The Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) in London will conclude on Thursday its anniversary programme marking 150 years since the birth of Queen Marie of Romania with a series of special events in Kent, where the sovereign was born at Eastwell Manor in 1875.
According to an ICR press release sent to AGERPRES on Tuesday, the Ashford event will open at 18:00 with a photo-documentary exhibition on the life and work of Queen Marie, curated by the Peles National Museum and the National Museum of Romanian History.
From 19:00, the programme will continue in the cinema hall, where guests will have the opportunity to watch the documentary "Maria, the Heart of Romania", a Chainsaw Film production (executive producer: John Florescu; script and direction: Trevor Poots).
The screening will be preceded by a lecture from historian and broadcaster Dr Tessa Dunlop, one of the UK's public figures who has actively promoted the complex historical legacy of the Queen over the years. The event will be opened with introductory remarks from the Mayor of Ashford, Lyn Suddards, the Romanian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Laura Popescu, and the Director of ICR London, Aura Woodward.
The event is supported by the community association RO KENT CIC, and one of the students from the Romanian school Saint Stephen the Great will read excerpts from the Queen's diaries.
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Dr Tessa Dunlop is a British historian, broadcaster, and bestselling author whose works combine academic rigour with accessible storytelling. She studied Modern History at Oxford, earned a distinction in her master's in Imperialism and Culture, and completed her doctorate in 2020 with a thesis on representations of Romania in British public and political discourse.
She is known for her work in television and radio, including for the BBC, Channel 5, and Discovery, as well as her narrative history books such as The Bletchley Girls, The Century Girls, Elizabeth & Philip, and Lest We Forget.
In particular, Tessa Dunlop has conducted significant research on Queen Marie of Romania, analysing her role during World War I, her efforts to support Romania's entry into the Entente, and her position as a cultural and symbolic figure. Her interest in Romanian-British relations and research on Queen Marie helps highlight lesser-known aspects of Europe's early 20th-century cultural, political, and royal history.
The year 2025 marks 150 years since the birth of Queen Marie of Romania, a celebration central to the RCI London programme.
The series dedicated to the Queen began in June with the theatre performance "1919: Royal Mission" and continued in Edinburgh with a three-day celebration including a photography exhibition, lecture, and theatre performance.
A key element of the anniversary programme, an exhibition of watercolours created by the Queen, was held at The King's Foundation, Garrison Chapel Gallery, from 18 September to 12 October, and was visited by His Majesty King Charles III. The exhibition was presented alongside "The Transylvania Florilegium", an exceptional collection of botanical art commissioned by the King.
In 2018, to mark the Centenary of the Great Union, the Romanian Cultural Institute and the Ashford Local Council unveiled the first statue of Queen Marie outside Romania, created by sculptor Valentin Duicu.
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