Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma (Anne Antoinette Françoise Charlotte Zita Marguerite; 18 September 1923 – 1 August 2016) was the wife of King Michael I of Romania. She married Michael in 1948, the year after he had abdicated the throne. Nonetheless, she was known after the marriage as Queen Anne (). Early life Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma was born on 18 September 1923 in Paris, France, as the only daughter of Prince René of Bourbon-Parma and Princess Margaret of Denmark. With her three brothers she spent her childhood in France. To her family she was known as Nane (in English Nan). Their holidays were spent alternately at the Villa Pianore in Lucca with their paternal grandmother the Dowager Duchess of Parma, or at Bernstorff Palace in Copenhagen with their maternal grandfather. Anne's paternal aunt was the last Austrian Empress Zita while maternal great aunts were Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia and Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom. In 1939 her family fled from the Nazis and escaped to Spain. From there they went on to Portugal and then to the United States. She attended the Parsons School of Design in New York City from 1940 to 1943. She also worked as a sales assistant at Macy's department store. In 1943, she volunteered for military service in the French Army. She served in Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Luxembourg and in liberated Germany, as an ambulance driver. Anne received the French Croix de Guerre for her wartime service. Marriage Engagement In November 1947, Anne met Michael I of Romania, who was visiting London for the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten. A year earlier, Queen Mother Elena had invited Anne, her mother, and brothers for a visit to Bucharest, but the plan did not come off. Meanwhile, Michael had glimpsed Anne in a newsreel and requested a photograph from the film footage. Anne did not want to accompany her parents to London for the royal wedding as she wished to avoid meeting King Michael in official surroundings. Instead, she planned to stay behind, go alone to the Paris railway station and, pretending to be a passerby in the crowd, privately observe the king as his entourage escorted him to his London-bound train. However, at the last moment she was persuaded by her first cousin, Prince Jean of Luxembourg, to come to London, where he planned to host a party. Upon arrival in London,