A TALL young man in corduroy slacks who had just started working in the hangars of Geneva airport was, in actual fact, the former King Michael of Rumania.
He was 34 and had been an exile since a Communist coup forced him to abdicate in 1947.
Since then he had lived mostly in Britain with his wife, Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma, and their three daughters, but had accepted the post of European sales manager for an American aviation equipment manufacturer.
“We’re having a bit of trouble over how to address him,” a mechanic said.
“Some people here make life rather embarrassing for him by calling him ‘Majesty’ and curtsying.”
The ex-king was reported to have an excellent record as a pilot and a thorough understanding of aviation engineering.
He laughed when asked how his fellow employees ought to address him and happily ignored those Rumanian émigrés who protested against his working.
The ex-monarch and his wife were staying in a hotel while she was house-hunting.
Comments