Back in Bucharest, the princess tried, without much success, to get the government involved in a case against the king. She then turned again to her sister-in-law, the former queen of the Hellenes. However, the latter was deeply shocked by the interview given to the "Daily Mail", and the two women had a violent fight during their reunion, where Elisabeth even slapped Helen. Carol II then considered his former wife as a political opponent, and in order to undermine her prestige, the king initiated a campaign in the press against her, claiming that she had tried to commit suicide twice. After only a month in the country, Carol II imposed a new separation agreement (1 November 1932), under which Helen was denied the right to return to Romania and the next day, finally forced her into permanent exile in Italy. During the following years, she had no contact with her former husband, who only briefly told her by telephone of the death of Queen Marie in 1938. Despite the tensions, Prince Michael was able to see his mother every year in Florence for two months.