Zizi Lambrino
| Joanna (Zizi) Lambrino | |
|---|---|
Prince Carol and Zizi Lambrino, ca. 1918/19.
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| Born | 3 October 1898 |
| Died | 11 March 1953 (aged 54) |
| Spouse(s) | Carol II of Romania (m. 1918; ann. 1919) |
| Children | Carol Lambrino |
| Parent(s) | Constantin Lambrino Euphrosine Alcaz |
Joanna Marie Valentina "Zizi" Lambrino (3 October 1898, in Roman, Romania – 11 March 1953, in Paris), was the first (morganatic) wife of the later King Carol II of Romania. They had one son, Carol Lambrino, born in 1920, in Bucharest.
Born in the former Byzantine imperial Rangabe-Lambrino family, the daughter of Romanian Colonel later General Constantin Lambrino and Euphrosine Alcaz, Joanna Lambrino met the Hohenzollern Prince Carol, son of King Ferdinand of Romania and Queen Marie of Romania, in Iaşi, Romania, in 1918, during the First World War. The Romanian royal court had adjourned from Bucharest to Iaşi to keep its distance from a German invasion. Journalist A.L. Easterman would later write that "Carol fell violently in love and was at no pains to dissemble it", despite the obvious disapproval of the royal court for his bestowing his affections on a commoner. Even so, there are several photographs of Zizi Lambrino and Prince Carol at the Royal family residences and together with other members of the Romanian Royal family. Lulu, Zizi's brother, was one of Carol's best friends and they corresponded with each other throughout their lives.
Some say their union was opposed by his parents, but Carol "smuggled" her across the Ukrainian (former Russian) frontier and they were married in the Orthodox Cathedral of Odessa, Ukraine, on 31 August 1918, in the presence of witnesses. Carol's parents were furious. The king ordered him to be kept in close confinement in Bistrița Monastery for seventy-five days. Prime Minister Ion I. C. Brătianu practically accused Carol of treason. Carol threatened to renounce his right of royal succession and, indeed, when in August 1919 the Romanian Supreme Court ruled the marriage unconstitutional and unlawful and annulled it, Carol signed documents of renunciation. However, as Easterman describes it, "intriguers... cunningly... [threw] other young and attractive women in his view and society" and eventually "corroded his relations with his wife..."
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