On February 13 King Amadeo of Spain announced in a special message to the Cortes that he had laid the crown aside, under the conviction that the incessant struggles of the parties were frustrating all his efforts for the peace and happiness of his country. The Cortes, by a large majority, proclaimed the Republic pour l'éternité, and elected as their President a well-known and thorough-going Republican, Senor Fiqueras. And so the saying of Napoleon III., that a Latin race is almost ungovernable, received a melancholy confirmation, which was only partly refuted by the Prince Charles's unquestioned success in ruling the "Latin sister-nation." Public opinion was only now beginning to realise the great merit of the Prince in achieving, by patience, abnegation, and perseverance, a stable Government, which only a few years before had appeared to be an aim Utopian and altogether beyond realisation to all those who were acquainted with the people and the affairs of Roumania.
Prince Charles was invited by the Emperor of Austria to attend the Vienna Exhibition, where Roumanian commerce was to be represented by exhibits of tobacco, wool, silk, wood, salt and other minerals. There were scarcely any manufactures, but the Prince was confident that they would soon follow in the track of the railways.
The Princess, whose health had not been at all satisfactory, and her little daughter, set out on a visit to the Princess of Wied on May 31, 1873. Little Marie soon became accustomed to the motion of the yacht, and took the greatest interest in her first long journey. Neuwied was reached safely, and the first news which Prince Charles received on June 23 in Vienna was that they were delighted to be home, and that the German Crown Prince had given them a most hearty welcome.
Prince Charles received the same treatment at Vienna, where he found his brother, the Hereditary Prince Leopold, awaiting him. He could not fail to notice that the reception accorded to him in 1873 was far more cordial than that in 1869, and he found, too, that his labours and sacrifices during the last four years had at last received due recognition in the Press.
Count Andrassy had a long and important interview with Prince Charles on June 25, when the Prince mentioned his project of declaring Roumania an independent State, because the relations with the Porte only led to constant friction, and were prejudicial to the welfare of his country. Moreover, a free Roumania, he held, would be a better friend to Turkey than it could possibly be under the existing circumstances. Count Andrassy pointed out that Roumania, as an independent State, would be exposed to danger from outside, while at present her safety was guaranteed by conventions and treaties. At the same time he gave emphatic denial to the rumour that Austria had any intention of annexing Roumanian territory. "We should be acting against our own interests, were we to increase the number of our discontented Roumanian subjects, and extend our frontier against Russia." Prince Charles replied that it would always be his aim to remain strictly neutral between his two all-powerful neighbours, Austria and Russia.
The Roumanian section in the exhibition was altogether successful; the centre of attraction was a portrait by an American painter, Healy, of the Prince in cavalry uniform, and of the Princess in national costume. The many-coloured carpets and woven silks also received great commendation, as well as the wines of the country.
The Prince quitted Vienna on July 1 by the train which carried the German Empress back to Germany. The Empress expressed herself greatly pleased at the reception accorded her by the Austrian capital, especially by the amiability of the Emperor Francis Joseph. After a short stay at Neuwied Prince Charles proceeded to Ems to see the Czar before the latter left for Russia, and to congratulate him in person upon the approaching marriage of the Grand Duchess Marie to the Duke of Edinburgh. A couple of days later the Prince and Princess again visited Ems, this time to see the German Emperor, en route for Imnau, where they expected to rejoin the Princess of Wied. The Emperor William welcomed his Roumanian guests with the utmost cordiality and affection, and declared himself delighted with the improved relations of the Prince to the Austro-Hungarian State. He again pointed out to his young cousin the necessity of paying particular attention to his army, and reminded him that a small but well-disciplined force was far superior to a more numerous though less highly trained army.
An amusing adventure happened to the Prince and Princess on their way to Imnau at Giessen, where they had the misfortune to miss their train, and were forced to spend the night at a small hotel near the railway station, without either luggage or sufficient money to pay for their railway-tickets. As they desired to preserve their incognito, they determined to make use of their "honest looks" to induce the hotel-keeper to advance the necessary sum of money. This hope, it is pleasant to note, was not cherished in vain, and Imnau was reached on July 8. The Prince's parents remained at Hechingen, which lies only a short distance from Imnau, but met every day either at one place or the other, so that Prince Charles Anthony's favourite wish was at last fulfilled. In this peaceful fashion a month passed only too quickly, and, after a couple of days spent at Krauchenwies the wanderers returned to Sinaja on August 28, touching Vienna en route, so that the Princess might also have an opportunity of visiting the exhibition.
The affairs of Roumania were absolutely uneventful, and the efforts of the Prince, warmly supported by the Ministry, made satisfactory progress towards the attainment of the high ideal which Prince Charles had kept before him ever since he first took up his arduous task. In a letter written to his parents at Christmas the Prince remarked: "Roumania has never witnessed so peaceful or, in many respects, so happy a year as 1873. The general progress is excellent, and the good understanding between the Government and the Chambers still continues."