Anne Hyde, Duchess of York

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Anne Hyde, Duchess of York; Credit – Wikipedia

Anne Hyde, the first wife of James, Duke of York, later King James II of England, died before her husband became king. She was born on March 12, 1637, at Cranbourne Lodge in Windsor, England. Her parents were Edward Hyde (later created 1st Earl of Clarendon) and his second wife, Frances Aylesbury, the daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Aylesbury, 1st Baronet, and his wife Anne Denman.

Anne, who was the eldest child, had five younger siblings:

Anne’s father Edward Hyde was a lawyer and Member of Parliament. At first, Hyde was a moderate critic of King Charles I, but he gradually became more supportive of the king. In 1641, Hyde became an informal adviser to King Charles I. In February 1643, Hyde was knighted and was appointed to the Privy Council. The following month, he was made Chancellor of the Exchequer. In 1649, after the execution of King Charles I, when Anne was 12 years old, her family fled to the Netherlands. They settled in Breda, where they were offered a home by the eldest daughter of King Charles I, Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange, who was known for helping many royalist fugitives from England. In his early years of exile, Hyde played no political role but instead began writing a history of the English Civil War, The History of the Rebellion. In 1651, Hyde became an adviser to the king in exile, Charles II, and soon became his chief adviser. Charles appointed Hyde Lord Chancellor in 1658.

Edward Hyde by Jacob van Reesbroeck, 1649-1653; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1654, Anne Hyde was appointed a maid of honor to Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange, the eldest daughter of King Charles I of England, the widow of Willem II, Prince of Orange and the mother of the young Willem III, Prince of Orange who would marry Anne’s daughter Mary. The couple would eventually co-reign in England as King William III and Queen Mary II. Given the situation, it was natural that Anne should come into contact with members of the exiled English royal family, including King Charles I’s second surviving son, James, Duke of York. Anne was attractive and stylish and attracted many men, including James, Duke of York. On November 24, 1659, in Breda, Anne and James married secretly in front of witnesses.

Contemporaries of Edward Hyde assumed that he had arranged the royal marriage of his daughter, but modern historians generally agree that he played no part. The marriage came as an unwelcome shock to Hyde, and he is supposed to have told his daughter that he would rather see her dead than disgrace her family. Anne Hyde was the first non-royal spouse to marry into the royal family since King Henry VIII‘s marriage to Catherine Parr in 1543. There would not be another non-royal spouse until 1871 when Queen Victoria‘s daughter Princess Louise married John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne and heir to the Dukedom of Argyll.

The monarchy was restored in 1660, and King Charles II and the rest of the royal family returned to England. In the fall of 1660, it was obvious that Anne was pregnant. The royal family was embarrassed, and society viewed the pregnancy as a scandal. The king was consulted, resulting in James and Anne being officially married at Worcester House in London on September 3, 1660, just seven weeks before the birth of their first child.

James and Anne Hyde in the 1660s, by Sir Peter Lely; Credit – Wikipedia

James and Anne had eight children, but only two survived childhood, and both were Queens Regnant:

  • Charles, Duke of Cambridge (1660 – 1661): Conceived before his parents’ official marriage, Charles was styled Duke of Cambridge but never formally created Duke of Cambridge. He died at the age of six months from smallpox and was buried at Westminster Abbey in London, England.
  • Queen Mary II of England (1662 – 1694), married her first cousin William III, Prince of Orange in 1677, ascended to the throne in 1689 as co-ruler with her husband after the deposition of her father, no surviving issue
  • James, Duke of Cambridge (1663 – 1667): James was created Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Cambridge and Baron of Dauntsey by his uncle King Charles II.  He was also named a Knight of the Garter but was never officially installed. Both James and his younger brother Charles, Duke of Kendal became ill with what was likely smallpox or the bubonic plague.  Little Charles died first, and three-year-old James died three weeks later and was buried at Westminster Abbey in London, England.
  • Queen Anne of Great Britain (1665 – 1714), married Prince George of Denmark ; Anne had 17 pregnancies, five live births, but two died on the day of their birth, two died at less than two years old within six days of each other from smallpox, and one died at age 11
  • Charles, Duke of Kendal (1666 – 1667): Charles was styled Duke of Kendal but was never officially created Duke of Kendal because of his early death. He died at the age of ten months and was buried at Westminster Abbey in London, England.
  • Edgar, Duke of Cambridge (1667 – 1671): Edgar was created was Duke and Earl of Cambridge and Baron of Dauntsey by his uncle King Charles II. Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts was named after him. Edgar died at the age of three and was buried at Westminster Abbey in London, England.
  • Henrietta (born and died 1669): Named after her paternal grandmother Henrietta Maria of France, Henrietta was born at the Palace of Whitehall in London, England. She died at St. James’ Palace in London, England, when she was ten months old and was buried at Westminster Abbey.
  • Catherine (born and died 1671): Catherine was born at the Palace of Whitehall in London, England. Her mother died seven weeks after her birth from breast cancer. Catherine did not survive her mother for very long. She died at the age of ten months at St. James’ Palace in London, England, and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

Family of James, Duke of York. The Duke (later King James II and VII) and Duchess of York (previously Anne Hyde), painted by Peter Lely between 1668 and 1670. Their two daughters, Mary (left) and Anne (right), later Queen Mary II and Queen Anne, were added by Benedetto Gennari after 1680. Windsor Castle is in the background; Credit – Wikipedia

Anne was not particularly maternal and spent much of her time holding her own court at St. James’ Palace, a more brilliant court than that of King Charles II’s wife, Catherine of Braganza at Whitehall Palace. Queen Catherine failed to produce heirs for her husband, so Anne had the advantage of having produced heirs to the throne. Anne knew of her husband’s mistresses and comforted herself by overeating and buying expensive jewelry.

Anne and James had been exposed to Roman Catholicism while they were abroad, and Anne converted secretly in 1670. She was instrumental in James’ conversion to Roman Catholicism shortly afterward, although he continued to attend Church of England services until 1676. King Charles II insisted that their children be brought up in the Church of England.

In 1667, Anne gave birth to her last son Edgar (died in 1671), and admitted that she never again felt well after his birth. 1667 was a difficult year for Anne: her mother died, and her father fell from power, was exiled, and spent the rest of his life in France. Anne never saw him again. By 1670, Anne was very ill with breast cancer, and once again pregnant. She gave birth to her last child Catherine, on February 9, 1671 (died in December 1671) while in the advanced stages of breast cancer.

Anne, Duchess of York by Sir Peter Lely around 1670; Credit – Wikipedia

On March 30, 1671, after returning home to St. James’ Palace from a dinner, Anne collapsed. Queen Catherine, who was fond of Anne, rushed to her bedside. Anne’s Church of England brother Henry Hyde (later 2nd Earl of Clarendon) refused to come to her deathbed because he suspected that she had become a Catholic. Anne’s husband James ran interference with the well-intentioned Church of England clergy at the deathbed and quietly informed them of Anne’s conversion to Catholicism. The clergy was kind enough to offer just general prayers. Anne, Duchess of York died on March 31, 1671, at the age of 34, and was buried at Westminster Abbey in the vault of Mary, Queen of Scots in the Henry VII Chapel. By the end of the year, Anne’s children Edgar and Catherine had died, and Mary and Anne, both future Queens Regnant, were the only survivors of the eight children of the Duke and Duchess of York.

House of Stuart Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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King Charles II of England

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

King Charles II of England; Credit – Wikipedia

King Charles II was born on May 29, 1630, at St. James’ Palace in London, England. He was the eldest surviving son of King Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France, daughter of King Henri IV of France.  Charles was the Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay from birth and was declared Prince of Wales in 1638, but was never formally created Prince of Wales. Charles’ mother was not happy with his appearance. She wrote in a letter: “He is so ugly. I am ashamed, but his size and fatness make up for what he lacks in beauty.”

Charles II as an infant in 1630; Credit – Wikipedia

Charles had eight siblings:

Charles with his siblings in 1637: Left to right: Mary, James, Charles, Elizabeth, and Anne; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1631, Charles was placed under the care of Mary Sackville, Countess of Dorset, whose husband Edward Sackville, 4th Earl of Dorset, was lord chamberlain to Queen Henrietta Maria. His education was overseen by William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle and Brian Duppa, Bishop of Winchester and then later by John Earle, Bishop of Salisbury. The philosopher Thomas Hobbes was Charles’ mathematics teacher.

Charles as Prince of Wales in 1642; Credit – Wikipedia

Charles was still young when the English Civil War broke out between his father King Charles I and the Parliamentarian and Puritan forces. He accompanied his father to the Battle of Edgehill in 1642 and participated in the campaigns of 1645 as commander of the royalist forces in the West Country. When the situation deteriorated in the spring of 1646, Charles was sent out of England, eventually settling in France, where his mother already lived in exile with his sister Henriette and where his young first cousin King Louis XIV was on the throne.

In 1648, Charles traveled to The Hague where he lived for a while with his sister Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange. While living in The Hague, Charles met his first known mistress Lucy Walter. Her son James, born on April 9, 1649, was immediately recognized by Charles as his son and later became James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth.

The execution of King Charles I on January 30, 1649, made Charles the de jure King. In 1650, he landed in Scotland and raised an army of 10,000 men. After being crowned King of Scots at Scone on January 1, 1651, Charles marched the army into England and suffered an overwhelming defeat at the Battle of Worcester.  After being a fugitive for six weeks, Charles escaped England and fled to France. Oliver Cromwell was declared Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland. England remained a Commonwealth and then a Protectorate until 1659.

Charles in exile, painted by Philippe de Champaigne, circa 1653; Credit – Wikipedia

During his years in exile, Charles, a de jure King, had no kingdom and therefore no income. He depended on the payments he received from his mother from the money she received from the French government. On September 3, 1658, Oliver Cromwell died. His son Richard Cromwell ruled only until April 1659 and there was a real possibility for the restoration of the monarchy. On May 1, 1660, Parliament formally invited Charles, as King Charles II, to be the English monarch in what has become known as the Restoration. On May 23, 1660, Charles landed at Dover, and on his 30th birthday, May 29, 1660, King Charles II entered London in a procession. Charles was crowned at Westminster Abbey on April 23, 1661, on the feast day of St. George, the patron saint of England.

Coronation portrait by John Michael Wright, circa 1661

Catherine of Braganza, the daughter of King João IV of Portugal, had first been suggested as a bride for Charles in 1645 during the reign of Charles’ father and again in 1660 when the monarchy was restored in England. There were rumors of Catherine’s inability to have children, but the newly restored King Charles II was eager to have the £300,000 dowry. The marriage contract was signed on June 23, 1661. Catherine set sail for England in April 1662 and landed at Portsmouth, England on May 13, 1662. On May 21, 1662, King Charles II and Catherine were married in Portsmouth twice, in a private Catholic ceremony and a public Anglican ceremony. Catherine’s Roman Catholicism made her an unpopular queen.

Catherine of Braganza; Credit – Wikipedia

Despite fathering many illegitimate children with his mistresses, Charles had no children with Catherine. It is thought that Catherine did have at least three miscarriages. Despite having many mistresses, Charles insisted that Catherine be treated with respect and sided with her over his mistresses when he felt she was not receiving the respect she was due. After an initial shock at being presented to Charles’ mistress right after her marriage, Catherine maintained a dignified attitude towards her husband’s mistresses and showed many acts of kindness to his illegitimate children. When it became apparent that Catherine would not produce an heir to the throne, it was suggested that Charles divorce his wife and marry a Protestant princess. Charles refused the suggestion.

King Charles II, Portrait by John Riley, c. 1680–1685; Credit – Wikipedia

On February 2, 1685, King Charles II suffered an apparent stroke and died four days later at the age of 54. Modern analysis of his symptoms seems to indicate he may have died from uremia, a symptom of kidney failure. While Charles was dying, Catherine was ill and sent a message begging his forgiveness for being unable to come to him. Charles replied to her, “Alas, poor woman, it is I who should be begging forgiveness.” Charles asked his brother James to look after his mistresses: “…be well to Portsmouth, and let not poor Nelly starve,” referring to Louise Renée de Penancoet de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth and Nell Gwyn. He also apologized to his courtiers: “I am sorry, gentlemen, for being such a time a-dying.” The night before his death, Charles converted to Roman Catholicism, although it is unclear that his level of consciousness allowed for a true commitment. On the morning of his death, February 6, 1685, Charles received the Last Rites of the Roman Catholic Church from Father John Huddleston. King Charles II was buried at Westminster Abbey using the Church of England rites. He was the last monarch to have an effigy carried at his funeral. The effigy is still displayed at Westminster Abbey.

Wax effigy of Charles II, Westminster Abbey Museum

Wax effigy of Charles II, Westminster Abbey Museum; Photo Credit – http://www.westminster-abbey.org

King Charles II left no legitimate offspring, but he left behind quite a number of illegitimate children, whom he ennobled and officially recognized.  Charles was succeeded by his younger brother King James II of England/King James VII of Scotland, who had converted to Catholicism and was unpopular.  James was the last Catholic King of England and was dethroned in 1688 during the Glorious Revolution.

King Charles II is an ancestor through his mistresses of many British aristocrats and of several women who married into the British Royal Family:

Illegitimate Children

by Lucy Walter

by Elizabeth Killigrew

by Catherine Pegge

by Barbara Palmer, Duchess of Cleveland (in her own right), wife of Roger Palmer, 1st Earl of Castlemaine

by Nell Gwyn

by Louise Renée de Penancoet de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth (in her own right)

by Mary ‘Moll’ Davis

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

House of Stuart Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Princess Frederica of Hanover, Queen of the Hellenes

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Embed from Getty Images 

Queen Frederica was the wife of King Paul of the Hellenes, and the mother of the last Greek king, Constantine II. She was born Princess Frederica Louisa Thyra Victoria Margareta Sophie Olga Cécilie Isabelle Christa of Hanover, on April 18, 1917, in Blankenburg am Harz, in the Duchy of Brunswick, now in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, the daughter of Prince Ernst August of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick, and Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia. Her father was the senior male-line descendant of King George III of the United Kingdom via his son Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover and Duke of Cumberland. Her mother was the only daughter of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

Frederica had four brothers:

Although known as Princess Frederica of Hanover, this was merely by courtesy. The Kingdom of Hanover ceased to exist after being annexed by Prussia in 1866. She was, however, a Duchess of Brunswick, as her father had been the reigning Duke of Brunswick since 1913. This title would also become merely a courtesy after her father was forced to abdicate in 1918. And to confuse things further, at the time of her birth she was also a British princess. In 1914, King George V of the United Kingdom issued Letters Patent granting the title of Prince/Princess of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with the style of Highness, to any children born to The Duke and Duchess of Brunswick. (You can read the Letters Patent here.)

Wedding of Paul and Frederica, 1938. source: Greek Royal Family

Wedding of Paul and Frederica, 1938. source: Greek Royal Family

While studying in Florence, Italy in 1935, Frederica began a romance with the future King Paul of the Hellenes. First cousins once removed, they had first met in 1927, and again in 1934 at the wedding of Princess Marina of Greece and Prince George, Duke of Kent. Paul soon asked her father for permission to marry, but the Duke of Brunswick refused, based on Frederica’s age. However, in 1936, while both were attending the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936, Paul proposed again and this time the answer was yes. Their engagement was formally announced on September 28, 1937, and the couple married at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens on January 8, 1938. They soon settled at a villa in the Psychiko district of Athens, and went on to have three children:

 

In 1941, the Greek royal family was evacuated to Crete and then forced to flee the German invasion. She and her children eventually settled in South Africa and then Egypt. They returned to Greece in September 1946, following a referendum to restore King George II to the throne. Just seven months later, on April 1, 1947, King George died and Paul became King of the Hellenes. As the country was in the midst of civil war, Queen Frederica set up a group of camps around Greece, to provide shelter, food, and education for orphans and needy children.

Following the war, Frederica and her husband traveled extensively, building support for the monarchy and promoting Greece. Despite this, there was always a faction against the monarchy, and Queen Frederica in particular. Her membership, as a child, in the Bund Deutscher Mädel (League of German Girls) – a branch of the Hitler Youth – made her a target of the anti-monarchists. In addition, she was known for publicly straying into politics, even campaigning against the election of Prime Minister Papagos in 1952. Many historians feel that Frederica’s foray into politics contributed to the instability of the monarchy. In 1974 when her son was campaigning for a restoration of the monarchy, he promised to keep his mother out of Greece and its politics.

On March 6, 1964, King Paul died of cancer and was succeeded by his son King Constantine II. Later that year, Constantine married Princess Anne Marie of Denmark, giving Greece a new Queen. Frederica stepped aside, allowing her new daughter-in-law to take center stage. However, she was accused in the media of being the ‘power behind the throne’. In response, the Dowager Queen relinquished her appanage from the State and retired from public life. While she remained active in family and social events, she stayed out of the official, and political, spotlight.

 

In 1967, the Greek Royal Family was once again forced to leave the country following a failed counter-coup led by King Constantine II. They settled in Rome, and Queen Frederica and her daughter Irene spent some time living in India. In later years, Frederica would divide her time between her son’s home in the United Kingdom and the home of her elder daughter Sofia in Spain.

On February 6, 1981, after undergoing cataract surgery in Madrid, Spain, Queen Frederica died from a massive heart attack. After receiving permission from the Greek government, she was buried beside her late husband in the Royal Cemetery at Tatoi Palace in Greece. Her son and his family were permitted to attend but had to leave immediately after the burial.

Grave of King Paul and Queen Frederica; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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Greece Resources at Unofficial Royalty

March 1916: Royalty and World War I

by Susan Flantzer

Lord Desmond FitzGerald

Lord Desmond FitzGerald; Photo Credit – www.illustratedfirstworldwar.com

Born on September 21, 1888, Lord Desmond FitzGerald was the second of the three sons of Gerald FitzGerald, 5th Duke of Leinster and Lady Hermione Duncombe, daughter of William Duncombe, 1st Earl of Feversham. He was born at Carton House in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland, the ancestral home of the Dukes of Leinster. The house remained in the FitzGerald family until the early 1920s when the 7th Duke of Leinster sold it to pay off his gambling debts.

Lord Desmond had an elder brother and a younger brother, and both became Duke of Leinster, a title in the Peerage of Ireland and the premier dukedom in that peerage.

Lord Desmond’s elder brother Maurice, who became the 6th Duke of Leinster in 1893 when he was six years old, spent his adult life in a psychiatric hospital, living in a villa on the hospital grounds and attended by a butler, from 1907 until his death in 1922.

Lord Desmond was educated at Eton College and then attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He passed out of Sandhurst to Irish Guards in February of 1909. He was promoted to Captain in 1913, and then in July of 1915 was promoted again to Major. He was been twice wounded in action, had been mentioned in dispatches, and was awarded the Military Cross.

According to an article in The New York Times, March 8, 1916, Lord Desmond “was experimenting with a new kind of bomb, when it exploded and a fragment struck him in the head. He was taken to a hospital and died an hour later.”

Author and poet Rudyard Kipling whose Irish Guard son John was killed in action, wrote in The Irish Guards in the Great War (chapter The Salient to The Somme): “On March 3, during practice with live bombs, one exploded prematurely, as several others of that type had done in other battalions, and Major Lord Desmond FitzGerald was so severely wounded that he died within an hour at the Millicent Sutherland (No. 9. Red Cross Hospital). Lieutenant T. E. G. Nugent was dangerously wounded at the same time through the liver, though he did not realise this at the time, and stayed coolly in charge of a party till help came. Lieutenant Hanbury, who was conducting the practice, was wounded in the hand and leg, and Father Lane-Fox lost an eye and some fingers.

Lord Desmond FitzGerald was buried in the public cemetery at Calais on the 5th. As he himself had expressly desired, there was no formal parade, but the whole Battalion, of which he was next for the command, lined the road to his grave. His passion and his loyalty had been given to the Battalion without thought of self, and among many sad things few are sadder than to see the record of his unceasing activities and care since he had been second in command cut across by the curt announcement of his death.”

cemetary_Desmond Fitzgerald

Calais Southern Cemetery in Pas de Calais, France where Lord Desmond FitzGerald was buried; Photo Credit – http://www.cwgc.org/

However, Lord Desmond’s story is not over. In 1922, when Maurice FitzGerald, 6th Duke of Leinster died, the youngest of the three brothers, Edward FitzGerald, became the 7th Duke of Leinster. The 7th Duke had a severe gambling addiction. He was bankrupted three times, in 1918, 1922 and again in 1936, and married four times. Unable to cope with his financial problems, the 7th Duke ended up living in a tiny one room flat in the Pimlico section of London. Distraught, depressed and penniless, he committed suicide in 1976. His son Gerald FitzGerald became 8th Duke of Leinster.

In 1976, when the 7th Duke died, a California artist and teacher, Leonard FitzGerald, claimed to be the rightful Duke of Leinster. He said his father was Lord Desmond FitzGerald, the second of three sons of Gerald FitzGerald, 5th Duke of Leinster, who was thought to have been killed in World War I. Leonard FitzGerald insisted that Lord Desmond, however, secretly emigrated to North America and lived there until his death in 1967, despite eyewitness accounts of Lord Desmond’s death and his burial at the cemetery in Calais, France. On the advice of his doctor, because of ill health, Leonard FitzGerald withdrew his claim. He died in 1994, but the claim was continued by his son Paul FitzGerald, who filed a suit with the British Department of Constitutional Affairs in 2006. However, Paul FitzGerald’s claim was eventually dismissed in 2007.
Canada.com: U.K. shoots down American’s claim to Irish dukedom

In 2010, DNA evidence was presented that indicates Paul FitzGerald is related to the wife of the 5th Duke of Leinster and the mother of Lord Desmond, born Lady Hermione Duncombe. This DNA evidence could pose a real legal challenge to the existing holder Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke of Leinster as it supports Paul FitzGerald’s theory that the ducal title has gone down the wrong branch of the family. However, at the time of this writing, there has been no further legal decisions.
The Scotsman: DNA test the latest twist in aristocratic tale of a cowboy, a gambler and a web of deceit

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Timeline: March 1, 1916 – March 31, 1916

March 1 – Germany resumes unrestricted submarine warfare
March 1–15 – Fifth Battle of the Isonzo on the Soča River, now in Slovenia
March 2 – August 4 – Battle of Bitlis in Bitlis Vilayet, Ottoman Empire (now in Turkey)
March 8 – Battle of Dujaila in Kut, now in Iraq
March 9 – Germany declares war on Portugal and Portugal officially enters the war
March 11–12 – Battle of Latema Nek in Latema-Reata Hills, British East Africa (now in Kenya and Uganda)
March 18 – Battle of Kahe in Kahe, German East Africa (now Burundi, Rwanda, and Tanzania)
March 18 – March 30 – Lake Naroch Offensive on Lake Narach, now in Belarus

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A Note About German Titles

Many German royals and nobles died in World War I. The German Empire consisted of 27 constituent states, most of them ruled by royal families. Scroll down to German Empire here to see what constituent states made up the German Empire.  The constituent states retained their own governments, but had limited sovereignty. Some had their own armies, but the military forces of the smaller ones were put under Prussian control. In wartime, armies of all the constituent states would be controlled by the Prussian Army and the combined forces were known as the Imperial German Army.  German titles may be used in Royals Who Died In Action below. Refer to Unofficial Royalty: Glossary of German Noble and Royal Titles.

24 British peers were also killed in World War I and they will be included in the list of those who died in action. In addition, more than 100 sons of peers also lost their lives, and those that can be verified will also be included.

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March 1916 – Royals/Nobles/Peers/Sons of Peers Who Died In Action

The list is in chronological order and does contain some who would be considered noble instead of royal. The links in the last bullet for each person is that person’s genealogical information from Leo’s Genealogics Website or to The Peerage website.  If a person has a Wikipedia page, their name will be linked to that page.

Lord Desmond FitzGerald
Major Lord Desmond FitzGerald

 

Hon. James Joicey
Captain The Honorable Sydney Joicey

Maximilian, Graf von Attems


Captain The Honorable Alfred Shaughnessy

King Paul I of the Hellenes

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2016

King Paul I of the Hellenes – source: Wikipedia

King Paul of the Hellenes reigned from April 1, 1947, until his death on March 6, 1964. He was born at Tatoi Palace on December 14, 1901, the youngest son of King Constantine I of the Hellenes and Princess Sophie of Prussia. He was a great-grandson of both King Christian IX of Denmark and Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Paul had five siblings:

Paul (front) with his parents and siblings, c.1908. (rear: Princess Irene, King Constantine I, future King George II; front: Queen Sophia, Princess Helen, future King Alexander). source: Wikipedia

As the third son, Paul was never expected to become king and therefore did not receive the extensive education given to his eldest brother George. He was educated primarily at home by several foreign tutors and Greek university professors. He also attended Saint Peter’s Preparatory School for Young Gentlemen, in Eastbourne, England, and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Plans to attend the Royal Naval Academy at Dartmouth were canceled due to the outbreak of World War I.

In 1917, King Constantine I was forced to relinquish the throne, and Paul’s older brother Alexander was chosen by the Greek government to succeed him. Paul accompanied his parents and siblings to Switzerland where they lived in exile. No longer able to join the British Royal Navy, it was arranged for Paul to join the Imperial German Navy. He studied at the German Imperial Naval Academy in Kiel, overseen by his maternal uncle Prince Heinrich of Prussia. In 1918, he returned to Switzerland following the fall of the German Empire.

Paul (far right) with members of his family, 1921. (l-r: Princess Irene, Queen Sophia, King Constantine I, Princess Helen, Crown Princess of Romania, Crown Prince Carol of Romania, Paul). source: Wikipedia

Following the death of his brother King Alexander in 1920, the Greek Government initially wanted Paul to succeed him on the Greek throne. Paul declined, citing the fact that his father and eldest brother were still living and both preceded him in the line of succession. Soon, a new government came to power and King Constantine I was restored to the throne. The family returned to Greece, and Paul joined the Hellenic Naval Academy, beginning his naval career with the Greek forces. After two years of studies, he was promoted to Lieutenant and served on the Greek cruiser, Elli.

Paul became Crown Prince on September 11, 1922, when his father was forced to abdicate, and his elder brother became King George II.  Still in the Greek Navy, Paul split his time between his naval duties and supporting his brother and the monarchy.

More turmoil was soon to come. Following the election of Eleftherios Venizelos as Prime Minister in the fall of 1923, King George II and the Greek royal family were asked to leave Greece while the new government decided on the future of the monarchy. Under the guise of an official visit to his wife’s family in Romania, King George II and his wife, accompanied by Crown Prince Paul, left Greece. Just months later, the monarchy was abolished and the Second Hellenic Republic was declared. Quickly tired of the Romanian royal court, Paul moved to Italy, living with his mother and younger sisters. He later moved to London where he worked for a year as an apprentice aircraft mechanic for Armstrong Siddeley using the name Paul Beck.

While living in the United Kingdom Paul fell in love with a commoner and wanted to marry her. However, he was dissuaded by his mother, who stressed the fact that he was likely to ascend the Greek throne and that a marriage to a commoner would further damage the future of the monarchy. This was his second failed relationship. He had previously proposed to his first cousin Princess Nina Georgievna of Russia, the daughter of Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia and Princess Marie of Greece, but she had turned him down.

In 1930, Paul accompanied a Danish friend on his private yacht for a cruise in the Aegean Sea. Despite being banned from entering Greece, he agreed to keep his identity secret to avoid any problems. After traveling along the French and Italian coasts, they arrived in Corfu at the beginning of August. He spent the next six weeks traveling around Greece, including visiting his former homes Mon Repos on Corfu, the Royal Palace of Athens, and Tatoi Palace. Although recognized by several former servants, Paul managed to remain anonymous and avoid any problems due to his presence in the country.

In 1935, the Greek monarchy was restored and Paul returned to Greece with his brother. He soon resumed his career with the Greek navy, as a Lieutenant Commander attached to the General Staff. He also returned to working with the Greek Scout Movement, of which he had served as chairman since the 1920s.

Wedding of Paul and Frederica, 1938.

Wedding of Paul and Frederica, 1938.

On January 8, 1938, at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens, Paul married his first cousin once removed, Princess Frederica of Hanover, Duchess of Brunswick. She was the daughter of Prince Ernst August of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick, and Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia, the only daughter of Wilhelm II, German Emperor. The two had first met in 1927 when Frederica was just ten years old, and then again in 1934 at the wedding of Paul’s cousin Princess Marina and Prince George, Duke of Kent. The following year, Paul was living in Italy when Frederica was studying in Florence, and the two began a romance. In 1936, while in Berlin to attend the Olympic games, Paul and Frederica became engaged, but the engagement was not formally announced until September 28, 1937. After their marriage, they settled at a villa in the Athens suburb of Psychiko, and would go on to have three children (in the photo below):

In 1941, German forces invaded Greece, and the royal family was once again forced to flee. Settling first in Crete, Paul soon traveled to London with his brother where they set up a government-in-exile. Meanwhile, his wife and children settled in South Africa before later moving to Egypt. Finally, Paul and his family returned to Greece in September 1946, and just months later, he ascended the Greek throne following the sudden death of his brother, King George II. The family moved to the Royal Palace in Athens and began restoring Tatoi Palace, which soon became their primary residence. Shortly after becoming King, Paul found his country in the midst of a civil war that would last until 1949. The country suffered more than it had during WWII, with over 10% of the population homeless, and more than 7,000 villages damaged or destroyed. King Paul worked tirelessly to promote reconciliation after the war, and in doing so brought about increased popularity and support for the monarchy.

In August 1954, King Paul and his wife hosted over 100 foreign royals on a cruise of the Mediterranean, Aegean, and Ionian Seas, aboard the ship Agamemnon. Officially, it was designed to promote tourism in Greece, as well as reuniting many of the royal families who had been separated by war. Read more about the Agamemnon Cruise here.

After a State Visit to the United Kingdom in July 1963, King Paul fell ill. He was later diagnosed with stomach cancer but put off having surgery until after the general election which saw the election of George Papandreou as Prime Minister. On February 20, 1964, the day after he swore in the new government, King Paul underwent surgery at Tatoi Palace, in a room that had been converted into an operating room. Sadly, he would never recover.

King Paul of the Hellenes died on March 6, 1964, at Tatoi Palace. His funeral was attended by many foreign royals, including King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, Prince Rainier III of Monaco, The Duke of Edinburgh, former King Umberto II of Italy, former Tsar Simeon II of Bulgaria, and the Count of Barcelona, as well as the First Lady of the United States Lady Bird Johnson, and former US President Harry Truman. King Paul was buried at the Royal Cemetery at Tatoi Palace and was succeeded by his son, King Constantine II, who would become the last King of the Hellenes.

Grave of King Paul and Queen Frederica; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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Aspasia Manos, Princess of Greece

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Aspasia-01

Aspasia Manos, Princess of Greece; Credit – Wikipedia

Aspasia Manos was the wife of King Alexander of the Hellenes. Born on September 4, 1896, in Athens, Greece to Colonel Petros Manos and Maria Argyropoulos, she grew up around the Greek royal family as her father was an aide to King Constantine I.

After her parents divorced, Aspasia left Greece to study in France and Switzerland. Upon returning, she became reacquainted with Prince Alexander, King Constantine I’s second son, who would later reign briefly as King. The two quickly began a romance, despite the unlikelihood of being able to marry due to their different ranks.

In June 1917, King Constantine I was forced to step down from the throne, and his son Alexander was appointed to replace him. With his family exiled in Switzerland, and subject to a Prime Minister who treated him as just a puppet king, Alexander had only Aspasia by his side. The relationship remained largely unknown to the public but was a source of contention within the Greek royal family and the Greek government. The Prime Minister was strongly against the idea of marriage, as he feared that marriage to a Greek citizen would bring about increased support for the monarchy. He, instead, hoped to arrange a marriage for Alexander to Princess Mary of the United Kingdom, to strengthen the relationship between the two countries. King Constantine I supported his son’s relationship, but before leaving Greece had made Alexander promise to wait until his return before marrying.

Despite the challenges from his family and the Prime Minister, Aspasia and Alexander married secretly on November 17, 1919. Aspasia and her mother moved into the Royal Palace in Athens but were soon forced to go abroad when news of the marriage became known. Several months later, Alexander was able to leave Greece and join his wife in Paris and soon the couple returned to Greece together. However, she was never given the title of Queen, instead, she was known simply as Madame Manos.

Alexander and Aspasia had one daughter:

Months later, on October 25, 1920, King Alexander died after contracting septicemia from a monkey bite several weeks earlier. Aspasia was four months pregnant at the time, and gave birth to their daughter, Alexandra, on March 21, 1921. After Alexander’s death, his father King Constantine I was restored to the throne. King Constantine I and his government treated Alexander’s reign as merely a regency, meaning that Alexander and Aspasia had not received the necessary permissions to marry and their marriage was void. However, at Queen Sophia’s urging, a law was passed allowing the King to approve the marriage retroactively. On September 12, 1922, King Constantine issued a decree recognizing the marriage of Alexander and Aspasia and legitimizing their daughter Alexandra. Aspasia was now Princess Alexander of Greece and Denmark. Despite this, her relationship with her husband’s family was not always easy. Her father-in-law remained distant, and her sister-in-law, Elisabeta of Romania, wife of Crown Prince George of Greece, despised her. However, others reached out to her, including Queen Sophia, Dowager Queen Olga, and Princess Andrew of Greece (the former Alice of Battenberg, and mother of the Duke of Edinburgh).

In the fall of 1922, King Constantine I was forced to abdicate in favor of Crown Prince George (King George II), and another coup in December 1923 again forced the Greek royal family into exile. When the Second Hellenic Republic was declared in March 1924, Aspasia and Alexandra were the only members of the Royal Family to remain in Greece. However, they left several months later, settling in Florence, Italy with Queen Sophia. Later, they moved to England, where they stayed with Sir James Horlick and his family in Ascot. With Horlick’s help, Aspasia purchased a property in Venice, Italy, known as the Garden of Eden (link in French) from a relative of Sir Anthony Eden, later Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The property, situated on a canal, consisted of a modest villa and a large garden.

Aspasia (seated) with her daughter Alexandra

Aspasia (seated) with her daughter Alexandra

Aspasia and her daughter remained in Venice after the monarchy was restored in 1935, making only occasional visits to Greece. However, after the outbreak of war between Italy and Greece in 1940, they quickly left Venice and returned to Athens, where Aspasia worked tirelessly with the Red Cross. The next year, they were forced to flee when the Germans invaded, traveling to Egypt and then South Africa. Aspasia was permitted to settle in the United Kingdom where she continued her work with the Red Cross. In the United Kingdom, Aspasia’s daughter Alexandta began a romance with King Peter II of Yugoslavia, and the couple was married on March 20, 1944.  Aspasia’s only grandchild  Crown Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia was born at Claridge’s Hotel in London, England the next year.

Aspasia soon returned to Venice and began rebuilding her home which had been partially destroyed during the war. During the remainder of her life, Aspasia often struggled financially, and she was once forced to leave her villa during the winter as she could not afford the heating bill. When necessary, she also sold furniture and other assets to pay her bills. Despite her financial situation, she often had her daughter and grandson living with her. Following the war, and the overthrow of the Yugoslavian monarchy, Alexandra and Peter’s marriage began to deteriorate. Limited income, his numerous affairs, his drinking, and Alexandra’s ill health and depression soon led the couple to separate, and Aspasia was instrumental in the raising of her grandson.

Aspasia’s tomb at Tatoi. source: Wikipedia

Aspasia’s tomb at Tatoi. source: Wikipedia

Aspasia lived to see her grandson’s marriage to Princess Maria da Glória of Orléans-Bragança, although she was too ill to attend. A month later, on August 7, 1972, Aspasia Manos, Princess Alexander of Greece and Denmark, died in Venice, just a month before her 76th birthday. She was buried in the Orthodox cemetery on the island of San Michele in Venice. In 1993, her remains were reinterred in the Royal Cemetery at Tatoi, Greece.

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King Alexander of the Hellenes

by Scott Mehl    © Unofficial Royalty 2016

King Alexander of the Hellenes; Credit – Wikipedia

Born on August 1, 1893, at Tatoi Palace near Athens, Greece, King Alexander was the second son of King Constantine I of the Hellenes and Princess Sophie of Prussia. He had five siblings:

Alexander with four of his siblings, c1904. (l-r) Helen, Irene (in the chair), George, Alexander, and Paul. source: Wikipedia

Raised at the Royal Palace in Athens and Tatoi Palace, Alexander was educated in Greece, attending the Hellenic Military Academy and serving with the Greek forces. He saw combat during the Balkan Wars, and joined his father at the head of the Army of Thessaly, capturing the city of Thessaloniki in 1912.

On June 11, 1917, Alexander’s father was forced to give up his throne, agreeing to go into exile but not officially abdicating. The Allies wanted Greece to remain a monarchy but felt that Crown Prince George was too pro-German, and bypassed him. Alexander was then chosen to replace his father on the Greek throne. He took the oath of loyalty in the ballroom of the Royal Palace that same day, in the presence of his father, elder brother, and the Prime Minister. Two days later, his parents and siblings left Greece and settled in Switzerland. Alexander would not see his family again.

King Alexander of the Hellenes (left) with King Alexander I of Yugoslavia, at the Macedonian Front, 1918. source: Wikipedia

Just days later, Alexander was forced to name Eleftherios Venizelos as Prime Minister. Venizelos, the leader of the Liberal Party, held all the power, and Alexander was basically a prisoner in his own palace, merely acting as a puppet king. His few public appearances were usually visits to the Greek troops, including a visit to the Macedonian Front in 1918.

The day after becoming King, Alexander disclosed his relationship with an old childhood friend, Aspasia Manos. She was the daughter of Petros Manos, who had served as Master of the Horse to his father. They had become reacquainted in 1915 and began a secret romance. With Greece at war, King Constantine insisted that his son wait until the war was over before considering a possible engagement. However, Alexander’s separation from his family only brought him  closer to Aspasia, and he decided to marry her. The Prime Minister was strongly against the idea, fearing that marriage to a native Greek would only bring about public support for the Greek Royal Family. Venizelos had hoped to arrange a marriage between Alexander and Princess Mary of the United Kingdom (daughter of King George V), which would help strengthen the relationship between the two countries. While there was little support at home, his father did support the match but wanted Alexander to wait.

Finally, after several failed attempts, Alexander and Aspasia were married secretly by a royal chaplain on November 17, 1919. When the Archbishop of Athens found out, the marriage became a major scandal. Under the terms of the constitution, permission from both the sovereign and the head of the Greek Orthodox Church was needed for any member of the royal family to marry.

At first, the marriage was kept secret, and Aspasia and her mother were permitted to move into the palace with Alexander. However, once it became public, she was forced to leave the country, eventually settling in Paris. Alexander was allowed to join her there under the guise of attending the Peace Conference and on the condition that she would not accompany him at any official functions.

Alexander and Aspasia, 1920. source: Wikipedia

Eventually, Alexander and Aspasia were permitted to return to Greece. The marriage was legalized but Aspasia would not be recognized as Queen. Settled in at Tatoi Palace, Aspasia was soon pregnant with the couple’s only child who was born five months after her father’s death:

One of Alexander’s last public appearances was in July 1920, when he visited the newly acquired territories of West Thrace. While there, the main town was renamed Alexandroupoli in his honor. Just a few months later, tragedy struck the Greek Royal Family. On October 2, 1920, King Alexander was bitten by a monkey while walking on the grounds of Tatoi Palace. Not thinking it was serious, he had the wound cleaned and dressed but it soon became infected. He soon developed septicemia and became delirious with a fever. Despite his pleas for his mother to be at his bedside, the government would not allow either of his parents to return to Greece. However, his grandmother Queen Olga was given permisson to come to Athens. King Alexander died on October 25, 1920, at the Royal Palace. Delayed by bad weather, Queen Olga did not arrive until two hours after his death.

Tomb of King Alexander. source: Wikipedia

King Alexander’s body lay in state at the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation in Athens, Greece until his funeral several days later. Queen Olga was the only member of the Greek royal family permitted to attend. Following the funeral, Alexander’s remains were interred at the Royal Cemetery at Tatoi. Interestingly, unlike the tombstones of his father and brothers, Alexander’s tombstone does not refer to him as King of the Hellenes. Because of the political circumstances that put him on the throne, none in the royal family considered his reign truly legitimate and treated it more like a regency. Alexander himself shared this feeling. His tombstone simply says ‘Alexander, son of the King of the Hellenes, Prince of Denmark.’

King Alexander’s death left the throne vacant, with the Greek Parliament wanting to pass the throne to another member of the Royal Family. The Parlament insisted that King Constantine and Crown Prince George be permanently banned from the line of succession. The throne was offered to Alexander’s younger brother Paul. However, Paul declined, pointing out that his father and elder brother were still living, and neither had renounced their rights to the throne. Just weeks later, new elections saw the defeat of Prime Minister Venizelos and the monarchists winning the majority. King Constantine was restored to the throne, and the new Prime Minister asked Queen Olga, already in Athens, to serve as Regent until King Constantine’s return to Greece.

Two years after Alexander’s death, his marriage was retroactively recognized by King Constantine I, and their daughter was legitimized. Both Aspasia and Alexandra were made Princesses of Greece and Denmark.

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Princess Elisabeta of Romania, Queen of the Hellenes

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Princess Elisabeta of Romania, Queen of the Hellenes; Credit: Wikipedia

Princess Elisabeta of Romania was the wife of King George II of the Hellenes from 1921 until 1935. She was born Elisabeta Charlotte Josephine Alexandra Victoria on October 12, 1894, at Peleş Castle in Romania, the eldest daughter of King Ferdinand I of Romania and Princess Marie of Edinburgh. Elisabeta had five siblings:

Elisabeta on her mother’s lap with her brother Carol, c1895. source: Wikipedia

Elisabeta was raised by her great-aunt (and namesake) Queen Elisabeth, the wife of King Carol I of Romania. As a child, she learned to play the piano and violin and quickly developed a talent for drawing and painting. Educated privately at home, she spoke several languages and furthered her skills in music and art. She also began her charitable work at a young age. Along with her sisters, Elisabeta often joined their mother in her nursing work during World War I. After the war, she spent a year studying art and music in Paris.

Queen Marie, Princess Elisabeta, and Princess Maria in Paris, 1919. source: Wikipedia

Elisabeta first met her future husband in 1911, when the Greek Royal Family had been invited to visit the Romanian Royal Family. Prince George (later King George II) was the son of King Constantine I of the Hellenes and Princess Sophie of Prussia. George and Elisabeta were second cousins through their mothers. During the visit, George proposed but Elisabeta declined. He proposed again in 1914 after the Balkan Wars but she again turned him down. The two maintained contact and George’s luck would soon improve. In early 1920, while traveling from France with her mother and sisters, they stopped in Switzerland where the Greek Royal Family was living in exile. George proposed again, and this time, Elisabeta accepted. The engagement was announced in October 1920 and they married on February 27, 1921, in Bucharest, Romania. By the time of the wedding, George’s father had been restored to the Greek throne. Elisabeta became the Crown Princess of Greece and the Duchess of Sparta. A week after their return to Greece, a second wedding took place in Athens. Elisabeta’s brother, Carol, married George’s sister, Princess Helen of Greece. Neither marriage would prove to be a happy one.

Elisabeta and George, 1921. source: Wikipedia

The Crown Princess found her new life in Greece to be very difficult. She did not speak the language and often felt snubbed by many in her husband’s family. The couple did not have their own home but lived with King Constantine and Queen Sophia. Trying to make the best of the situation, Elisabeta quickly set out to redecorate their apartments but soon found that there was little money to do so. The Greek Royal Family did not have the same financial resources to which she was accustomed, and her dowry was not much help.

Elisabeta began working with the Red Cross and indulging in her love of painting and gardening. She also worked hard to learn Greek hoping it would help her relationships with her new family. Soon she found herself pregnant, but suffered a miscarriage and then fell ill with typhoid. Having recovered, she returned to Romania in the fall of 1922 to attend her parents’ coronation. While there, Elisabeta learned that her father-in-law had abdicated in favor of her husband. She was now Queen of the Hellenes.

Days after her parents’ coronation, Elisabeta returned to Greece. However, she shunned the typical duties expected of a consort, preferring to spend time at Tatoi Palace where she could paint, play the piano, and spend hours working in the gardens she had designed there. Soon, it became likely that the Greek monarchy would be eliminated in favor of a Republic. Under the guise of an official visit to Romania, Elisabeta and her husband went into exile on December 19, 1923. They settled briefly at Cotroceni Palace before taking the lease on a small villa in Bucharest. Just months later, on March 25, 1924, King George II was formally deposed.

Soon, the couple began to grow apart. Elisabeta was happy to be back in her homeland, while George felt stifled at the Romanian court. He spent more time abroad, and by the early 1930s, was living permanently in London. Both had begun affairs and in 1935, Elisabeta filed for divorce in Bucharest, citing desertion as the grounds for divorce. The divorce was issued on July 6, 1935, and her former husband found out when he read about it in the newspaper. He had never been made aware of the proceedings.

 

Elisabeta then petitioned to have her Romanian citizenship restored (she had relinquished it upon her marriage). Through shrewd investments and the booming Romanian economy, she became financially well-off. In March of that year, she had purchased Banloc – a commune in western Romania made up of several villages where she lived at Banloc Castle. In Bucharest, the Elisabeta Palace was built for her in the mid-1390s. She also had a home in the village of Copăceni, outside of Bucharest. Elisabeta devoted much of her time to charity, working with many organizations to help children and those who were ill. At her own expense, she established a hospital and children’s home in Bucharest.

By 1944, Elisabeta had given up the Elisabeta Palace to her nephew King Mihai who moved his court there following the bombing of the Royal Palace in Bucharest. She spent her time at Banloc and Copăceni. It was there, on December 30, 1947, that King Mihai was forced to abdicate. Just days later, on January 4, 1948, the royal train carrying King Mihai, Queen Mother Helen, and Princess Ileana left Bucharest and traveled to Banloc, where Elisabeta joined them on their journey out of Romania. After staying briefly in Sigmaringen, Germany, and in Zurich, she eventually settled in Cannes, France where she leased an apartment and later taught piano lessons.

Princess Elisabeta of Romania, Queen of Greece, died in Cannes, France on November 15, 1956. She is buried at the Hedinger Church in Sigmaringen, Germany.

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King George II of the Hellenes

by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2016

King George II of Greece. source: Wikipedia

King George II of the Hellenes was the eldest son of King Constantine I and Princess Sophie of Prussia. He was born on July 19, 1890, at Tatoi Palace near Athens, Greece, and had five younger siblings:

At the time of his birth, George’s grandfather, King George I, was King of the Hellenes, and his father was Crown Prince. Through his mother, George was a grandson of Friedrich III, German Emperor and Victoria, Princess Royal, Queen Victoria’s eldest child.

Queen Sophia and King Constantine I with their five eldest children (l-r): Paul, Alexander, George, Helen, and Irene. c1911. source: Wikipedia

As a child, George and his family lived in a villa in Athens and enjoyed time at Tatoi Palace. The family also often traveled to England and spent part of their summers at Friedrichshof, George’s maternal grandmother’s home in Germany, as well as Corfu and Venice. His education was primarily military-based, attending the Hellenic Military Academy in Athens. At the age of 18, George continued his military training with the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Prussian Guard in Berlin, where he stayed for several years. He returned to Greece in October 1912 and fought with the 1st Greek Infantry during the Balkan Wars. All would change on March 18, 1913, when his grandfather was assassinated, and his father ascended to the Greek throne. George became Crown Prince and Duke of Sparta, the traditional title for the heir to the Greek throne, although rarely used within Greece.

In June 1917, George’s father was forced to relinquish the throne. While George was the Crown Prince and rightful heir, the government felt he was too ‘German’, having trained with the Prussian Guard, and because of his mother’s German roots. Instead, his younger brother Alexander was placed on the throne. George went into exile in Switzerland with his father and most of his family. King Alexander died on October 25, 1920, having contracted septicemia following a monkey bite, and soon after, King Constantine I was returned to the throne. George returned to Greece and served in the Greek forces during the Greco-Turkish War.

George and Elisabetha, 1921. source: Wikipedia

George married his second cousin Princess Elisabeta of Romania on February 27, 1921, in Bucharest, Romania. She was the daughter of King Ferdinand I of Romania and Princess Marie of Edinburgh, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. The couple became engaged in October 1920, after having known each other for many years. Coincidentally, at the formal engagement festivities, George’s sister Helen began her relationship with Elisabeta’s brother, Crown Prince Carol of Romania. The two became engaged the following month and married in Athens just two weeks after George and Elisabeta’s wedding. George and Elisabeta had no children, and would eventually divorce in 1935.

Following Greece’s loss in the Greco-Turkish War, an uprising of Greek military officers, known as the 11 September 1922 Revolution, took control of the government. The new military regime forced King Constantine I to abdicate, and George ascended to the throne on September 27, 1922, as King George II. Like his brother Alexander, George was a puppet king for the Revolutionary Committee and lived in constant fear.

On October 18, 1923, the Revolutionary government announced that elections would be held in mid-December to elect a National Assembly that would determine Greece’s future form of government. Just days later, a group of pro-royalist military officers attempted to stage a coup but were quickly defeated. Although not responsible for the coup, King George II was blamed for it, and there were public calls to abolish the monarchy.

Following the elections in December, George was asked to leave the country while the new government decided Greece’s fate. Under the guise of an official visit to his wife’s home country of Romania, George left Greece on December 19, 1923, with his wife and younger brother Paul. They lived for a few weeks in a wing of Cotroceni Palace, before taking a small villa in Bucharest. On March 25, 1924, Greece declared itself a Republic, and the monarchy was abolished. King George was stripped of his Greek citizenship, and all of his assets in the country were confiscated.

King George and Queen Elisabetha (on right) with the Romanian royal family, late 1920s, source: Wikipedia

George quickly grew disenchanted with his life at the Romanian court but found great comfort in the help and support of his mother-in-law Queen Marie who he wrote “was the only one to make life bearable” at the time. He soon began to travel, spending about half the year between visiting his mother in Florence and friends in London. In 1932, he moved permanently to London, taking a small suite of rooms at Brown’s Hotel in Mayfair. He was careful to avoid saying or doing anything that could be considered political, stating simply that he considered himself to be one of the Greek people, and should the country choose to bring him back to the throne, he would abide by their wishes.

George was close to the British royal family, and in 1934, attended the wedding of his cousin Princess Marina of Greece to Prince George, Duke of Kent. By this time, his marriage to Elisabetha had deteriorated, and she had undertaken several affairs. George, too, had begun an affair. In early 1935, he met Joyce Wallach, the wife of an aide to the Governor of India. Married with a young daughter, she soon divorced her husband, and the two enjoyed a very private relationship for the rest of George’s life. After returning to London, George was surprised to find out he was no longer married. Elisabetha had been granted a divorce in Bucharest, citing desertion as the grounds for divorce. In reality, she had already vowed not to return to Greece, and there was growing sentiment to restore the monarchy. The marriage was dissolved on July 6, 1935.

Embed from Getty Images 
George with his cousin Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent in 1946

Elisabeta was right. On November 3, 1935, a referendum resulted in an overwhelming majority supporting the restoration of the Greek monarchy. George and his brother Paul began making arrangements to return to Athens. After visits to France and Italy, they arrived in Greece on November 25, 1935. Although met with significant support, George found his country broken and needing reform. More changes in the government’s leadership led to the dissolution of the Hellenic Assembly and new elections to be held in January 1936. By April of that year, Ioannis Metaxas had become Prime Minister.

The further unrest led to a general strike planned for August 5, 1936. The day before the strike, Metaxas advised King George to dissolve the Assembly without calling for new elections, and to suspend parts of the constitution, basically allowing for a dictatorship. Facing increased political turmoil and the growing rise of communism, King George agreed and allowed for what became known as the 4th of August Regime under Prime Minister Metaxas. Once again, King George became a puppet king, but this time at least he had the support and respect of his Prime Minister.

Having little power and no formal role, King George began restoring the Royal Palace in Athens, which had been looted and left in disrepair. With no money provided, George undertook the project and the costs himself. Another project George undertook was to bring home the remains of his relatives buried elsewhere. In November 1936, George and his brother Paul traveled to Florence to retrieve the remains of their parents and grandmother Queen Olga. They were brought back to Greece and interred at the Royal Cemetery at Tatoi Palace. Four years later, he arranged for the remains of his aunt Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna of Russia to be returned to Greece, fulfilling a promise he had made to his grandmother many years before.

In April 1941, following the German occupation of Greece, King George and the government went into exile. The Greek Royal Family was evacuated to Egypt, but soon needed to find another place to live. George and his brother Paul moved to London, while Paul’s wife and children went to South Africa for the remainder of the war. The British government was not willing to allow Prince Paul’s wife, born Princess Frederica of Hanover, into the country. Paul eventually settled in Cairo, Egypt, where his government-in-exile had settled in 1943.

Despite George’s promise that following liberation he would restore the 1911 Constitution and hold elections within six months, many in Greece did not trust him and fought against his return. With the establishment of a rival Communist-led government, it was decided that a referendum would be held to determine the fate of the Greek monarchy. King George was forced to appoint the Archbishop of Athens as Regent. The archbishop quickly appointed a new government that was very anti-monarchy. George, frustrated and tired, leased a house in London, expecting to live the rest of his life in exile with his mistress. However, the following year, on September 1, 1946, a referendum was finally held, and the majority supported the return of the King. Several weeks later, King George II returned to a country rife with political uncertainty and facing economic collapse.

Tomb of King George II at Tatoi. source: Wikipedia, photo by krischnig

George’s return would be short-lived. His health declining, King George II of the Hellenes was found unconscious in his office at the Royal Palace in Athens, Greece, on April 1, 1947. Several hours later, it was announced that he had died of arteriosclerosis. Following a state funeral at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens, he was buried at the Royal Cemetery at Tatoi.

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Olga Konstantinovna of Russia, Queen of the Hellenes

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Olga Konstantinovna of Russia, Queen of the Hellenes; source: Wikipedia

Queen Olga of the Hellenes was born Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia, on September 3, 1851, at Pavlovsk Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. She was the elder daughter of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia (a son of Nicholas I, Emperor of all Russia) and Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg.

Olga had five siblings:

Olga (far right) with her mother and four of her siblings, c.1861. source: Wikipedia

Olga grew up at her father’s estates in St. Petersburg and the Crimea, as well as in Poland where her father served as Viceroy. She was educated privately at home.

Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna, c.1866. source: Wikipedia

In 1863, Olga first met her future husband who had just been elected King George I of the Hellenes. He was born Prince Vilhelm of Denmark, son of King Christian IX of Denmark and Princess Luise of Hesse-Kassel. The two met again four years later, and she quickly fell in love. The couple married in the Grand Church of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, on October 27, 1867. Just sixteen years old, Olga was now Queen of the Hellenes.

Over the next 20 years, Olga and George had eight children:

Being so young, Olga was unprepared for her new life as Queen, in a new country. She made efforts to earn the love and respect of the Greek people, wearing a dress of blue and white, the Greek national colors, for her arrival and quickly learning to speak Greek. Being used to the splendor of the Russian court, life in Greece was quite different and almost boring in comparison. However, Olga adjusted, was a very hands-on mother, and threw herself into charity work which she thoroughly enjoyed. From the moment she arrived in Greece, Olga took on several patronages previously held by the previous Queen Amalia. Particularly drawn to helping those in need, she worked tirelessly to improve conditions for the poor and orphaned. She also became the patron of several military hospitals and helped establish the Annunciation Hospital in Athens. Olga also built a Russian Hospital in Piraeus, which served Russian soldiers and other soldiers visiting Greece. During the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and the Balkan Wars, Olga established hospitals to serve the wounded and was awarded the Royal Red Cross by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom in December 1897. She also retained her love for Russia and often entertained Russian sailors at the Royal Palace.

Despite her charity work, Olga occasionally courted controversy in Greece. Realizing that many wounded soldiers could not read the Bible due to the archaic Greek in which it was written, she arranged for a new version to be published in Modern Greek. This was not authorized by the Greek Holy Synod and caused a huge uproar, with calls for the excommunication of anyone involved in the project, including Olga. By the end of the year, all remaining copies had been confiscated and no longer allowed to be circulated.

Queen Olga and King George, December 1912. source: Wikipedia

Olga’s husband, King George, was assassinated in Thessaloniki, Greece on March 18, 1913. Olga arrived in the city the next day to accompany her husband’s body back to Athens. She retained a wing of the Royal Palace in Athens but spent much of her time in Russia. When World War I began, Queen Olga was in Russia, where she established a hospital at Pavlovsk Palace to treat wounded soldiers.

Olga remained in Russia after the fall of the Russian monarchy in 1917.  Following the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks invaded Pavlovsk Palace but she remained unharmed.  Initially, the Bolsheviks refused to let her leave Russia, and at the time, Greece was in no position to offer any help.  Her son King Constantine I had been deposed and sent into exile, and his son Alexander had been chosen to replace him.  Finally, with help from the Danish government, Olga was able to leave Russia, traveling to join her family in Switzerland in 1919.

In October 1920, her grandson King Alexander developed septicemia from a monkey bite. Gravely ill, he called for his mother but the government would not permit Queen Sophie to return. However, it was negotiated that Queen Olga could travel to Athens to be at her grandson’s bedside. Sadly, she arrived just hours after Alexander died on October 25, 1920. The next several weeks saw significant changes in the political landscape of Greece. Prime Minister Venizelos was defeated in a general election just days after Alexander’s death. The following month, the new Prime Minister asked Queen Olga to serve as Regent. A referendum was held, in which her son, King Constantine I, was restored to the Greek throne. Queen Olga served as Regent until his return to Greece on December 19, 1920.

Queen Olga with her son Prince Christopher and his first wife on their wedding day, January 1, 1920. source: Wikipedia

In September 1922, following another coup, King Constantine I abdicated in favor of his eldest son and rightful heir King George II. Constantine and his family, along with Queen Olga, left the country and went into exile in Italy. King George II would only serve for 18 months before the monarchy was deposed. Unlike the other members of the Greek royal family, Queen Olga was held in very high esteem by the Greek people and was the only member of her family to be given a pension by the new government.

Queen Olga, painted by de László, 1914. source: Wikipedia

Queen Olga spent her remaining years in the United Kingdom, shuttling between the homes of her son Christopher and her daughter Marie, and the royal residences of the British Royal Family. Olga remained very close to her sister-in-law Queen Alexandra and was particularly close to her nephew King George V. After several years of ill health, Queen Olga died on June 18, 1926.

As a sign of respect, the Greek government offered to provide a lavish funeral and burial in Greece. Her children, however, declined the offer. Following a funeral at the Orthodox Church in Rome, Queen Olga’s remains were placed in the crypt of the Russian church in Florence, beside her son King Constantine I. In 1936, after the Greek monarchy was restored, Queen Olga was re-interred in the Royal Cemetery at Tatoi Palace.

Queen Olga’s grave in the Royal Cemetery at Tatoi Palace; Credit – Wikipedia

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