Catherine of Greece

Catherine of Greece

Catherine of Greece and Denmark, Lady Brandram (April born 21 ^jul. / 4. May  1913 ^greg. In Athens , † 2. October 2007 in London ) was a Greek princess, she was the sixth and youngest child of King Constantine I. and his wife Sophie of Prussia . She was the last surviving great-granddaughter of Britain's Queen Victoria .

Dynastic relationships

As the daughter of the Greek Queen Sophie, she was also the granddaughter of Empress Friedrich and the great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria . In addition, all of her five siblings were monarchs: Her three brothers Alexander , George II and Paul were kings of Greece one after the other, her sister Helena became queen of Romania and her second sister Irene was briefly titular queen of Croatia. She was the aunt of the last Greek King Constantine II , the last Romanian King Michael , the last Yugoslav Queen Alexandra and the Spanish Queen Sophia . She was the 1st cousin of Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh .

Life as a Greek princess

Katharina as a four year old

Catherine was born in the Royal Palace of Athens just weeks after her grandfather, King George I , was murdered. When she was baptized, she became the godchild of all members of the Greek army and navy . Her father abdicated in 1917, her brother Alexander succeeded him as king. Katharina went into exile with her parents in Switzerland. After Alexander's death in 1920, her father was reinstated and returned to Greece. Two years later he abdicated again and this time the family went to Sicily, where their father died a year later. They now moved to Florence. Her brother George II had ruled as the Greek king since 1922 , but was overthrown in 1924. Catherine began painting in Florence, was raised by English governesses and also spent a few years in English schools. After her mother's death in 1932, she lived in the Florentine Villa Sparta with her sister Helena. In 1934 she was together with the future British Queen Elizabeth II. Bridesmaid of her cousin Marina von Kent in Westminster Abbey.

In 1935 the monarchy was reinstated in Greece and her brother George II became king again. Katharina returned to Greece. During the Second World War she was with the Greek Red Cross, in 1941 she fled together with her brother Paul, his wife Friederike and their children as well as her sister-in-law Aspasia with her daughter Alexandra on an airplane to South Africa, where she continued to serve as a nurse in Cape Town. The family lived in a five-room bungalow and cooked themselves. In 1946 they returned to England via Egypt on the SS Ascania. On board she met Major Richard Brandram (August 5, 1911 - April 5, 1994), an officer in the Royal British Artillery.

Marriage and life after their marriage

Catherine of Greece (1934)

Three years after her arrival in England she got engaged in secret to Richard Brandram, on April 21, 1947 the wedding (Anglican and Orthodox) took place in the Royal Palace of Athens. Her brother Georg died only three weeks before the wedding, her brother Paul succeeded him as king. Katharina accompanied her husband to his army post in Baghdad. Three years later the couple moved to England, first to Eaton Square and later to Marlow. The British King George VI. allowed her to call herself "Lady Brandram" and gave her the status of a duke's daughter. However, she retained the title of "Princess of Greece and Denmark" in Greece. On April 1, 1948, the couple's only child, Richard Paul George Andrew Brandram, was born.

In 1994 her husband Richard died and Katharina spent the last years of her life in seclusion, being looked after by a nurse. Her last public appearances were at the wedding of the Greek Crown Prince Paul in 1995, where she appeared in a wheelchair, and at the 80th birthday of her cousin Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, in 2001. After the death of Infanta Beatrice of Spain in In 2002 she was the last surviving great-granddaughter of the British Queen Victoria.

Princess Catherine was buried in the Royal Cemetery of Tatoi . The Greek royal family, the Spanish royal couple and Crown Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia were present at their funeral .

Web links

Commons : Catherine of Greece  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Obituary (English)