Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark, first cousin of the Duke of Edinburgh and second cousin of Queen Sofia, died this weekend on the age of 85, in a hospital in Athens, the place he shall be buried. Prince Michael was the
final surviving grandson of King George I of GreeceHe was additionally descended from the Home of Bourbon, on his mom’s aspect.
Nevertheless, Michael determined to be identified for extra than simply being a member of Greek royalty.
He renounced his succession rights in 1965.to marry the love of his life, Marina Karella, a painter and sculptor, and have become a prestigious historian beneath the identify of Michel de Gres. The wedding produced two daughters, Princess Olga of Savoy-Aosta and Princess Alexandra of Greece.
Michael, born in 1939 in Rome, was the one son of Prince Christopher of Greece, youthful brother of the Duke of Edinburgh’s father, and his second spouse, Princess Frances of Orleans.
His father died at solely 51 years outdated, in 1940.when he was barely one 12 months outdated, and his mom, in 1953, following a melancholy, leaving the prince orphaned at simply 14 years outdated, and within the custody of his uncle Henri d’Orléans, Depend of Paris.
Michael is said to the British, Danish, French, Spanish and Romanian royal households. The prince lived, through the World Warfare II exile, in Morocco, in Malaga, in Spain and eventually in Paris, earlier than returning to Greece, the place he turned an important assist for the royal household, Prince Paul, Queen Frederica and
her three youngsters, Princes Constantine, Sophia and Irene. Miguel additionally participated within the cruise organized by Queen Frederica in 1954 to unite the younger European royal heirs.
Army coup
Michael determined to check Political Science in Paris. He then did his army service in Greece, within the Hellenic Coast Guard. He was the one member of the Greek royal household to stay within the nation in 1967, when the army coup of the Colonels occurred and King Constantine, his nephew, needed to depart the nation along with his household and go into exile. Nevertheless, Michael had renounced his rights to the Greek throne to marry the well-known artist Marina Karella, in 1965, since he had been in Greece for a very long time.
It was a wedding with a commonerThat renunciation allowed him to dedicate himself to his ardour, Historical past, particularly that of Greece.
King Constantine and Anne-Marie of Greece, a really close-knit couple. / GTRES
It was his love story with
the painter and sculptor Marina Karella which made him highly regarded amongst his compatriots. The couple met in Amman, Jordan, via mutual pals at a celebration, and the prince was instantly fascinated by this younger artist, daughter of the Athenian industrialist Theodoros Karella. She had studied Superb Arts in Greece and Paris, one thing that introduced them collectively particularly since Michael’s mom was French and he had been educated on French soil.
Love at first sight
“It was love at first sight. I believed she was beautiful and he or she was very variety to me, seeing her was like a revelation,” the prince recalled in his memoirs. A couple of weeks later they turned engaged, however it took two years for Michael to acquire permission from the royal household, and
surrender his rights to the Greek throne to have the ability to marry a younger lady with out royal blood. Miguel at all times maintained that this renunciation gave him an important feeling of freedom and allowed him to decide on his personal life.
The marriage occurred on February 7, 1965.
on the Royal Palace of Athens and it was an important occasion, attended by the Greek royal household and the Countess of Paris, her grandmother.
Queen Sofia within the Eighties. / GTRES
The couple
settled in New York for greater than a decade after which in Paris, earlier than returning to Greece. The prince turned a well-known novelist, biographer and historian specialising in historic Greece, the Ottoman Empire and European royal households. He was an important traveller and an important beginner photographer.
The prince and his spouse had settled on the island of Patmos in Greece. “What does it imply to be a prince?” he requested in a latest interview. “It means being like everybody else, however being thought-about as somebody particular. I respect the previous, however I believe that royalty is of no curiosity, that it’s a relic.” In 2023, he revealed an illustrated autobiography, during which he revealed all the main points of a legendary previous, which, in accordance with him, not existed.
He devoted many novels to his ancestorsequivalent to ‘The Final Tsars’, ‘The Farewell Empress’ or ‘The Regent’.
