Of the four Romanian heads of state visiting Canada in the past 100 years, only one got to see Niagara Falls. So much for the perks of power; you’d think the leader of a nation could at least negotiate a detour for a blue poncho and some mist.

It turns out that being a Royal offers much better tourist perks than being a President. Back in 1926, Queen Marie kicked off her North American tour by rolling into Canada via train at Niagara Falls—a stop she’d insisted on from day one, presumably because she knew a world wonder beats a diplomatic briefing any day.

Meanwhile, the three Romanian presidents who followed her were apparently too buried in paperwork to catch the view:

– Nicolae Ceaușescu (1985 state visit; he actually saw Niagara Falls on the American side during his October 1970 trip to the United States);

– Emil Constantinescu (1998 state visit; and 1999); and

– Ion Iliescu (2004 multilateral visit).

It’s been nearly 22 years since a Romanian head of state last set foot in Canada.

Queen Marie (October 1926)

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the North American tour that took Queen Marie of Romania from coast to coast, including Canadian stops.

She entered Canada on October 26, and stopped the royal train at Niagara Falls. Full day visits followed in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Vancouver.

It took another 60 tumultuous years for a Romanian leader to show up again, and even then, the motivation wasn’t the scenery—it was the nuclear partnership.

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Nicolae Ceaușescu (April 1985)

Of the two leaders Romania had during the communist era (1947-1989), the other one being Gheorghe Gheorghiu Dej (died March 1965 aged 63), Ceaușescu visited Canada.

Unlike his grand tours of the 1970s, this trip was strictly business and highly guarded, with no Niagara detours:

• Ottawa (The Diplomatic Leg): Most of the visit took place in the capital. He was hosted at Rideau Hall (the Governor General’s residence) and held formal meetings on Parliament Hill. He met Brian Mulroney, the prime minister at the time.

• Montreal (The Industrial Leg): He traveled to Montreal to visit the headquarters of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL). The trip was designed to show him the technology he was buying (the CANDU reactors) and to meet with the engineers and financiers behind the project.

Emil Constantinescu (May 1998)

This was a historic “State Visit” – the first by a democratically elected Romanian president to Canada.

• Ottawa: Constantinescu met with Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and Governor General Roméo LeBlanc. The primary focus was Romania’s bid to join NATO and seeking Canadian support for the democratic reforms he was spearheading.

• Montreal: He visited Montreal to discuss the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant. He famously requested over $1 billion in financing from Canada to complete the second reactor (Cernavodă-2), which was a critical part of Romania’s energy strategy.

• Toronto: He spent the latter leg of his trip in Toronto (arriving May 28) to meet with the Romanian-Canadian business community and academic leaders. While Toronto is the gateway to Niagara Falls, official records show his itinerary was packed with economic meetings rather than tourist sightseeing.

Ion Iliescu (September 2004)

Ion Iliescu’s visit to Canada in September 2004 was a short, high-stakes diplomatic trip that focused on the French-speaking province of Quebec and nuclear energy cooperation.

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Whether it’s the memory of a royal tour or the hum of a CANDU reactor, the century-long relationship between Romania and Canada remains a fascinating blend of high-stakes diplomacy and unexpected drama. With the presidential visit drought now stretching past two decades, the stage is perfectly set for a new leader to finally bridge the gap—and maybe, just maybe, finally make that long-overdue trip to the Falls.