Crown Council of Romania

Royal Crown Council of Romania
Consiliul Regal a Romaniei
Formation	1 October 2010;
Legal status	Advisory body
Membership	Members of the Council
Head	Margareta of Romania; (Queen-in-Council)
Website	consiliul-regal.ro

The Crown Council (Romanian: Consiliul de Coroană) was an institution that advised the King of Romania. Informal between 1866 and 1938, it was formalized by the 1938 Constitution, in effect for two years. The forum met on occasions of great national importance. It had a purely advisory role, and was convoked by the King on the government's advice.^[1]

In 2010, the council was once again re-established by King Michael I on October 10, which succeeded the Political and Advisory Committee’ set up by the King during his exile and after 1989 Romanian Revolution.

List of Crown Councils

The Crown Councils that took place and the issues discussed were the following:

Date	Reason	Monarch
2 April 1877	Entry into the Romanian War of Independence	Carol I of Romania
21 July 1914	Approval of Romania's neutrality at the beginning of World War I	Carol I of Romania
14 August 1916	Approval of Romania's entry into the First World War	Ferdinand I of Romania
17–19 February 1918	Approval of the start of peace negotiations with the Central Powers
31 December 1925	Took note of the abdication of Prince Carol
9 April 1937	The exclusion of Prince Nicholas from the royal family	Carol II of Romania
17 March 1939	Discussion of the situation created by the occupation of Czechoslovakia
6 September 1939	Approval of Romania's neutrality at the beginning of World War II
27 June 1940	Approval of the Soviet ultimatum on Bessarabia
23 August 1940	Discussion of negotiations with Hungary on Transylvania
30 August 1940	Approval of the arbitration offer made by Germany and Italy regarding Transylvania
31 August 1940	Took note of the content of the Vienna Dictate

Institutionalization of the Crown Council

At the beginning of 1938, King Carol II decided to abolish the parliamentary regime and established a regime of personal authority, enshrined in law by drafting, approving by plebiscite and then promulgating a new Constitution. Several measures were taken to reorganize the state, which included: censorship, suspension of the immovability of magistrates and the stability of civil servants, dissolution of political parties, creation of a "mass" party (National Renaissance Front), professional organization in guilds, reform administrative etc.

Against this background, on March 30, 1938, a decree-law was issued establishing the Crown Council as a distinct political organism. According to the decree-law, the members of the Council were to be appointed by royal decree, from current or former dignitaries of the state, church, army and royal court or from prominent personalities of the country, the number of members not being limited. The Council maintained its consultative status.

Members

Historical members

The members of the Council bore the title of royal adviser, and received a monthly allowance of 50,000 lei. These were the following (those for whom the date is not specified were appointed on March 30, 1938):

Patriarch Miron Cristea, who died on March 6, 1939
Marshal Alexandru Averescu, who died on October 30, 1938
Marshal Constantin Prezan
General Artur Văitoianu
Gheorghe Mironescu
Nicolae Iorga
Constantin Angelescu
Gheorghe Tătărescu
Constantin Argetoianu
General Ernest Ballif [ro]
Alexandru C. Cuza, from June 16, 1939
Victor Iamandi, from November 23, 1939
Ion Mihalache, from April 17, 1940, resigned on June 26
Victor Antonescu, from April 18, 1940
Patriarch Nicodim Munteanu, from August 20, 1940
Metropolitan of Transylvania Nicolae Bălan, from August 20, 1940
Metropolitan of the Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic Alexandru Nicolescu, from August 20, 1940.

2010–2017

Current members

Bibliography

Ion Mamina, Consilii de Coroană, Editura Enciclopedică, București, 1997

References

^ Ioan Mamina, Consilii de Coroană, pp. 7-9. Editura Enciclopedica, 1997, ISBN 978-9734502-02-8

External links