May 10th, 1866. German prince Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who had just recently arrived in Romania, was taking his oath in front of the Parliament: ‘I swear to be faithful to the country’s laws, to maintain Romania’s religion, as well as her territory’s integrity, and to rule as a constitutional monarch.’ 15 years later, Carol would become King, establishing the rule of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen dynasty that will reign Romania until the communist takeover. The story of how Carol, a prince of the German Empire, ended up in a little country by the Danube, is well known. After the forced abdication of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, in February 1866, the Romanian politicians started to look for the appropriate candidate to replace him. The main political groups, the liberals and the conservatives, agreed that the best solution would be bringing a foreign prince, in order to maintain the country’s stability and the 1856 Union. The first King: Carol I After the first candidate contacted by liberal leaders Ion Brătianu and C.A. Rosetti, Philip of Flanders, refused the throne, young Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen accepts the opportunity, with the blessing of Chancellor Bismarck and the King of Prussia. Together with a new prince, Romania also received a new Constitution. The fundamental law adopted in June 1866 made Carol a ruler with quite limited prerogatives, similar to those of a constitutional monarch. The German prince found it hard to accommodate with the realities of Romanian society, so different from his native one, but in time, he will manage to blend in, becoming a key-element of Romania’s modernization. At first, Prince Carol was not welcomed by all Romanians. His being foreign and, on top of that, German (Romanians are, by tradition, Francophiles), and the mistakes he made in his first years, characterized by political instability, made it hard for Carol t