with Princess Margaret and Prince René.[citation needed] She and her sisters were told "fascinating tales of a homeland they couldn't visit" by their father.[4]
Her teenage years were spent in Europe with her family, where she and her sisters received primary and secondary education.[5]
In her mid-twenties, as her two elder and two younger sisters went away to work and study, Irina stayed with her parents at their family home in Switzerland[4] and later moved to the United States to work.[5]
Career[edit]
During the 1970s Irina worked for a year in the Silverware department at Christie's' auctionhouse in Geneva, Switzerland.[3]
In Romania[edit]
After the upheaval of the Romanian Revolution had calmed down, Irina visited the country in early 1990.[4] Along with her two children Michael and Angelica, visited Romania along with the rest of the royal family to spend Christmas in 1997[6] and went back again with King Michael I, Queen Anne, Crown Princess Margareta and her husband Prince Radu in 1998.[citation needed]
Unlike her sisters, Irina did not perform many engagements for the royal house,[citation needed] except for a visit to the Romanian Academy with Princess Marie,[7] an investiture ceremony,[8] the 60th birthday celebration of the Crown Princess in 2009[9] and the 90th birthday celebration of King Michael I in 2011.[10]
Irina was present in Romania with her sisters for the funeral of King Michael in December 2017. In the days preceding the funeral, they accompanied their father's body to Peles Castle where it was laid in the Hall of Honour,[11] and subsequently were present during the Lying in State in the Throne Room[12] of the Royal Palace in Bucharest. Irina and her sisters walked behind their father's coffin when it was carried by Gun Carriage from the Royal Palace to the Patriarchal Cathedral for the Funeral Mass in the presence of the President of Romania, the King of Sweden, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and members of other Royal Families.[12] Following King Michael's burial at Curtea de Arges, Irina carried out several engagements with Margareta and her other sisters at the Elisabeta Palace[13] and at Săvârșin.[14]
Personal life[edit]
On 4 October 1983 Irina married John Kreuger (born in Solna, Sweden, 3 August 1945) son of Torsten Kreuger and his wife Diana Blanchefleur Hedberg (née Beve)[15] in Scottsdale, Maricopa County, Arizona, in a civil ceremony and on 11 February 1984 in a religious ceremony at Holy Trinity Church in Phoenix.[citation needed] The ceremony was attended by the Royal family including her grand-aunt Princess Ileana, John's parents and family, and friends of the couple.[citation needed] On 24 November 2003 the couple divorced after 20 years of marriage.[citation needed]
Irina and John have 2 children, a daughter-in-law, a son-in-law and three grandchildren:
- Michael Torsten (born 25 February 1984), at Bay Area Hospital in Coos Bay, Oregon[3] married to Tara Marie Littlefield in 2011
- Kohen (born 28 March 2012)[16]
- Angelica Margareta Bianca (born 29 December 1986), at Bay Area Hospital in Coos Bay, Oregon[3] married in 2009 (divorced in 2018) to Richard Robert Knight[citation needed]
- Courtney Bianca (born 31 May 2007)[citation needed]
- Diana (born 2011)[16]
On 10 November 2007 Irina married a second time to John Wesley Walker (b. in Douglas, Missouri on 30 December 1945).[citation needed]
Arrest[edit]
In August 2013, Irina and her second husband were arrested for being part of an illegal cockfighting ring and federally charged with operating an illegal gambling business on their ranch near Irrigon, Oregon.[17][18][19][20] According to the indictment, 10 different cockfighting derbies were organized at their ranch between April 2012 and April 2013, which brought up to $2,000 per day from admission fees, food and drinks and gambling.[17] They were free pending trial.[21]
In October 2014, Irina and her husband pleaded guilty to operating an illegal gambling business and were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman to three years of probation. As part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, the couple agreed to sell real estate and pay $200,000 to the government. Irina said during the hearing: "I'm very sorry about my involvement in this business. It was not my intention to go against the law."[22]
On 29 October 2014, Irina's father altered the line of succession, stripping Irina of her royal titles and removing her and all of her descendants (her two children and three grandchildren) from the line of succession.[citation needed] In September 2020, Irina's sister Margareta restored her titles and place in the order of precedence but not her and her children's place in line of succession.[3][23][24]
Titles and Styles
28 February 1953-30 December 2007: Her Royal Highness Princess Irina of Romania, Princess of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
30 December 2007-29 October 2014: Her Royal Highness Princess Irina of Romania
29 October 2014-2020-present Mrs. Irina Walker
2020-present Her Royal Highness Princess Irina of Romania
Honours[edit]
Ancestry[edit]
| Ancestors of Princess Irina of Romania |
|---|
References[edit]
- ↑ "Ex-Romanian princess Irina on Oregon cockfighting charges". BBC News.
- ↑ "Romanian Princess 'Sorry' Over Cockfighting". Sky News.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "ASR Principesa Irina [HRH Princess Irina]". Official website of the Royal Family of Romania. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Romania's Exiled King Longs to Take His Family Home鈥攁fter 42 Years鈥攁nd Reclaim His Throne". people.com.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Romanian Princess Irina Walker Sentenced For Cockfighting". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 2015-02-01. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Principesa Irina a României, 60 de ani". romaniaregala.ro.
- ↑ "A patra zi a Jubileului 90". romaniaregala.ro.
- ↑ "Cine este Principesa Irina, arestată în SUA pentru organizarea de lupte ilegale cu cocoşi". adevarul.ro.
- ↑ "Regele Mihai, Regina Ana, Principesa Mostenitoare, Principesa Elena, Principesa Irina, Palatul Elisabeta, martie 2009 - Familia Regală a României / Royal Family of Romania". romaniaregala.ro.
- ↑ "În anul 2011". romaniaregala.ro.
- ↑ "Regele Mihai I, pentru ultima oară la Castelul Peleș | Familia Regală a României / Royal Family of Romania". www.romaniaregala.ro. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Regele Mihai, pentru ultima oară în Sala Tronului | Familia Regală a României / Royal Family of Romania". www.romaniaregala.ro. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
- ↑ "Cadouri de Crăciun pentru angajații Casei Majestății Sale | Familia Regală a României / Royal Family of Romania". www.romaniaregala.ro. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
- ↑ "Dubașii, alături de locuitorii comunei, alături de Familia Regală în Ajun de Crăciun | Familia Regală a României / Royal Family of Romania". www.romaniaregala.ro. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
- ↑ Marlene A. Eilers, Queen Victoria's Descendants (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1987), page 190
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Descendants of King Christian IX of Denmark". heinbruins.nl.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 DuBois, Steven (15 August 2013). "Romanian princess among cockfighting arrests". USA Today. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
- ↑ Denson, Bryan (16 August 2013). "Romanian princess, Oregon husband arrested in bust of suspected two-state cockfighting ring". The Oregonian. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
- ↑ "Romanian princess, Oregon husband to be freed while facing cockfighting charges". OregonLive.com.
- ↑ "Romania libera - stiri iesite din tipar - actualitate, investigatii, politica, cultura, diaspora, video, anunturi de mica publicitate". Romania Libera.
- ↑ "Romanian princess, Oregon husband to be freed while facing cockfighting charges". The Oregonian. 16 August 2013.
- ↑ "Romanian princess Irina Walker, husband sentenced to probation for roles in cockfighting ring". OregonLive.com.
- ↑ "Ordinea de precădere [Order of precedence]". Official website of the Royal Family of Romania. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
- ↑ "Linia de succesiune [Line of succession]". Official website of the Royal Family of Romania. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
The members of the Royal House of Romania are the following: Her Majesty Margaret, Custodian of the Romanian Crown; His Royal Highness Radu, Prince of Romania; Her Royal Highness Elena, Princess of Romania; Her Royal Highness Irina, Princess of Romania; Her Royal Highness Sofia, Princess of Romania; Her Royal Highness Maria, Princess of Romania.
- ↑ "Decoratia Custodele Coroanei". casamajestatiisale.ro/. Archived from the original on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
External links[edit]
- Script error: The function "in_lang" does not exist. The official website of The Romanian Royal Family
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