Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen is crowned King of Romania

Background. Romania evolved from a personal union of principalities into an autonomous principality under a Hohenzollern monarchy between 1859 and 1877. The German prince Karl Eitel Friedrich Zephyrinus Ludwig von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was appointed Prince to assure Prussian backing for unity and future independence. The defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War secured Romanian independence, and Carol was proclaimed King on 26 March [O.S. 14 March] 1881.

Proclamation of the Kingdom. The Romanian parliament raised the country to the status of a kingdom on 15 March 1881, an assertion of full sovereignty. This legislative act amended the constitution to proclaim Romania a kingdom. The transition from Prince to King was formalized through this parliamentary decision, which established the legal framework for the new royal title.

Coronation and Royal Family. Carol was crowned king in May 1881, beginning the Romanian royal family. One source records the ceremony as taking place on 10 May, while another dates the kingdom's beginning to 25 March [O.S. 13 March] 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl as King Carol I. The event marked the start of his reign as King, which lasted until his death in 1914.

Legacy and Succession. After the proclamation of the Kingdom in 1881, the succession became a very important matter of state. Carol's brother Leopold declined his rights in 1880, and Leopold's oldest son William declined in 1886, whereupon the second son, Ferdinand, was named prince of Romania and heir-presumptive to the throne in 1886. Carol is now thought of as a figure of national unity and is regarded as the founder of the modern Romanian state.