Paul of Greece

Paul, King of The Hellenes (Greek Παύλος, Βασιλεύς των Ελλήνων, 14 December 1901 – 6 March 1964) was King of Greece from 1947 to 1964.

Paul was born in Athens, the third son of Constantine I, King of the Hellenes (2 August 1868 – 11 January 1923) and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia (14 June 1870 – 13 January 1932). He was trained as a naval officer.On 9 January 1938, Paul married Frederika of Hanover at Athens. They had three children:
*Sophia, Queen of Spain (born 1938)
*Constantine II, King of the Hellenes (born 1940)
*Irene, Princess of Greece and Denmark (born 1942)

From 1917 to 1920, Paul lived in exile with his father, Constantine I. From 1923 to 1935, and again from 1941 to 1946, he lived in exile again, this time with his brother, George II. During most of World War II, when Greece was under German occupation, he was with the Greek government-in-exile in London and Cairo. From Cairo, he broadcast messages to the Greek people.

Reign

Paul returned to Greece in 1946. He succeeded to the throne in 1947, on the death of his brother, George II, during the Greek Civil War (between Greek Communists and the non-communist Greek government). In 1947 he was unable to attend the wedding of his first cousin, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh to the future Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom as he was suffering from typhoid fever. [Van der Kiste, John (1994). "Kings of the Hellenes". Stroud, Gloucestershire: Alan Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-0525-5 p.177]

By 1949 the Civil War was effectively over, with the communist insurgents ceasing the majority of their operations, and the task of rebuilding the shattered north of the country began. [Van der Kiste, p.179]

In the 1950s Greece recovered economically, and diplomatic and trade links were strengthened by Paul’s state visits abroad. He became the first Greek monarch to visit a Turkish Head of State. However, links with Britain became strained over Cyprus, where the majority Greek population favored union with the homeland, which Britain, as the colonial power, would not endorse. Eventually, Cyprus became an independent state in 1960. [Van der Kiste, p.180]

In December 1959 Prince Maximillian of Bavaria presented the coronation regalia of King Otto of Greece to the King. It had been almost 100 years since they were last in Greece.

Meanwhile, republican sentiment was growing in Greece. Both Paul and Frederika attracted criticism for their interference in politics, [Woodhouse, C.M. "Modern Greece: A Short History", Mackays of Chatham, Kent 1998, p.283, Clogg, Richard: "A Concise History of Greece", Cambridge University Press, 1992, p.153] frequent foreign travels, and the cost of maintaining the royal family. Paul responded by economising and donated his private estate at Polidendri to the state. [Van der Kiste, p.182–183]

In 1959 he had an operation for cataract, and in 1963 an emergency operation for appendicitis. In late February 1964 he underwent a further operation for stomach cancer, and died about a week later in Athens. [Van der Kiste, p.183-184] The Greek monarchy would only outlive him by nine years.

Ancestry

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1= 1. Paul, King of the Hellenes
2= 2. Constantine I, King of the Hellenes
3= 3. Princess Sophia of Prussia
4= 4. George I, King of the Hellenes
5= 5. Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia
6= 6. Frederick III, German Emperor
7= 7. Victoria, Princess Royal
8= 8. Christian IX of Denmark
9= 9. Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel)
10= 10. Grand Duke Konstantine Nicholaievich of Russia
11= 11. Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg
12= 12. William I, German Emperor
13= 13. Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar and Eisenach
14= 14. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
15= 15. Victoria of the United Kingdom
16= 16. Frederick William, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
17= 17. Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel)
18= 18. Prince William of Hesse
19= 19. Princess Louise Charlotte of Denmark
20= 20. Nicholas I of Russia
21= 21. Princess Charlotte of Prussia
22= 22. Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg
23= 23. Amelia of Württemberg
24= 24. Frederick William III of Prussia
25= 25. Duchess Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
26= 26. Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
27= 27. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia
28= 28. Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
29= 29. Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
30= 30. Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn
31= 31. Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

References

Infobox Monarch styles


royal name=King Paul I of The Hellenes
dipstyle=His Majesty
offstyle=Your Majesty
altstyle=Sir|