„Afacerea Văcărescu”. Între implicaţie sentimentală şi datorie de stat
The „Vacarescu’s affair”. Between sentimental implication and state responsibility

Summary/Abstract: Between 1888-1891, after the fall of the Liberal cabinet led by Ion C. Bratianu, the Romanian kingdom went through a serious political crisis, which was manifested in the rotation to power of five conservative governments, but also by an augmented lack of cohesion between the political parties. The last one, Ioan Emanoill Florescu’s cabinet, established on 21 February 1891, was confronted, in addition to the European courts’ aversion, with an internal episode which profoundly marked the private life of the Hohenzollern family. During the summer of that year, the romance between the Crown Prince Ferdinand and Elena Vacarescu emerged, love that was strongly encouraged by Queen Elizabeth.If the domestic effect of the „Vacarescu’s affair” was somehow restricted due to the unanimity of political leaders concerning the impossibility of the project, the European courts, attached to the more general idea of protecting the interests of monarchy, have shown an increased concern for this episode. An „intermezzo” of the three plans (internal, external and personal) where the issue gravitated, the foreign reaction meant for Charles one more reason to permanently resolve the situation. However, on the personal plan, in the first years, the exchanges of letters between him and Elizabeth, revealed an unexpected element: the assumption of a separation, launched from both sides. Ferdinand’s marriage arrangement with the grand-daughter of Queen Victoria, Mary, the improvement on the mental state of Elizabeth and the tenacity of Charles made, three years later, things return to normal. The reconciliation of the two would only happen in August-September 1894, when Elizabeth came back in Romania benefiting, perhaps contrary to the expectations, of a benevolent and cordial welcoming from the people.

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