In Romania, Helen was distraught by Carol's attitude, especially as Queen Marie made her partly responsible for the failure of her marriage. The crown princess wrote to her husband to convince him to return. She also attempted to convince politicians to delay Carol's exclusion to the royal succession and proposed to her in-laws that she herself take a trip to meet with her husband. However, the Prime Minister Ion Brătianu, who despised the crown prince because of his sympathy to the National Peasants' Party, categorically opposed. The head of government even accelerated the exclusion procedures by summoning both Houses of the Parliament to register the act of renunciation and appoint little Prince Michael as the new heir to the throne.