Marie
Queen of Roumania

      Queen Marie of Romania (1875-1938) was the granddaughter of both Queen Victoria of England on her father’s side, and Tsar Alexander II on her mother’s side. Raised in England, Marie married Crown Prince Ferdinand of Roumania in 1893. Together they had six children: Carol, Elisabetha, Mignon (Marie), Nicolas, Ileana and Mircea. Although Marie had never been to Roumania before her marriage, she came to love her adopted country and wholeheartedly embraced Roumanian folk culture and tradition. Known in her lifetime as a beautiful celebrity, Marie was a skillful diplomat and an accomplished author and artist.

      Queen Marie met Samuel Hill in Europe selling Great Northern Railway bonds to royalty. In 1902 Marie attended a dance performance by Loie Fuller at the Roumanian National Theater. Marie's friendship with these two Americans was cemented during the aftermath of World War I, when Samuel Hill, Loie Fuller, and a third American, Alma de Bretteville Spreckels, provided generous war relief to Roumania.

      Out of gratitude to Samuel Hill for his loyal, lifelong friendship, Queen Marie accepted his invitation to dedicate his mansion on the Columbia River as a museum of art. On November 3, 1926 Queen Marie and two of her children, Prince Nicolas and Princess Ileana, ventured to eastern Washington to inaugurate Maryhill Museum.