Charles III of Romania (Oldenburg Sweden)

Charles III (Mircea Gregory Charles, Romanian: Mircea Grigore Carol) was King of the Romanians and Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen.

He was born on 8 January 1920 in Bucharest, Romania, as the oldest son of Prince Charles of Romania and Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (later King Charles II of the Romanians) and Zizi Lambrino. At the time of his birth, Charles's parents were already divorced, however, as he was born less than 300 days after the divorce, he was declared legitimate and put after his father in the line of succession to the Romanian throne. He became King of the Romanians upon the death of his father on 4 April 1953, and reigned for the rest of his life.

However, his half-brother, Prince Michael, tried to make a deal with him, that he (Michael) would be declared heir to the throne (as Michael considered himself the only legitimate son of their father), and that Michael and his line would be put in front of Charles III's line. Charles III would be allowed to reign until his death, but the throne would then pass to Prince Michael and his line. As Charles III would not make this deal with Prince Michael, the Prince declared himself King Michael I of the Romanians on 1 March 1954 and started a war against King Michael, known as the war of Romanian succession. Prince Michael and his troops were defeated in battle on 22 June 1955, and Prince Michael was stripped of his Romanian title and citizenship, and he went into exile in the German Empire, where he was granted asylum.

Charles III died on 27 January 2006 in Bucharest.

He married firstly on 22 March 1948 to Helene Henriette Nagavitzine (born 1925), whom he divorced in 1960. However, they had a son:

Paul Philip (born 1948), who succeeded his father as King Paul I Philip of the Romanians

He married secondly on 20 December 1960 to Thelma Jeanne Williams (1930-1988), whom he divorced in 1988. However, they had a son:

Alexander (born 1961)

He married thirdly on 27 June 1984 to Antonia Colville (1939-2007). They had no issue.