Editing Ferdinand I of Romania (section)

==Marriage==
[[File:Marriage Medal of Ferdinand I of Romania 1893 by Scharff. Obverse.jpg|thumb|Wedding [[Medal]] of Ferdinand I of Romania 1893 by [[:de:Anton Scharff|Anton Scharff]]. Obverse]]
In Sigmaringen on 10 January 1893, the [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] Prince Ferdinand of Romania married his distant cousin, the [[Lutheran]] [[Marie of Romania|Princess Marie of Edinburgh]], daughter of the [[Anglican]] [[Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh]], and the [[Russian Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] [[Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia]]. Marie and Ferdinand were third cousins in descent from [[Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld|Franz Frederick Anton, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld]]. Marie's paternal grandparents were [[Queen Victoria|Victoria of the United Kingdom]] and [[Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]]; her maternal grandparents were [[Alexander II of Russia]] and [[Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse)|Marie of Hesse and by Rhine]]. The reigning emperor of neighbouring Russia at the time of the marriage was Marie's uncle, Tsar [[Alexander III of Russia|Alexander III]], who would be succeeded by his eldest son and Marie's first cousin, Tsar [[Nicholas II]], the following year.

The royal Romanian marriage produced three sons (Carol, Nicholas, and Mircea – the last of whom dying in infancy) and three daughters (Elisabeta, Maria – called "Mignon" – and [[Princess Ileana of Romania|Ileana]]), but it was unhappy. Indeed, the couple's two youngest children, Ileana and Mircea, are widely believed to have been sired by Marie's long-time lover, [[Barbu Știrbey]].<ref name=gelardi>{{cite book| title=Born to Rule, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria, Queens of Europe| author=Julia Gelardi| publisher=Headline Book Publishing| year=2005| isbn=0-7553-1392-5| pages=91–93&115}}</ref><ref name=pakula>{{cite book|first = Hannah| last=Pakula| title=The last romantic: a biography of Queen Marie of Romania| isbn=0-297-78598-2| publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson| year=1985| location=London| pages=337}}</ref>