Prince Igor Nicolescu

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Igor Nicolescu Vlas-Florea
Portrait
Prince Igor Nicolescu Vlas-Florea
Birth: 29 June, 1949
Death: 4 August 2012
Place of birth: Timişoara, Oltenia
Family: Vlad Nicolescu (brother), Leopoldina Vlas-Florea (wife), Nicola Vlas-Florea (daughter), King Aurel II of Moldova (cousin)
Profession: Air Corps officer
Political Party: Voivode Party
Relgious Affiliation: Catholic (Oltenian Form, Byzantine Rite)
Personal Arms:
Oltenia prince arms.jpg

Prince Igor Nicolescu Vlas-Florea (1949-2012) is the current Prince of Oltenia and the head of the House of Vlas-Florea. He has one child, a daughter named Nicola (born 1982), who has become rather famous herself as film actress. His aunt was the immensely unpopular Queen Lilian of Moldova, bride to Aurel I and mother of both the notorious Crown Prince Vlad as well as Petru II.

The death of the Pretender Simion in 1987 helped spur increasing calls for the selection of a Prince by the White Regency. Among other things, this was a point of ethnic pride for the Romanians ill-treated in their own country. This in fact was the beginning of the Voivode Party, and led to a series of strikes and demonstrations all over the country. At length, just to quiet things down, the Regents announced they'd narrowed the candidates down to two--Air Colonel Igor Vlas-Florea and Magistrate Gavril Florea-Doneascu, whose mother was Hungarian. What was expected to quiet things down in fact made things worse for the Regency Council, because Gavril (their intended choice) was totally unacceptable to the vast majority. The strikes and demonstrations increased, and some governmental leaders--sensing the way the wind was blowing--began to support the Voivode Party. Accusing Igor Vlas-Florea of malfeasance and putting him under house arrest did nothing to quell the unrest. Quite the opposite. Demands for Prince Igor to take the throne grew every day and in the end, to (barely) avoid civil war, the Regents did indeed crown him. Within three months the Snorist regime was largely dismantled. A somewhat curious side effect of this was the vast popularity of posters and t-shirts showing the new Prince Igor in the NAL, in Louisianne and elsewhere as he was taken up as something of an icon for many in the (usually anti-monarchist) Anti-Snorist Movement.

Igor had been first an air corps officer then a political prisoner under house arrest during the Snorist control of the country. This helped make him a symbol in the country and it was really the symbol rather than the man who was made prince. The actual method of succession remains a matter of debate and constant revision of current law. All agree that the title should remain within the Florea family, but one sticking point is whether it should be restricted to that of Vlas-Florea or include any other branch and if so, which ones? Another point of debate is whether succession should be allowed along the female. Some simply advocate the use of primogeniture, but that takes away some of the power of the boyars in approving an heir and understandably they oppose it.

Igor's nephew and heir is Nicolae Vladescu (born 1965), who is in the diplomatic service. Currently, he is Oltenian Ambassador to England. His father, Vlad Nicolescu, suffers from diabetes and has retired from public life. In his youth, he was a successful army officer, rising the rank of Major.

On 4 August 2012 the Oltenian government confirmed that Prince Igor had died the previous evening, presumably of heart failure.

Preceded by:
Simion

Pretender

Oltenia flag1.gif
Prince of Oltenia
1989- 2012
Succeeded by:
Nicolae Vladescu

presumptive