How did Elisabeta meet Marc Favrat? (original) (raw)

They met in Paris in the 1950s. Elisabeta had wanted to establish a literary salon but was disenchanted because she "was unable to attract the people who flocked to her fellow Romanians," which included Marthe Bibescu and Elena Varescu.

According to the writer, John Wimbles, she "continued "her personal pursuit of happiness." Marc was only 26-years-old when they met. He soon became her equerry or Grand Chamberlain ... or toyboy. He served her well. Elisabeta wanted her cousin, the Prince of Hohenzollern, to grant Marc a title, but the Prince would not agree. Wimbles says this would have been unacceptable for a German to give a Frenchman a noble title so soon after the war. But the head of the Sigmaringen could not grant titles. Germany was a republic, and the Prince of Hohenzollern was a royal in name only. Titles had been abolished in 1919. For another, the Prince of Hohenzollern had lost the ability to grant titles in 1849, when Princes of Hohenzollern-Hechingen (now extinct) and Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen ceded their rights to Prussia.

Undaunted, Elisabeta decided to adopt Marc. This adoption was formalized in June 1956. She wrote: "Marc has changed my life. When I was ill, he came to help me. My dearest wish is to adopt him."

She died on November 15, 1956. The cause of death was a heart attack. She lived at the Villa Rose Alba, Avenue d'Antibes, in Cannes.

John Wimbles wrote an excellent four-part series on Elisabeta, which was published in Royalty Digest in 2003. The magazine is not available electronically, so you will not find it online.