The “Playboy King’s” 1941 Visit To Bermuda

In 1941, ex-King Carol II of Romania – nicknamed the Playboy King - made a stop in Bermuda with his mistress Elena Magda Lupescu, after having been forced to abdicate his throne.

Known more for his romantic adventures than for his leadership skills, King Carol [1893 – 1953] was married three times, and ended up in exile.

Ex-King Carol II and Elena Magda Lupescu in Bermuda:

History Today describes him by saying, “Dashing, willful, and reckless, a lover of women, champagne, and speed, Carol drove racing cars and piloted planes, and on state occasions appeared in operetta uniforms with enough ribbons, chains, and orders to sink a small destroyer.”

He was first married to Joanna Lambrino in 1918, though reports suggest he continued to have liaisons outside of that relationship. The marriage was annulled in 1919; however they continued to live together after the annulment, and their only child was born in 1920.

In 1921, King Carol then married Princess Helen of Greece and Denmark. They were second cousins, as both were great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria. The marriage soon collapsed in the wake of his affair with Elena Magda Lupescu.

The May 13, 1941 edition of the Pittsburgh Press showing the couple in Bermuda:

As a result of the scandal, King Carol renounced his right to the throne in 1925 in favour of his son, who was only five years old at the time. Princess Helen divorced him in 1928.

Returning to Romania in 1930, King Carol reneged on the renunciation and was proclaimed King the following day, replacing his son on the throne.

After being overthrown by the pro-Nazi government of Ion Antonescu, he abdicated again in favour of his son in 1940.

He took Elena Magda Lupescu into exile with him, along with servants, three poodles, two pekingese, and his stamp collection.

They had to lie on the floor of their carriage when the Iron Guard fired on their train nearing the Yugoslavian border. They spent time in Spain and Portugal before going to Mexico.

In 1941, he made a stop in Bermuda, with world news reports of the day seizing on the unexpected visit.

A report on King Carol’s trip to Bermuda from the May 11, 1941 issue of the Milwaukee Sentinel:

Romania’s exiled former King Carol and his companion, Madame Lupescu, forced out of their native land by a Bucharest military coup last autumn, found haven in the new world today.

They arrived at Hamilton from Lisbon aboard the United States liner Excambion, from the bow of which a Romanian flag flew in honor of the royal passenger and his party.

Looking healthy despite their tribulations of the past half year, which included a dramatic automobile escape from Spain into Portugal, the erstwhile monarch and the woman for whom he once forswore his royal rights were formally greeted by the British governor of Bermuda.

They drove from the pier in a carriage to the Belmont Manor hotel to take up quarters in a $100 a day suite, where they will sojourn before continuing on to South America by way of Cuba and possibly Mexico.

Carol and Madame Lupescu were in affable moods. They posed willingly for photographers.

After leaving Bermuda and making their way to South America, Carol and Magda Lupescu were finally married in Brazil in 1947.

“The Playboy King” died in exile six years later, succumbing to complications of a heart attack on April 4, 1953.

While his remains were originally buried in Portugal, they were finally returned to Romania in 2003, a full 50 years following his death.

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