Her Eternal Crown

By Della L. Marcus

A biography of the first monarch to accept the teachings of Bah 'u'll h.

'A woman brought me the other day a Book. I spell it with a capital letter because it is a glorious Book of love and goodness, strength and beauty.' (Toronto Daily Star, 4 May 1926)

The author of this article was Queen Marie of Romania, the woman of whom she wrote Martha Root and the book contained the writings of Bah 'u'll h and 'Abdu'l-Bah .

Thus was Queen Marie introduced to the Bah ' Faith. The first monarch to accept the teachings of Bah 'u'll h, she struggled against the political bonds that tie every ruler to proclaim the new religion. It is 'Christ's Message taken up anew in the same words almost, ' she wrote, 'but adapted to the thousand years and more difference that lies between the year one and today.' 'It is like a wide embrace gathering together all those who have long searched for words of hope.'

Her Eternal Crown is not a retelling of the life of Queen Marie; rather, it is the story - told largely in extracts from her own letters and diaries and from those of Martha Root - of the deepening relationship between a European monarch and the religion whose teachings she championed for the rest of her life.

Della L. Marcus, of American lineage, brought up in Luxembourg and the Holy Land and now living in Romania, draws on previously unpublished materials found in the Romanian State Archives and the archives of Bah ' institutions to provide a unique glimpse into the life of Queen Marie.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0853984425
• ISBN13: 9780853984429
• Release Date: June 2000
• Publisher: George Ronald Publisher Ltd
• Length: 412 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Queen Marie of Romania and the Baha'i Faith

This book provides an interesting account of Queen Marie of Romania (1875-1938). It tells how she came across the teachings of the Bahá'í Faith which were presented to her by an itinerant American traveller, Martha Root, who was a Bahá'í.Queen Marie was a grand-daughter of Queen Victoria and Czar Alexander II of Russia and was brought up in England. As was customary at the time, she was married as a young girl of 18 into European royalty and so began her life as a royal princess in Romania. In 1922 she became Queen as the wife of King Ferdinand. Marie loved her adopted country but life was difficult for her enmeshed as it was by diplomatic and political intrigue which restricted her freedom.She was a person of deep moral courage and conviction and an adherent of the Christian Faith. On meeting Martha Root in 1926 and being told about the Bahá'í Faith she recognised the truth of the divine message of Bahá'u'lláh and she became an ardent promoter of His teachings, mostly revealed through her letters and diaries and also in the letters of Martha Root.The book covers a specific 12-year period as the author records the encounter and relationship of Romania's Queen with the Bahá'í Faith during the years 1926 to her death in 1938. It has been well researched and covers an area of the Queen's life not generally known about before, particularly in Romania.Marie was a noble Queen. She was a person who experienced great suffering in her own personal life. She became involved in hospital work during the second Balkan War and was able to provide great comfort in caring for the sick and suffering. She had a great spirit and depth of vision. Her allegiance to the Bahá'í Faith gave her the honoured position of becoming the first monarch in the world to embrace the Bahá'í Faith and this became her eternal grown of glory.