Paul ( el, Παύλος, ''Pávlos''; 14 December 1901 – 6 March 1964) was King of Greece from 1 April 1947 until his death in 1964. He was succeeded by his son, Constantine II. Paul was first cousin to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and father-in-law to

Juan Carlos I of Spain Juan Carlos I (;, * ca, Joan Carles I, * gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Novem ...

Early life

Paul was born on 14 December 1901 at the Tatoi Palace in

Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean S ...

north of

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, the third son of King Constantine I of Greece and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia. He trained as an army officer at the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...

and later at the

Hellenic Military Academy The Hellenic Army Academy ( el, Στρατιωτική Σχολή Ευελπίδων), commonly known as the Evelpidon, is a military academy. It is the Officer cadet school of the Greek Army and the oldest third-level educational institution in G ...

in Kypseli, Athens. Paul was an army officer cadet in the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

and Lieutenant with the Evzones. From 1917 to 1920, Paul lived in exile with his father, Constantine I. From 1923 to 1935, he lived in exile again in England, this time with his brother,

George II George II or 2 may refer to: People * George II of Antioch (seventh century AD) * George II of Armenia (late ninth century) * George II of Abkhazia (916–960) * Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051) * George II of Georgia (1072–1089) ...

. He worked briefly in an aircraft factory under an alias, and through Viscount Tredegar met and befriended notorious literary muse Denham Fouts, who later alleged an affair. Allegedly, Prince Paul of Greece alongside Denham Fouts visited a tattooist in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and had themselves identically marked—a small blue insignia above the heart. However, Fouts's friend John B. L. Goodwin said Fouts often made up stories about his life, and literary critic

Katherine Bucknell Katherine Bucknell (born 1957 in Saigon) is an American scholar and novelist who resides in England. Katherine Bucknell is the editor of W. H. Auden's ''Juvenilia'' and of three volumes of the diaries of Christopher Isherwood Christopher Wi ...

thought many of the tales about him were myths. To his family, he was known as ''Palo''.

Marriage and children

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-2003-1103-501, Berlin, Olympiade, Spyridon Louis, Kronprinz Paul

On 9 January 1938, Paul married Princess Frederica of Hanover, his first cousin once removed through Frederick III, German Emperor, and Victoria, Princess Royal, and second cousin through

Christian IX of Denmark Christian IX (8 April 181829 January 1906) was King of Denmark from 1863 until his death in 1906. From 1863 to 1864, he was concurrently Duke of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg. A younger son of Frederick William, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein- ...

, in Athens. They had three children: * Sophia, Queen of Spain (born 1938) * Constantine II, King of the Hellenes (born 1940) * Irene (born 1942)

World War II

During most of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, from 1941 to 1946, when Greece was under German occupation, Paul was with the Greek government-in-exile in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

. From Cairo, he broadcast messages to the Greek people.

Reign

Paul returned to Greece in 1946. He succeeded to the throne in 1947, upon the death of his childless elder brother, King

, during the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος}, ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom and ...

(between Greek

Communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

and the non-communist Greek government). In 1947 he was unable to attend the wedding of his

first cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...

, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh to the future Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom as he was suffering from

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

. 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. 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 Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

, where the majority Greek population favored union with Greece, which Britain, as the colonial power, would not endorse. Eventually, Cyprus became an independent state in 1960. In December 1959, Prince Maximillian of Bavaria presented King Otto's

coronation regalia Regalia is a Latin plurale tantum word that has different definitions. In one rare definition, it refers to the exclusive privileges of a sovereign. The word originally referred to the elaborate formal dress and dress accessories of a sovereign ...

to Paul. It had been almost a century since they were last in Greece. Meanwhile, republican sentiment was growing in Greece. Both Paul and Frederica attracted criticism for their interference in politics, 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. In 1959, he had an operation for a

cataract A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colors, blurry or double vision, halos around light, trouble ...

, and in 1963 an emergency operation for appendicitis. In late February 1964, he underwent a further operation for stomach cancer, and about a week later on 6 March 1964, King Paul I died in Athens. He was succeeded by his son, Constantine II.

Foreign Honours

* : ** Honorary Knight Grand Cross

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

- 1937 ** Honorary Admiral

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

- Feb 1953 ** Stranger Knight of the Order of the Garter - 1963

Legacy

In March 2014, a memorial service took place in the grounds of Tatoi Palace in Athens commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Paul's death. Members of the Greek and Spanish royal families were present.

Ancestry

Notes and sources

References

* Bucknell, Katherine (1996). '' Christopher Isherwood Diaries: Volume One 1939–1960'' London: Methuen. * Clarke, Gerald (1988). ''Capote: A Biography''. London: Hamish Hamilton. * Clogg, Richard (1992). ''A Concise History of Greece'', Cambridge University Press * Vanderbilt, Arthur (2014). ''Best-Kept Boy in the World: The Life and Loves of Denny Fouts''. Magnus Books * Van der Kiste, John (1994). ''Kings of the Hellenes''. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Alan Sutton Publishing. * Wishart, Michael (1977). ''High Diver''. Blond and Briggs * Woodhouse, C.M. (1998). ''Modern Greece: A Short History'', Mackays of Chatham, Kent *Μιχάλης Φύλλας, «Στιγμές από την ιστορία της σύγχρονης Ελληνικής θεολογίας. Ο βασιλιάς Παύλος και η «Ένωση Ελλήνων Θεολόγων», Σύναξη, τχ.156, (Οκτώβριος-Δεκέμβριος 2020), σελ.85-8

External links

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