Skip to content
VitrineRoyal Houses of Europe
Sign in

Radu, Prince Consort of Romania

b. 1960

Born
7 Jun 1960, Iași
Country of birth
Romanian People's Republic, today Romania

Living person. The family sees only the name, dates and photo; everything else stays private unless they choose to share it.

facts
6
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

A life in time

  1. Born · Iași

    Birth, Iași

What was it like?

The world around Iași, 1960: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Radu, was born the same year as Julianne Moore, Antonio Banderas, and Sean Penn.

Born the same year

  • Julianne Moore

    British-American actress and author (born 1960)

  • Antonio Banderas

    Spanish actor

  • Sean Penn

    American actor

  • Gary Lineker

    English football pundit and former player

  • Naruhito

    Emperor of Japan (born 1960)

  • Yulia Tymoshenko

    Ukrainian politician, former Prime Minister

Fashion

Undergarments and hosiery etiquette

In the 1950s and 1960s, women wore silk garters and petticoats to puff out their skirts, while men used garters for their long socks because exposing bare leg skin was considered very unseemly.

Extravagant ceremonial shirt details

A ceremonial shirt worn by the 'Junii Brașovului' was covered in 40,000 sequins weighing nearly 10 kilograms and took four women four months to create.

Music

Communal dances and village balls

People frequently gathered for communal dances called hore in open village spaces and balls held in indoor cultural centers.

Private home gatherings

To avoid official scrutiny, some people organized private parties called ceaiuri dansante or bairamuri at home, where they played records on gramophones or magnetophones.

Getting around

Mocanita train travel time between towns

The narrow-gauge train Mocanita took between 5 hours 30 minutes and 6 hours 30 minutes to travel 94 kilometers between Turda and Abrud.

Around 1955–1955

Dangerous overcrowding in public transport

In the mid-1950s, public transit was so crowded that passengers often traveled on the stairs of tram cars, leading to frequent fatal accidents.

Daily life

Homework by candlelight

Pupils often had to prioritize homework based on their light source: difficult tasks were done in daylight, while easy assignments were finished by the faint light of a candle.

Rationed hot water in apartments

In some apartment buildings, hot water for showers was strictly rationed, provided for only two hours in the morning and two hours at night.

Prices and wages

Snack prices in 1960 Bucharest automatic buffets

In 1960, diners could purchase snacks such as appetizers for 3 to 4 lei, a sandwich for 1.50 to 3 lei, and a glass of beer for 1.30 lei at automated buffet-style eateries.

Around 1965–1974

Average salary and bread prices

During the Nicolae Ceausescu era, a typical monthly salary was 1,250 lei, while a standard loaf of bread cost 3 lei.

Work

Employment in Industry and Agriculture

In 1969, approximately 40 percent of the state-employed workforce worked in industry, while 51 percent were employed in agriculture. Most jobs were under strict government control as part of the state-owned economy.

Life at Communist Construction Sites

At large state construction sites, workers were sometimes organized into teams and monitored by talliers who calculated efficiency and pay. These sites were often high-pressure environments where political police watched for dissent and mismanagement occurred.

News and letters
Around 1950–1959

Massive mail surveillance operations

In the 1950s, security officers were tasked with monitoring thousands of letters daily, with each officer responsible for checking approximately 3,000 letters per day.

Around 1950–1953

Slow international mail times

During the early 1950s, airmail from Bucharest to the United States was slow, with a duration of two and a half weeks considered fast.

During their lifetime

  1. 1977

    1977 Bucharest earthquake disaster

    A major earthquake struck Bucharest in 1977, resulting in approximately 1,500 deaths.

  2. 1980

    1980s austerity and shortages

    During the 1980s, the government implemented an austerity program to pay off foreign debts, which caused severe food shortages and frequent power cuts.

Family

Parents

Spouses

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.