Princess Anne Antoinette Francois Charlotte was born to Prince René of Bourbon-Parma and Princess Margaret of Denmark in Paris in 1923. The family fled Europe ahead of World War II, which explains why the princess was educated in America and worked at Macy's. However, that was the the least interesting part of her story! Princess Anne eventually joined the war effort as an ambulance driver and nurse in several countries. Then King Michael I of Romania fell in love with her.
It would seem the handsome young King had spotted Anne while watching a movie in the Royal Palace cinema hall. The princess was not there, nor herself ever an actress. So how did he see her? Before the movie there was a news real showing footage of the war, in this case specifically some footage from Morocco. In that footage was a few second clip of Princess Anne.
Infatuated with her, the young King had a small photograph made from the film reel of the princess which he kept. At some point, he seems to have clued his mother in on his choice of bride and the wheels were in motion.
Although they were second cousins once removed, it took a lot of effort to bring the two together, and even more effort for the king to convince the shy princess to marry him. When she finally said yes, communist forces deposed King Michael I, and Romania was no longer a monarchy. Read about the unusual life of the uncrowned Queen of Romania at Today I Found Out.