Just a few months after the love relationship between Prince Carol and Elena Lupescu blossomed, Carol decides on December 12, 1925 to renounce all her rights as “Crown Prince of Romania”. Moreover, he undertakes not to return to the country “for ten years, without being called by those in law and without the authorization of the Sovereign”. For two years he will live in Paris, being monitored extremely carefully by the French secret services. But who asked for Carol’s surveillance?
After he decided to renounce the throne of Romania, on December 31, 1925, at the Peleş Castle in Sinaia, the Crown Council stripped Prince Carol of his rights and proclaimed his son, Prince Mihai, as heir to the Throne.
Who requested Carol’s surveillance
The former Prince Carol became a citizen of Carol Caraiman in 1927 and settled with his girlfriend in Paris for two years. They lived in a villa in Neuilly, located on boulevard Bineau no. 126. But in Paris, all of Charles’s movements were watched extremely closely by the French secret services. But who gave the surveillance order?
The one who requested the monitoring of Carol was the Romanian Prime Minister Ionel Brătianu. In 1927, he drew the following orders to the Romanian ambassador in Paris, Constantin Diamandy:
“It is absolutely necessary that, from now on, I know precisely and every day what Prince Carol is doing and where he is. I beg you, therefore, to intervene once more and decisively by Sarraut. Organized by French Security and a paid service to facilitate his surveillance. Of course, we will cover the necessary expenses as soon as you indicate them to us”.
French secret services in action
Who was Sarraut, the character Constantin Diamandy was supposed to intervene? Albert Pierre Sarraut was at that time Minister of the Interior in the government of Raymond Poincare, later he would become Prime Minister of France twice.
Sarraut ordered the French secret services to follow Prince Charles daily. French agents were making extremely detailed reports of Charles’ movements in French territory.
On the other hand, Carol was convinced that “his biggest enemies were (IG) Duca and (Romulus) Voinescu, the head of Sigurantea, who was disgusting, he came to Paris to organize the network of lies. The duke is the biggest enemy of the Dynasty”.
The entire surveillance action was camouflaged in the form of a protection provided near the residence of Prince Charles. Any movement of the former crown prince of the Romanian Throne and any visit received from the Romanians in the country or from France were closely monitored.
The mission of tracking Prince Carol was not at all easy for the Romanian and French intelligence agencies. “Surveillance of the prince’s villa is extremely difficult,” testified a Romanian Security agent.
All the movements of Prince Carol, reported to Brătianu
Ionel Brătianu regularly received informative reports about Prince Carol’s actions on French territory. The informative reports on Carol’s movements reached Pierre Sarrau from the French secret services, who forwarded them to the Romanian ambassador in Paris, Constantin Diamandy, who in turn forwarded them “strictly confidentially and personally” to Ionel Brătianu. Reports were made daily and were extremely detailed.
Carol did not believe for a moment that he could be the subject of surveillance or that someone would prevent him from returning to the country. When information appeared in the Western media that he was even being watched by a team of agents sent from Bucharest, Carol became furious, wondering how “such rumors” could be believed.
Zizi Lambrino sues Carol
Carol’s life in exile in Paris would become even more complicated after his first wife, Ioana Maria Valentina (Zizi) Lambrino, sued him to force him to recognize the child born from their relationship. In addition to recognizing the child, Zizi Lambrino was asking her to pay 10 million French francs for her maintenance as “abandoned legitimate wife, the living and education of their legitimate son, Mircea, and reparation for the damage caused by the failure to fulfill the commitments”.
In order to succeed in winning the trial, Carol appealed to the support of the Romanian Legation in Paris and the help of the Romanian government.
Prime Minister Ionel Brătianu gave instructions for supporting Carol in the process. Even so, Zizi Lambrino, feeling that he was losing the trial, made a whole scandal in Paris. He walked with the child in front of the house where Carol lived and made him call him. Moreover, he tried to blackmail and threaten Carol, but still to no avail. All this was recorded even by the French agents who were monitoring Carol.
We also recommend that you read:
The great loves of Carol II. “The question will naturally arise how a man endowed with such a lively intelligence as Carol could be dominated to such a degree by a woman?”
Charles II, Bessarabia and the endowment of the army
The cowardice of Charles II and the Vienna Dictatorship
The Vienna Dictatorship, Charles II and the Crown Councils
Source: www.descopera.ro
