Irina Walker

Irina Walker
Walker in September 2014
Born (1953-02-28) 28 February 1953
Lausanne, Switzerland
Spouse
John Kreuger
(m. 1983; div. 2003)

John Wesley Walker
(m. 2007)
Issue Michael Kreuger
Angelica Kreuger
House Romania (from 2011)
Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (until 2011)
Father Michael I of Romania
Mother Anne of Bourbon-Parma
Religion Romanian Orthodox

Irina Walker (born Princess Irina of Romania on 28 February 1953) is the third daughter of King Michael I and Queen Anne of Romania.

She was stripped of her title, styles and rights to the throne following involvement with illegal cockfighting at Irrigon, Oregon in 2013.[1][2][3]

Early life

Irina (right) beside her elder sister Princess Elena (left) and younger sister Princess Sophie, held by their father King Michael I.

Irina was born in exile on 28 February 1953 at a birth clinic in Lausanne, Switzerland, the third daughter and child of King Michael I and Queen Anne.[4][5]

Walker spent her childhood at her family homes in Lausanne, Switzerland and in the United Kingdom at Ayot House, St Lawrence, Hertfordshire;[6] During holidays she and her sisters spent time with their grandparents, Helen, Queen Mother in Florence, Italy at Villa Sparta and in Denmark with Princess Margaret and Prince René.[7] She and her sisters were told "fascinating tales of a homeland they couldn't visit" by their father.[8]

Her teenage years were spent in Europe with her family, where she and her sisters received primary and secondary education.[9]

In her mid-twenties, as her two elder and two younger sisters went away to work and study, Irina stayed with her parents at their family home in Switzerland[8] and later moved to the United States to work.[9]

Career

During the 1970s Irina had started working as a specialist, eventually rising to senior Appraiser of Silverware at Christie's' auctionhouse in Geneva, Switzerland.[5]

In Romania

After 50 years of exile of the Romanian royal family from Romania, in 1990 Walker's eldest sister Margareta and younger sister Sophie visited Romania following the Romanian revolution and overthrow of the Communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu in December 1989; Walker, along with the royal family, were involved in helping the Romanians.[8]

After the upheaval of the revolution had calmed down, Walker, with her two children Michael and Angelica, visited Romania along with the rest of the royal family to spend Christmas in 1997[10] and went back again with King Michael I, Queen Anne, Crown Princess Margareta and her husband Prince Radu in 1998.[11][12][13]

Unlike her sisters, Walker did not perform many engagements for the royal house, except for a visit to the Romanian Academy with Princess Marie,[14] an investiture ceremony,[15] the 60th birthday celebration of the Crown Princess in 2009[16] and the 90th birthday celebration of King Michael I in 2011.[17]

In 2004 Walker's ex-husband John Kreuger donated the 16th-century painting Madonna with the infant by Francesco Raibolini to the National Museum of Art of Romania;[18] the painting was given to the couple as a wedding present which Kreuger kept after their divorce and later donated.

Irina Walker was present in Romania with her sisters for the funeral of King Michael in December 2017. In the days preceding the funeral, they accompanied their father's body to Peles Castle where it was laid in the Hall of Honour[19], and subsequently were present during the Lying in State in the Throne Room[20] of the Royal Palace in Bucharest. Walker and her sisters walked behind their father's coffin when it was carried by Gun Carriage from the Royal Palace to the Patriarchal Cathedral for the Funeral Mass in the presence of the President of Romania, the King of Sweden, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and members of other Royal Families[21]. Following King Michael's burial at Curtea de Arges, Walker carried out several engagements with Margareta and her other sisters at the Elisabeta Palace[22] and at Savarsin[23].

Marriages, divorce and family

On 4 October 1983 Irina married John Kreuger (born in Solna, Sweden, 3 August 1945) son of Torsten Kreuger and his wife Diana Blanchefleur Hedberg (née Beve)[24] in Scottsdale, Maricopa County, Arizona, in a civil ceremony and on 11 February 1984 in a religious ceremony at Holy Trinity Church in Phoenix.[25] The ceremony was attended by the Royal family including her grand-aunt Princess Ileana, John's parents and family, and friends of the couple.[26] On 24 November 2003 the couple divorced after 20 years of marriage.[25]

Irina and John have 2 children, a daughter-in-law, a son-in-law and three grandchildren:

  • Michael Torsten (born 25 February 1984),[5] married to Tara Marie Littlefield
    • Kohen (born 28 March 2012)[27]
  • Angelica Margareta Bianca (born 29 December 1986),[5] married to Richard Robert Knight[28]
    • Courtney Bianca (born 31 May 2007)[29]
    • Diana (born 2011)[27]

On 10 November 2007 Irina married a second time to John Wesley Walker (b. in Douglas, Missouri on 30 December 1945).

Arrest

In August 2013, Walker and her second husband were arrested for being part of an illegal cockfighting ring and federally charged with operating an illegal gambling business on their ranch near Irrigon, Oregon.[30][31][32][33] According to the indictment, 10 different cockfighting derbies were organized at their ranch between April 2012 and April 2013, which brought up to $2000/day, from admission fees, food and drinks and gambling.[30] They were free pending trial.[34]

In October 2014, Walker and her husband pleaded guilty to operating an illegal gambling business and were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman to three years of probation. As part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, the couple agreed to sell real estate and pay $200,000 to the government. Irina Walker said during the hearing: "I'm very sorry about my involvement in this business. It was not my intention to go against the law."[35]

On 29 October 2014, Walker's father altered the line of succession, stripping Irina of her royal titles and removing her and her two children and three grandchildren from the line of succession.[36]

Ancestry

References

  1. ↑ "Ex-Romanian princess Irina on Oregon cockfighting charges". BBC News.
  2. ↑ "Romanian princess accused of running cockfights on her Oregon ranch with retired sheriff husband pleads guilty to illegal gambling". Mail Online.
  3. ↑ "Romanian Princess 'Sorry' Over Cockfighting". Sky News.
  4. ↑ Marlene Eilers Koenig. "Royal Musings". royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.co.uk.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Familia Regala - Irina Walker". familiaregala.ro.
  6. ↑ "King Michael of Romania & his Family". Diana Mandache Historian & Author. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014.
  7. ↑ "FPMR". fpmr.ro.
  8. 1 2 3 "Romania's Exiled King Longs to Take His Family Home鈥攁fter 42 Years鈥攁nd Reclaim His Throne". people.com.
  9. 1 2 "Romanian Princess Irina Walker Sentenced For Cockfighting". The Huffington Post.
  10. ↑ "Principesa Irina a României, 60 de ani". romaniaregala.ro.
  11. ↑ "EXCLUSIVE, ROYAL FAMILY OF ROMANIA IN BUCHAREST". corbisimages.com.
  12. ↑ "EXCLUSIVE, ROYAL FAMILY OF ROMANIA IN BUCHAREST". corbisimages.com.
  13. ↑ "EXCLUSIVE, ROYAL FAMILY OF ROMANIA IN BUCHAREST". corbisimages.com.
  14. ↑ "A patra zi a Jubileului 90". romaniaregala.ro.
  15. ↑ "Cine este Principesa Irina, arestată în SUA pentru organizarea de lupte ilegale cu cocoşi". adevarul.ro.
  16. ↑ "Regele Mihai, Regina Ana, Principesa Mostenitoare, Principesa Elena, Principesa Irina, Palatul Elisabeta, martie 2009 - Familia Regală a României / Royal Family of Romania". romaniaregala.ro.
  17. ↑ "În anul 2011". romaniaregala.ro.
  18. ↑ http://ziua.ro/display.php?id=162992&data=2004-11-20&ziua=1e5692b536aa233f6d6ac3b1d11dd6c9 Archived 8 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  19. ↑ "Regele Mihai I, pentru ultima oară la Castelul Peleș | Familia Regală a României / Royal Family of Romania". www.romaniaregala.ro. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
  20. ↑ "Regele Mihai, pentru ultima oară în Sala Tronului | Familia Regală a României / Royal Family of Romania". www.romaniaregala.ro. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
  21. ↑ "Regele Mihai, pentru ultima oară în Sala Tronului | Familia Regală a României / Royal Family of Romania". www.romaniaregala.ro. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
  22. ↑ "Cadouri de Crăciun pentru angajații Casei Majestății Sale | Familia Regală a României / Royal Family of Romania". www.romaniaregala.ro. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
  23. ↑ "Dubașii, alături de locuitorii comunei, alături de Familia Regală în Ajun de Crăciun | Familia Regală a României / Royal Family of Romania". www.romaniaregala.ro. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
  24. ↑ Marlene A. Eilers, Queen Victoria's Descendants (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1987), page 190
  25. 1 2 "King Michael's Younger Daughters: Elena, Irina, Sofia & Maria - The Royal Forums". theroyalforums.com.
  26. ↑ "Wedding Photos of the Royal House of Roumania". angelfire.com.
  27. 1 2 "Descendants of King Christian IX of Denmark". heinbruins.nl.
  28. ↑ "Angelica Margareta Bianca Kreuger". The Peerage. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  29. ↑ "Courtney Bianca Knight". The Peerage. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  30. 1 2 DuBois, Steven (15 August 2013). "Romanian princess among cockfighting arrests". USA Today. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
  31. ↑ Denson, Bryan (16 August 2013). "Romanian princess, Oregon husband arrested in bust of suspected two-state cockfighting ring". Oregonian. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  32. ↑ "Romanian princess, Oregon husband to be freed while facing cockfighting charges". OregonLive.com.
  33. ↑ "Romania libera - stiri iesite din tipar - actualitate, investigatii, politica, cultura, diaspora, video, anunturi de mica publicitate". Romania Libera.
  34. ↑ "Romanian princess, Oregon husband to be freed while facing cockfighting charges". Oregonian. 16 August 2013.
  35. ↑ "Romanian princess Irina Walker, husband sentenced to probation for roles in cockfighting ring". OregonLive.com.
  36. ↑ "Familia Regala - Linia de succesiune". familiaregala.ro.
Irina Walker
Born: 28 February 1953
Romanian royalty
Preceded by
Elisabeta-Karina de Roumanie Medforth-Mills		 Line of succession to the British throne
descended from Alfred, son of Victoria		 Succeeded by
Michael de Roumanie Kreuger
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