Andrew of Greece
Andreas, Prince of Greece and Denmark (born January 20, jul. / 1. February 1882 greg. In Athens , † 3. December 1944 in Monte Carlo , Monaco ) was a member of the house House of Glücksburg , a branch line of the House of Oldenburg , and father of Philip, Duke of Edinburgh .
Life
Prince Andreas was the fourth son of eight children of the Greek King Georg I (1845-1913) and his wife, Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinowna Romanowa (1851-1926), daughter of the Russian Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolajewitsch Romanow and Princess Alexandra of Saxony-Altenburg . He was a great-grandson of Tsar Nicholas I and grandson of the Danish King Christian IX. , the "father-in-law of Europe". Andreas was fluent in Greek , German , English , Danish , Russian , French and Italian . The siblings spoke Greek among themselves, but English with their parents. He studied in Germany at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg .
On October 7, 1903 married Prince Andrew in Darmstadt Princess Alice of Battenberg (1885-1969), daughter of Louis Alexander of Battenberg (1854-1921) and his wife Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine (1863-1950), a granddaughter of Queen Victoria . The wedding in Darmstadt took place three times: first the civil wedding in the Altes Palais, then the Protestant wedding in the castle church and finally the orthodox one in the Russian chapel on the Mathildenhöhe . At first the couple lived in Athens and later in the Villa Mon Repos , the summer residence of the Greek royal family on the island of Corfu .
As a result of the lost Greco-Turkish War , a coup took place. Andrew's brother, King Constantine I of Greece , had to abdicate. Prince Andreas was demoted and banished on December 2, 1922 for insubordination and treason during the Turkey campaign . In contrast to the co-defendant Prime Minister Dimitrios Gounaris and high officers, Andreas escaped the death sentence because of the massive influence of the British crown.
After the military coup , the family went into exile together. His wife stayed with the children in Paris , while he - inclined to women and alcohol - moved into an apartment in Monaco with his long-time lover Andrée Countess de La Bigne. In the 1930s, his wife showed signs of schizophrenia , she lived in a dream world. Finally, under pressure from his brother-in-law, Louis Mountbatten , she was admitted to a psychiatric clinic in Switzerland because she was no longer able to distinguish between reality and appearance.
Prince Andreas died of a heart attack in 1944 and was buried in the Royal Cemetery of Tatoi .
progeny
The marriage to Princess Alice von Battenberg produced five children:
- Margarita (1905–1981) ⚭ 1931 Gottfried Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
- Theodora (1906–1969) ⚭ 1931 Berthold Margrave of Baden
- Cecilia (1911–1937) ⚭ 1931 Georg von Hessen (1906–1937), both died together in an aircraft accident
- Sophie (1914-2001)
- ⚭ 1930 Christoph Prinz von Hessen (1901–1943, military plane crash in Italy)
- ⚭ 1946 Georg Wilhelm Prince of Hanover (1915-2006)
- Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (* 1921) ⚭ 1947 Elizabeth II , Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
See also
literature
- Hugo Vickers: Alice, Princess Andrew of Greece. London: Hamish Hamilton (2000) ISBN 0-241-13686-5 .
- Philip Ziegler: Mountbatten. London: Collins (1985) ISBN 0-00-216543-0 .
Web links
- Wedding in Darmstadt 1903 ( Memento from June 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- Prince Andrew Mountbatten of Greece and Denmark
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Andrew of Greece |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Andreas, Prince of Greece and Denmark |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Prince of Greece |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 1, 1882 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Athens |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 3, 1944 |
| Place of death | Monte Carlo , Monaco |