PHOTO: Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark (1939-2024)

On 28th July 2024, Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark died in Athens, Greece, at the age of 85. He was the last surviving grandchild of King George I of Greece (1845-1913) with a lineage to the House of Bourbon through his mother’s side of the family and the last surviving great-grandchild of King Christian IX of Denmark (1818-1906). In addition, he was a first cousin of numerous royals, including King Charles III of Great Britain.

Prince Michael was born on 7th January 1939, in Rome to Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark (1888-1940) and his second wife, Princess Françoise d’Orléans (1902-1953). His godparents were his two first cousins Queen Helen, Queen Mother of Romania (1896-1982) and King George II of Greece (1890-1947).

Sadly, he had a very traumatic childhood, his father died a year after his birth and his mother died in 1953. Before she passed away, Francoise d’Oreleans settled her son in Spanish Morocco, alongside her brother, the Orleanist claimant to the French throne, Henri of Orléans, (1908-1999) and his wife Princess Isabelle Murat and their family of 11 children. Prince Michael would live with his uncle Henri after the death of his mother, returning to Paris once the royal banishment laws had been overturned, and moving into the Manoir du Cœur Volant estate near Versailles.

Spending his young adulthood in Paris, he studied political science and then re-patriated to Greece for military duty, serving a term in the Hellenic Coast Guard, discharged with the rank of Sub-lieutenant.

Prince Michael inherited from his mother a half-interest in the domain of the Nouvion-en-Thiérache, once the seat of the Dukes of Guise, from whom the Bourbon-Orléans inherited the vast property, which included a grand château and a petit château, in Aisne. The Comte de Paris owned the other half of the Nouvion. He and Michael sold the grand château in 1980, while the petit château was sold in 1986.

Prince Michael grew up to become a  a renowned writer and historian under the pseudonym Michel De Grece. He penned several biographies about members of ruling dynasties, those about contemporaries often including accounts and anecdotes attributed to his royal relatives. 

He also authored novels about historical royalty, distinguished for meticulous detail. He was also the author of several richly illustrated pictorials, including The royal house of Greece (1988), Imperial Palaces of Russia (1992), Nicholas and Alexandra: The Family Albums (1992), and Jewels of the Tsars (2006).

His book on Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, was one of the first large format pictorials to be published on the last Tsar and his family. Featuring nearly 300 black and white photos from the State Archives of the Ryssuab Federaion (GARF), it remains a favourite among Romanophiles, and is highly sought after by collectors.

Michael married Marina Karella (born 17 July 1940) on 7th February 1965 in Athens. The marriage was held at the Royal Palace in Athens. This was a non-dynastic marriage, which obtained the legally required authorisation of King Constantine II (1940-2023) only after Michael renounced all rights of succession to the Greek throne for himself and his descendants. The couple had two daughters: Alexandra (b. 1968) and Olga (b. 1971).

Prince Michael died at a hospital in Athens, on 28th July 2024, at the age of 85. His funeral is to be held on 1st August 2024 at the Church of Saint Theodores in the First Cemetery of Athens, followed by burial in the Tatoi Royal Cemetery.

MEMORY ETERNAL

© Paul Gilbert. 31 July 2024