In the fall of 2003 Wally Olins came to Bucharest to deliver his speech for the first conference dedicated to nation branding. I welcomed him at the airport together with my partners and during the first minutes of our conversation, Wally—who was setting foot for the first time on Romanian land—asked us: ”So, what’s new with the Romanian Royal Family?”
We were so astounded by his question, that we hardly refrained from replying ”I beg your pardon?!” Not knowing how else to tackle this question, we simply responded We believe they are well, thank you for asking at which point Wally Olins—professor of History at Oxford University—felt compelled to teach us some short yet overwhelming facts about the Romanian Royalty, including some undisclosed details of the romantic liaison between HRH Princess Margaret and former prime minister of Great Britain, Gordon Brown, while students at the University of Edinburgh.