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King Alexander of the Hellenes

by Scott Mehl    © Unofficial Royalty 2016

King Alexander of the Hellenes; Credit – Wikipedia

Born on August 1, 1893, at Tatoi Palace near Athens, Greece, King Alexander was the second son of King Constantine I of the Hellenes and Princess Sophie of Prussia. He had five siblings:

Alexander with four of his siblings, c1904. (l-r) Helen, Irene (in the chair), George, Alexander, and Paul. source: Wikipedia

Raised at the Royal Palace in Athens and Tatoi Palace, Alexander was educated in Greece, attending the Hellenic Military Academy and serving with the Greek forces. He saw combat during the Balkan Wars, and joined his father at the head of the Army of Thessaly, capturing the city of Thessaloniki in 1912.

On June 11, 1917, Alexander’s father was forced to give up his throne, agreeing to go into exile but not officially abdicating. The Allies wanted Greece to remain a monarchy but felt that Crown Prince George was too pro-German, and bypassed him. Alexander was then chosen to replace his father on the Greek throne. He took the oath of loyalty in the ballroom of the Royal Palace that same day, in the presence of his father, elder brother, and the Prime Minister. Two days later, his parents and siblings left Greece and settled in Switzerland. Alexander would not see his family again.

King Alexander of the Hellenes (left) with King Alexander I of Yugoslavia, at the Macedonian Front, 1918. source: Wikipedia

Just days later, Alexander was forced to name Eleftherios Venizelos as Prime Minister. Venizelos, the leader of the Liberal Party, held all the power, and Alexander was basically a prisoner in his own palace, merely acting as a puppet king. His few public appearances were usually visits to the Greek troops, including a visit to the Macedonian Front in 1918.

The day after becoming King, Alexander disclosed his relationship with an old childhood friend, Aspasia Manos. She was the daughter of Petros Manos, who had served as Master of the Horse to his father. They had become reacquainted in 1915 and began a secret romance. With Greece at war, King Constantine insisted that his son wait until the war was over before considering a possible engagement. However, Alexander’s separation from his family only brought him  closer to Aspasia, and he decided to marry her. The Prime Minister was strongly against the idea, fearing that marriage to a native Greek would only bring about public support for the Greek Royal Family. Venizelos had hoped to arrange a marriage between Alexander and Princess Mary of the United Kingdom (daughter of King George V), which would help strengthen the relationship between the two countries. While there was little support at home, his father did support the match but wanted Alexander to wait.

Finally, after several failed attempts, Alexander and Aspasia were married secretly by a royal chaplain on November 17, 1919. When the Archbishop of Athens found out, the marriage became a major scandal. Under the terms of the constitution, permission from both the sovereign and the head of the Greek Orthodox Church was needed for any member of the royal family to marry.

At first, the marriage was kept secret, and Aspasia and her mother were permitted to move into the palace with Alexander. However, once it became public, she was forced to leave the country, eventually settling in Paris. Alexander was allowed to join her there under the guise of attending the Peace Conference and on the condition that she would not accompany him at any official functions.

Alexander and Aspasia, 1920. source: Wikipedia

Eventually, Alexander and Aspasia were permitted to return to Greece. The marriage was legalized but Aspasia would not be recognized as Queen. Settled in at Tatoi Palace, Aspasia was soon pregnant with the couple’s only child who was born five months after her father’s death:

One of Alexander’s last public appearances was in July 1920, when he visited the newly acquired territories of West Thrace. While there, the main town was renamed Alexandroupoli in his honor. Just a few months later, tragedy struck the Greek Royal Family. On October 2, 1920, King Alexander was bitten by a monkey while walking on the grounds of Tatoi Palace. Not thinking it was serious, he had the wound cleaned and dressed but it soon became infected. He soon developed septicemia and became delirious with a fever. Despite his pleas for his mother to be at his bedside, the government would not allow either of his parents to return to Greece. However, his grandmother Queen Olga was given permisson to come to Athens. King Alexander died on October 25, 1920, at the Royal Palace. Delayed by bad weather, Queen Olga did not arrive until two hours after his death.

Tomb of King Alexander. source: Wikipedia

King Alexander’s body lay in state at the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation in Athens, Greece until his funeral several days later. Queen Olga was the only member of the Greek royal family permitted to attend. Following the funeral, Alexander’s remains were interred at the Royal Cemetery at Tatoi. Interestingly, unlike the tombstones of his father and brothers, Alexander’s tombstone does not refer to him as King of the Hellenes. Because of the political circumstances that put him on the throne, none in the royal family considered his reign truly legitimate and treated it more like a regency. Alexander himself shared this feeling. His tombstone simply says ‘Alexander, son of the King of the Hellenes, Prince of Denmark.’

King Alexander’s death left the throne vacant, with the Greek Parliament wanting to pass the throne to another member of the Royal Family. The Parlament insisted that King Constantine and Crown Prince George be permanently banned from the line of succession. The throne was offered to Alexander’s younger brother Paul. However, Paul declined, pointing out that his father and elder brother were still living, and neither had renounced their rights to the throne. Just weeks later, new elections saw the defeat of Prime Minister Venizelos and the monarchists winning the majority. King Constantine was restored to the throne, and the new Prime Minister asked Queen Olga, already in Athens, to serve as Regent until King Constantine’s return to Greece.

Two years after Alexander’s death, his marriage was retroactively recognized by King Constantine I, and their daughter was legitimized. Both Aspasia and Alexandra were made Princesses of Greece and Denmark.

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Princess Elisabeta of Romania, Queen of the Hellenes

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Princess Elisabeta of Romania, Queen of the Hellenes; Credit: Wikipedia

Princess Elisabeta of Romania was the wife of King George II of the Hellenes from 1921 until 1935. She was born Elisabeta Charlotte Josephine Alexandra Victoria on October 12, 1894, at Peleş Castle in Romania, the eldest daughter of King Ferdinand I of Romania and Princess Marie of Edinburgh. Elisabeta had five siblings:

Elisabeta on her mother’s lap with her brother Carol, c1895. source: Wikipedia

Elisabeta was raised by her great-aunt (and namesake) Queen Elisabeth, the wife of King Carol I of Romania. As a child, she learned to play the piano and violin and quickly developed a talent for drawing and painting. Educated privately at home, she spoke several languages and furthered her skills in music and art. She also began her charitable work at a young age. Along with her sisters, Elisabeta often joined their mother in her nursing work during World War I. After the war, she spent a year studying art and music in Paris.

Queen Marie, Princess Elisabeta, and Princess Maria in Paris, 1919. source: Wikipedia

Elisabeta first met her future husband in 1911, when the Greek Royal Family had been invited to visit the Romanian Royal Family. Prince George (later King George II) was the son of King Constantine I of the Hellenes and Princess Sophie of Prussia. George and Elisabeta were second cousins through their mothers. During the visit, George proposed but Elisabeta declined. He proposed again in 1914 after the Balkan Wars but she again turned him down. The two maintained contact and George’s luck would soon improve. In early 1920, while traveling from France with her mother and sisters, they stopped in Switzerland where the Greek Royal Family was living in exile. George proposed again, and this time, Elisabeta accepted. The engagement was announced in October 1920 and they married on February 27, 1921, in Bucharest, Romania. By the time of the wedding, George’s father had been restored to the Greek throne. Elisabeta became the Crown Princess of Greece and the Duchess of Sparta. A week after their return to Greece, a second wedding took place in Athens. Elisabeta’s brother, Carol, married George’s sister, Princess Helen of Greece. Neither marriage would prove to be a happy one.

Elisabeta and George, 1921. source: Wikipedia

The Crown Princess found her new life in Greece to be very difficult. She did not speak the language and often felt snubbed by many in her husband’s family. The couple did not have their own home but lived with King Constantine and Queen Sophia. Trying to make the best of the situation, Elisabeta quickly set out to redecorate their apartments but soon found that there was little money to do so. The Greek Royal Family did not have the same financial resources to which she was accustomed, and her dowry was not much help.

Elisabeta began working with the Red Cross and indulging in her love of painting and gardening. She also worked hard to learn Greek hoping it would help her relationships with her new family. Soon she found herself pregnant, but suffered a miscarriage and then fell ill with typhoid. Having recovered, she returned to Romania in the fall of 1922 to attend her parents’ coronation. While there, Elisabeta learned that her father-in-law had abdicated in favor of her husband. She was now Queen of the Hellenes.

Days after her parents’ coronation, Elisabeta returned to Greece. However, she shunned the typical duties expected of a consort, preferring to spend time at Tatoi Palace where she could paint, play the piano, and spend hours working in the gardens she had designed there. Soon, it became likely that the Greek monarchy would be eliminated in favor of a Republic. Under the guise of an official visit to Romania, Elisabeta and her husband went into exile on December 19, 1923. They settled briefly at Cotroceni Palace before taking the lease on a small villa in Bucharest. Just months later, on March 25, 1924, King George II was formally deposed.

Soon, the couple began to grow apart. Elisabeta was happy to be back in her homeland, while George felt stifled at the Romanian court. He spent more time abroad, and by the early 1930s, was living permanently in London. Both had begun affairs and in 1935, Elisabeta filed for divorce in Bucharest, citing desertion as the grounds for divorce. The divorce was issued on July 6, 1935, and her former husband found out when he read about it in the newspaper. He had never been made aware of the proceedings.

 

Elisabeta then petitioned to have her Romanian citizenship restored (she had relinquished it upon her marriage). Through shrewd investments and the booming Romanian economy, she became financially well-off. In March of that year, she had purchased Banloc – a commune in western Romania made up of several villages where she lived at Banloc Castle. In Bucharest, the Elisabeta Palace was built for her in the mid-1390s. She also had a home in the village of Copăceni, outside of Bucharest. Elisabeta devoted much of her time to charity, working with many organizations to help children and those who were ill. At her own expense, she established a hospital and children’s home in Bucharest.

By 1944, Elisabeta had given up the Elisabeta Palace to her nephew King Mihai who moved his court there following the bombing of the Royal Palace in Bucharest. She spent her time at Banloc and Copăceni. It was there, on December 30, 1947, that King Mihai was forced to abdicate. Just days later, on January 4, 1948, the royal train carrying King Mihai, Queen Mother Helen, and Princess Ileana left Bucharest and traveled to Banloc, where Elisabeta joined them on their journey out of Romania. After staying briefly in Sigmaringen, Germany, and in Zurich, she eventually settled in Cannes, France where she leased an apartment and later taught piano lessons.

Princess Elisabeta of Romania, Queen of Greece, died in Cannes, France on November 15, 1956. She is buried at the Hedinger Church in Sigmaringen, Germany.

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King George II of the Hellenes

by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2016

King George II of Greece. source: Wikipedia

King George II of the Hellenes was the eldest son of King Constantine I and Princess Sophie of Prussia. He was born on July 19, 1890, at Tatoi Palace near Athens, Greece, and had five younger siblings:

At the time of his birth, George’s grandfather King George I was King of the Hellenes and his father was Crown Prince. Through his mother, he was a grandson of Friedrich III, German Emperor and Victoria, Princess Royal.

Queen Sophia and King Constantine I with their five eldest children (l-r): Paul, Alexander, George, Helen, and Irene. c1911. source: Wikipedia

As a child, George and his family lived in a villa in Athens and enjoyed time at Tatoi Palace. They also often traveled to England and spent part of their summers at Friedrichshof, his maternal grandmother’s home in Germany, as well as Corfu and Venice. His education was primarily military-based, attending the Hellenic Military Academy in Athens. At the age of 18, George continued his military training with the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Prussian Guard in Berlin, where he stayed for several years. He returned to Greece in October 1912 and fought with the 1st Greek Infantry during the Balkan Wars. All would change on March 18, 1913, when his grandfather was assassinated, and his father ascended to the Greek throne. George became Crown Prince and Duke of Sparta, the traditional title for the heir to the Greek throne, although rarely used within Greece.

In June 1917, George’s father was forced to relinquish the throne. While George was the Crown Prince and rightful heir, the government felt he was too ‘German’, having trained with the Prussian Guard, and because of his mother’s German roots. Instead, his younger brother Alexander was placed on the throne. George went into exile in Switzerland with his father and most of his family. King Alexander died on October 25, 1920, having contracted septicemia following a monkey bite, and soon after, King Constantine I was returned to the throne. George returned to Greece and served in the Greek forces during the Greco-Turkish War.

George and Elisabetha, 1921. source: Wikipedia

George married his second cousin Princess Elisabeta of Romania on February 27, 1921, in Bucharest, Romania. She was the daughter of King Ferdinand I of Romania and Princess Marie of Edinburgh, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. The couple became engaged in October 1920, after having known each other for many years. Coincidentally, it was at the formal engagement festivities that George’s sister Helen began her relationship with Elisabeta’s brother Crown Prince Carol of Romania. The two became engaged the following month and married in Athens just two weeks after George and Elisabeta’s wedding. George and Elisabeta had no children, and would eventually divorce in 1935.

Following Greece’s loss in the Greco-Turkish War, an uprising of Greek military officers, known as the 11 September 1922 Revolution, took control of the government. The new military regime forced King Constantine I to abdicate, and George ascended to the throne on September 27, 1922, as King George II. Like his brother Alexander, George was a puppet king for the Revolutionary Committee and lived in constant fear.

On October 18, 1923, the Revolutionary government announced that elections would be held in mid-December to elect a National Assembly that would determine Greece’s future form of government. Just days later, a group of pro-royalist military officers attempted to stage a coup but were quickly defeated. Although not responsible for the coup, King George II was blamed for it, and there were public calls to abolish the monarchy.

Following the elections in December, George was asked to leave the country while the new government decided Greece’s fate. Under the guise of an official visit to his wife’s home country of Romania, George left Greece on December 19, 1923, with his wife and younger brother Paul. They lived for a few weeks in a wing of Cotroceni Palace, before taking a small villa in Bucharest. On March 25, 1924, Greece declared itself a Republic, and the monarchy was abolished. King George was stripped of his Greek citizenship and all of his assets in the country were confiscated.

King George and Queen Elisabetha (on right) with the Romanian royal family, late 1920s. source: Wikipedia

George quickly grew disenchanted with his life at the Romanian court but found great comfort in the help and support of his mother-in-law Queen Marie who he wrote “was the only one to make life bearable” at the time. He soon began to travel, spending about half the year between visiting his mother in Florence, and friends in London. In 1932, he moved permanently to London, taking a small suite of rooms at Brown’s Hotel in Mayfair. He was careful to avoid saying or doing anything that could be considered political, stating simply that he considered himself to be one of the Greek people, and should the country choose to bring him back to the throne, he would abide by their wishes.

George was close with the British royal family, and in 1934, attended the wedding of his cousin Princess Marina to Prince George, Duke of Kent. By this time, his marriage to Elisabetha had deteriorated, and she had undertaken several affairs. George, too, had begun an affair. In early 1935, he met Joyce Wallach, the wife of an aide to the Governor of India. Married with a young daughter, she soon divorced her husband, and the two enjoyed a very private relationship for the rest of George’s life. After returning to London, George was surprised to find out he was no longer married. Elisabetha had been granted a divorce in Bucharest, citing desertion as the grounds for divorce. In reality, she had already vowed not to return to Greece and there was growing sentiment to restore the monarchy. The marriage was dissolved on July 6, 1935.

Embed from Getty Images 
George with his cousin Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent in 1946

Elisabeta was right. On November 3, 1935, a referendum resulted in an overwhelming majority supporting the restoration of the Greek monarchy. George and his brother Paul began making arrangements to return to Athens. After visits to France and Italy, they arrived in Greece on November 25, 1935. Although met with significant support, George found his country broken and needing reform. More changes in the government’s leadership led to the dissolution of the Hellenic Assembly and new elections to be held in January 1936. By April of that year, Ioannis Metaxas had become Prime Minister.

The further unrest led to a general strike planned for August 5, 1936. The day before the strike, Metaxas advised King George to dissolve the Assembly without calling for new elections, and to suspend parts of the constitution, basically allowing for a dictatorship. Facing increased political turmoil and the growing rise of communism, King George agreed and allowed for what became known as the 4th of August Regime under Prime Minister Metaxas. Once again, King George became a puppet king, but this time at least he had the support and respect of his Prime Minister.

Having little power and no formal role, King George began restoring the Royal Palace in Athens, which had been looted and left in disrepair. With no money provided, George undertook the project and the costs himself. Another project George undertook was to bring home the remains of his relatives buried elsewhere. In November 1936, George and his brother Paul traveled to Florence to retrieve the remains of their parents and grandmother Queen Olga. They were brought back to Greece and interred at the Royal Cemetery at Tatoi Palace. Four years later, he arranged for the remains of his aunt Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna of Russia to be returned to Greece, fulfilling a promise he had made to his grandmother many years before.

In April 1941, following the German occupation of Greece, King George and the government went into exile. The Greek Royal Family was evacuated to Egypt but soon needed to find another place to live. George and his brother Paul moved to London, while Paul’s wife and children went to South Africa for the remainder of the war. The British government was not willing to allow Prince Paul’s wife, born Princess Frederica of Hanover, into the country. He eventually settled in Cairo, Egypt where his government-in-exile had settled in 1943.

Despite George’s promise that following liberation he would restore the 1911 Constitution and hold elections within six months, many in Greece did not trust him and fought against his return. With the establishment of a rival Communist-led government, it was decided that a referendum would be held to determine the fate of the Greek monarchy. King George was forced to appoint the Archbishop of Athens as Regent. The archbishop quickly appointed a new government that was very anti-monarchy. George, frustrated and tired, leased a house in London, expecting to live the rest of his life in exile with his mistress. However, the following year on September 1, 1946, a referendum was finally held, and the majority supported the return of the King. Several weeks later, King George II returned to a country rife with political uncertainty and facing economic collapse.

Tomb of King George II at Tatoi. source: Wikipedia, photo by krischnig

George’s return would be short-lived. His health declining, King George II of the Hellenes was found unconscious in his office at the Royal Palace in Athens, Greece on April 1, 1947. Several hours later, it was announced that he had died of arteriosclerosis. Following a state funeral at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens, he was buried at the Royal Cemetery at Tatoi.

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Olga Konstantinovna of Russia, Queen of the Hellenes

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Olga Konstantinovna of Russia, Queen of the Hellenes; source: Wikipedia

Queen Olga of the Hellenes was born Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia, on September 3, 1851, at Pavlovsk Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. She was the elder daughter of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia (a son of Nicholas I, Emperor of all Russia) and Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg.

Olga had five siblings:

Olga (far right) with her mother and four of her siblings, c.1861. source: Wikipedia

Olga grew up at her father’s estates in St. Petersburg and the Crimea, as well as in Poland where her father served as Viceroy. She was educated privately at home.

Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna, c.1866. source: Wikipedia

In 1863, Olga first met her future husband who had just been elected King George I of the Hellenes. He was born Prince Vilhelm of Denmark, son of King Christian IX of Denmark and Princess Luise of Hesse-Kassel. The two met again four years later, and she quickly fell in love. The couple married in the Grand Church of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, on October 27, 1867. Just sixteen years old, Olga was now Queen of the Hellenes.

Over the next 20 years, Olga and George had eight children:

Being so young, Olga was unprepared for her new life as Queen, in a new country. She made efforts to earn the love and respect of the Greek people, wearing a dress of blue and white, the Greek national colors, for her arrival and quickly learning to speak Greek. Being used to the splendor of the Russian court, life in Greece was quite different and almost boring in comparison. However, Olga adjusted, was a very hands-on mother, and threw herself into charity work which she thoroughly enjoyed. From the moment she arrived in Greece, Olga took on several patronages previously held by the previous Queen Amalia. Particularly drawn to helping those in need, she worked tirelessly to improve conditions for the poor and orphaned. She also became the patron of several military hospitals and helped establish the Annunciation Hospital in Athens. Olga also built a Russian Hospital in Piraeus, which served Russian soldiers and other soldiers visiting Greece. During the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and the Balkan Wars, Olga established hospitals to serve the wounded and was awarded the Royal Red Cross by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom in December 1897. She also retained her love for Russia and often entertained Russian sailors at the Royal Palace.

Despite her charity work, Olga occasionally courted controversy in Greece. Realizing that many wounded soldiers could not read the Bible due to the archaic Greek in which it was written, she arranged for a new version to be published in Modern Greek. This was not authorized by the Greek Holy Synod and caused a huge uproar, with calls for the excommunication of anyone involved in the project, including Olga. By the end of the year, all remaining copies had been confiscated and no longer allowed to be circulated.

Queen Olga and King George, December 1912. source: Wikipedia

Olga’s husband, King George, was assassinated in Thessaloniki, Greece on March 18, 1913. Olga arrived in the city the next day to accompany her husband’s body back to Athens. She retained a wing of the Royal Palace in Athens but spent much of her time in Russia. When World War I began, Queen Olga was in Russia, where she established a hospital at Pavlovsk Palace to treat wounded soldiers.

Olga remained in Russia after the fall of the Russian monarchy in 1917.  Following the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks invaded Pavlovsk Palace but she remained unharmed.  Initially, the Bolsheviks refused to let her leave Russia, and at the time, Greece was in no position to offer any help.  Her son King Constantine I had been deposed and sent into exile, and his son Alexander had been chosen to replace him.  Finally, with help from the Danish government, Olga was able to leave Russia, traveling to join her family in Switzerland in 1919.

In October 1920, her grandson King Alexander developed septicemia from a monkey bite. Gravely ill, he called for his mother but the government would not permit Queen Sophie to return. However, it was negotiated that Queen Olga could travel to Athens to be at her grandson’s bedside. Sadly, she arrived just hours after Alexander died on October 25, 1920. The next several weeks saw significant changes in the political landscape of Greece. Prime Minister Venizelos was defeated in a general election just days after Alexander’s death. The following month, the new Prime Minister asked Queen Olga to serve as Regent. A referendum was held, in which her son, King Constantine I, was restored to the Greek throne. Queen Olga served as Regent until his return to Greece on December 19, 1920.

Queen Olga with her son Prince Christopher and his first wife on their wedding day, January 1, 1920. source: Wikipedia

In September 1922, following another coup, King Constantine I abdicated in favor of his eldest son and rightful heir King George II. Constantine and his family, along with Queen Olga, left the country and went into exile in Italy. King George II would only serve for 18 months before the monarchy was deposed. Unlike the other members of the Greek royal family, Queen Olga was held in very high esteem by the Greek people and was the only member of her family to be given a pension by the new government.

Queen Olga, painted by de László, 1914. source: Wikipedia

Queen Olga spent her remaining years in the United Kingdom, shuttling between the homes of her son Christopher and her daughter Marie, and the royal residences of the British Royal Family. Olga remained very close to her sister-in-law Queen Alexandra and was particularly close to her nephew King George V. After several years of ill health, Queen Olga died on June 18, 1926.

As a sign of respect, the Greek government offered to provide a lavish funeral and burial in Greece. Her children, however, declined the offer. Following a funeral at the Orthodox Church in Rome, Queen Olga’s remains were placed in the crypt of the Russian church in Florence, beside her son King Constantine I. In 1936, after the Greek monarchy was restored, Queen Olga was re-interred in the Royal Cemetery at Tatoi Palace.

Queen Olga’s grave in the Royal Cemetery at Tatoi Palace; Credit – Wikipedia

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King George I of the Hellenes

by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2016

source: Wikipedia

King George I of the Hellenes

King George I of the Hellenes was born Prince Christian Vilhelm Ferdinand Adolf Georg of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, on December 24, 1845, at the Yellow Palace in Copenhagen. Known as Vilhelm, he was the son of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (later King Christian IX) and Princess Luise of Hesse-Kassel. He had five siblings:

In 1852, his father was designated as heir-presumptive to the childless King Frederik VII of Denmark. Vilhelm’s title changed to Prince of Denmark. The family split their time between the Yellow Palace and Bernstorff Palace, which had been available to them following his father’s appointment. After his initial education at home, Vilhelm joined the Royal Danish Navy, attending the Royal Danish Naval Academy alongside his elder brother, Frederik.

Prince Vilhelm with his family, 1862. front: Princess Dagmar, Prince Valdemar, Queen Louise, Princess Thyra, Princess Alexandra; back: Prince Frederik, King Christian IX, Prince Vilhelm. source: Wikipedia

In 1862, King Otto of Greece (born Prince Otto of Bavaria) was deposed. Still wanting a monarchy, but rejecting Otto’s proposed successor, Greece began searching for a new King. Initially, the focus fell on Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (the second son of Queen Victoria), who received overwhelming support from the Greek people. However, the London Conference of 1832 stipulated that no one from the ruling families of the Great Powers could accept the Greek throne. While several other European princes were put forward as possible sovereigns, the Greek people and the Great Powers soon chose Prince Vilhelm as their next King. On March 30, 1863, the 17-year-old Vilhelm was unanimously elected by the Greek National Assembly and took the name King George I of the Hellenes. A ceremonial enthronement was held in Copenhagen on June 6, 1863.

George made visits to Russia, England, and France, before arriving in Athens on October 30, 1863. From the beginning, George was determined to be very different than his predecessor. He quickly learned Greek and was often seen informally strolling through the streets of Athens. Although he had been accompanied to Greece by several advisors from Denmark, he soon dispatched them back home so it wouldn’t appear that he was being overly influenced by his home country. George toured the country the following year and then demanded that the Assembly finally adopt a new constitution. Finally done, he took an oath on November 28, 1864, to defend the new constitution, establishing a constitutional monarchy in which the King deferred authority to the elected government. George quickly became very popular with the Greek people.

source: Wikipedia

In 1863, while visiting St. Petersburg before his arrival in Greece, King George first met his future wife, Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia. She was the daughter of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich (a son of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia) and Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg. Four years later, while visiting his sister Dagmar, who had married the future Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia, George met Olga again. By this time, George was looking for a wife, and marriage to a Russian Grand Duchess would be advantageous both politically and as far as the religion of future generations. While George had remained Lutheran after taking the throne, it was expected that future Greek sovereigns would be raised in the Orthodox faith. Olga was smitten with George, and the two quickly fell in love. They married in Grand Church of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia on October 27, 1867, and went on to have eight children:

King George and Queen Olga with six of their children, c1890. source: Wikipedia

The King and his family spent much of their time at Tatoi, a 10,000-acre estate outside Athens which he had purchased in the 1870s. Along with the main palace, King George established a winery and a Danish-styled dairy farm. He established the Royal Cemetery on the grounds, following the death of his daughter, Princess Olga, in 1880. King George also acquired Mon Repos, a villa on the isle of Corfu, in 1864, which the royal family used as a summer residence. Mon Repos is probably best known today as the birthplace of George’s grandson, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who was born there in 1921.

King George’s early reign saw constant upheaval, with 21 different governments in 10 years. Attempts to return the isle of Crete to Greek control went unsuccessful, which caused great tension among the Greek people. Following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 (in which Greece remained neutral despite the attempts of George’s sister, Tsarevna Maria Feodorovna of Russia, to get Greece to join with the Russians), Greece claimed Crete and the regions of Epirus and Thessaly which were all under the Ottoman rule. Eventually, in 1881, the Ottomans ceded Thessaly.

The political climate in Crete remained tense, with the predominantly Greek population revolting against Turkish rule in 1897. The Great Powers stepped in, ordering both Greek and Turkish forces to withdraw, with Crete being under international control. While the Turks agreed, the Greek Prime Minister refused and sent troops to take the island. When forces crossed the Macedonian border, war broke out. By the end of April, the war was over, with Greece losing swiftly and severely. Following the defeat, King George lost much of his popularity and support from the Greek people, even considering abdication. But the following year, in February 1898, an assassination attempt was made on the King and his daughter Maria, while riding in an open carriage. Fortunately, both were unharmed, and he received an upswell of support from his subjects.

In the First Balkan War of 1912, Greece joined forces with Montenegro, Serbia, and Bulgaria in fighting against Turkey. This time, the Greek forces were victorious, and on November 12, 1912, led by Crown Prince Constantine, they took the city of Thessaloniki in what was then Macedonia. Three days later, the King arrived and rode through the streets accompanied by his son and the Prime Minister.

Tomb of King George I of Greece, photo by Kostisl, source: Wikipedia

With his Golden Jubilee approaching, King George planned to abdicate following the celebrations planned for October 1913. However, his life would end several months before he had the chance. On March 18, 1913, while walking in Thessaloniki, Greece, King George was killed when an assassin shot him at close range in the back. The King died instantly. His body was returned to Athens, where it lay in state for three days in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens. Draped in both the Greek and Danish flags, his coffin was then interred in Royal Cemetery at Tatoi.

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Princess Giovanna of Italy, Tsaritsa of Bulgaria

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Giovanna of Italy, Tsaritsa of Bulgaria; Credit –  Wikipedia

Giovanna of Italy was the wife of Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria. She was born Princess Giovanna Elisabetta Antonia Romana Maria of Italy on November 13, 1907, in Rome, Italy the daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy and Princess Elena of Montenegro.

Giovanna had four siblings:

Princess Giovanna, c.1909. source: Wikipedia

As was typical at the time, Giovanna was educated privately at home. In 1923, she and her sister Mafalda fell ill with typhoid fever and were both very ill. After being nursed back to health by two Franciscan nuns, Giovanna pledged her devotion to St. Francis of Assisi which would remain with her for the rest of her life.

Wedding of Giovanna and Boris, 1930. source: Wikipedia

In 1927, Giovanna met her future husband, Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria, and the two quickly fell in love. They married on October 25, 1930, in Assisi, Italy. After the civil ceremony, a Catholic ceremony took place at the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Assisi, Italy, followed by a large reception at Villa Fidelia in nearby Spello. Later, an Orthodox ceremony was held in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Giovanna was also crowned Tsaritsa of Bulgaria. Upon her marriage, she took the Bulgarian version of her name, Ioanna. The couple had two children:

In her role as Tsaritsa, Ioanna became well-loved by the Bulgarian people, in part because of her charitable work, including the establishment of a children’s hospital in Sofia. During World War II, she also helped to arrange travel visas, enabling many Jews to escape the country. In August 1943, her husband died, and their young son Simeon became Tsar, under a Regency Council led by Boris’s brother Prince Kyril of Bulgaria.

Tsaritsa Ioanna, c.1932. source: Wikipedia

Following the Soviet invasion of Bulgaria in September 1944, Ioanna and her family were placed under house arrest at Vrana Palace. Two years later, the Soviet regime held a referendum which resulted in the abolition of the monarchy, and on September 16, 1946, the family was forced to flee the country. They went first to Egypt, where Ioanna’s father was living in exile, and then in 1951, settled in Madrid. After her son’s marriage in 1962, she moved to Estoril, Portugal, where she remained for the rest of her life. In 1993, following the fall of the communist regime, Ioanna made a memorable visit to Bulgaria, on the 50th anniversary of her husband’s death.

 

Tsaritsa Ioanna died in Estoril, Portugal on February 26, 2000. In accordance with her wishes to be buried in Italy, she was buried at the Chapel of the Friars at the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Assisi, Italy.

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Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria – source: Wikipedia

Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria was the son of Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria and Princess Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Parma. He was born Prince Boris Klemens Robert Maria Pius Ludwig Stanislaus Xaver on January 30, 1894, in Sofia, Bulgaria, and created Prince of Tarnovo at birth. Boris had three younger siblings:

In keeping with the agreement made at the time of his parents’ marriage, Boris was christened in the Roman Catholic church. However, his father soon decided that he should be raised in the Orthodox church. Not only would this appeal to the people of Bulgaria, but it would also help to be recognized as Sovereign – something which, until then, had been held back by the Great Powers. Despite his mother’s protests, Boris was christened in the Eastern Orthodox Church on February 2, 1896, with Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia serving as his godparent.

source: Wikipedia/Bulgarian Archives State Agency

Boris was educated at the Palace Secondary School, created by his father in 1908 specifically for Boris and his brother Kyril. He later graduated from the Military Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria, and served as Captain and Company Commander of the 6th Regiment. During the Balkan Wars, Boris fought on the front lines.

When World War I began, Bulgaria remained neutral until the fall of 1915, when they joined the war, and aligned with the Central Powers. Boris strongly disagreed with his father’s decision to join the Central Powers, and at one point, was placed under arrest by his father for several days because of his dissent. However, he went on to serve with the Bulgarian forces, serving as a liaison officer with the General Staff on the Macedonian front. He was later promoted to Colonel and served as liaison officer to Army Group Mackensen and the Bulgarian Third Army for operations against Romania.

Despite their efforts, Bulgaria suffered great losses in the war. Taking responsibility, Tsar Ferdinand abdicated on October 3, 1918, and Boris ascended as Tsar Boris III. Trying to restore his country, after devastating losses, Boris’s reign began as an uphill battle. Under the terms of the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1919, Bulgaria ceded several territories, was required to reduce its army to just 20,000 men, and pay reparations of £100 million. A new political regime took control, led by Aleksandar Stamboliyski of the Agrarian Union, which was very hostile to Boris and the monarchy. After the Treaty of Neuilly, Stamboliyski’s government took complete control of the country, establishing a dictatorial regime. The people of Bulgaria, particularly the military officers, placed their faith and hope in Boris.

In 1923, a military coup overthrew Stamboliyski’s government. Boris was opposed to the idea of seizing power and threatened to abdicate. However, he soon agreed to the situation, provided that it would bring about peace in Bulgaria. Two years later, Boris was the target of several assassination attempts but fortunately was not harmed. Tensions still ran high within Bulgaria, with supporters of the Agrarian Union, and the Communist Party, very vocal in their opposition to the monarchy.

In January 1930, Boris became engaged to Princess Giovanna of Italy, daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy and Princess Elena of Montenegro. The two had met several years earlier, and after attending the marriage of Giovanna’s brother, the future King Umberto II, to Princess Marie José of Belgium, Boris asked for Giovanna’s hand.

As was often an issue with royal marriages, religion once again became an obstacle. Boris was Orthodox and Giovanna was Roman Catholic. The Bulgarian Constitution required that any heir to the throne be a member of the Orthodox Church, but the Pope refused to sanction the marriage without an agreement that all children from the marriage would be raised Catholic. Finally, an agreement was reached and the couple married on October 25, 1930, in Assisi, Italy. Following a civil ceremony, they were wed in a Roman Catholic ceremony at the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. After returning to Bulgaria, an Orthodox ceremony was held in Sofia on November 9, 1930. Boris and Giovanna had two children:

Despite the agreement that Boris had made with the Vatican, both children were baptized in the Orthodox church.

In May 1934, another coup took place, in which Zveno (a military and political group) abolished the political parties and established a dictatorship under their own Prime Minister. However, Boris was able to stage a counter-coup the following year and assumed complete control of the government. He brought back a form of parliamentary rule, but no political parties were restored. This became known as the “King’s Government” and for the next five years, Bulgaria experienced significant growth and prosperity.

With the outbreak of World War II, Boris fought to retain Bulgaria’s neutrality. Hitler, trying to gain Bulgaria’s help, arranged for an agreement between Bulgaria and Romania which returned some of the territory lost to Romania in the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine after World War I. Finally, in March 1941, following the threat of a German invasion, and with the promise of regaining territory formerly ceded to Greece, Boris signed the Tripartite Pact, aligning Bulgaria with the Axis powers. Following the surrender of the Yugoslavian and Greek governments, Bulgarian forces occupied their former territories, captured by the German forces. In 1941, Tsar Boris also signed into law the Law for Protection of the Nation, which imposed restrictions on Jewish Bulgarians. This law was opposed by the Jewish community and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Despite signing the law, Boris helped to prevent the forced deportation of the Bulgarian Jews on several occasions, and attempted to find ways to get them safely out of the country. Sadly, he was unable to help those in Bulgarian-occupied territories in Greece and Yugoslavia.

In August 1943, Boris was once again summoned to a meeting with Hitler, who wanted Boris to deport Bulgarian Jews, and to declare war on Russia – both of which Boris strongly refused to do. Following the meeting, in which Hitler was reportedly furious, Boris returned home. Just weeks later, on August 28, 1943, Tsar Boris III died in Sofia. The circumstances of his death remain mysterious, with many believing that Boris had been poisoned because of his refusal to concede to the demands of the Nazis.

The grave of Tsar Boris III, Rila Monastery. source: Wikipedia, photo by Relativefrequency

Following a state funeral at the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia, Bulgaria, Tsar Boris III’s body and heart were buried at the Rila Monastery in Rila, Bulgaria. The following year, the new communist government very quietly had his remains exhumed and reburied at the Vrana Palace. Later, his casket was moved again, to a secret location that remains unknown. Following the fall of the communist government, an excavation at Vrana Palace found only Boris’s heart which had been buried separately. In 1993, Boris’s widow, Tsarina Ioanna, returned to Bulgaria for the 50th anniversary of Boris’s death, and his heart was reinterred at the Rila Monastery.

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Princess Eleonore Reuss of Köstritz, Tsaritsa of Bulgaria

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Eleonore Reuss of Köstritz, Tsaritsa of Bulgaria source: Wikipedia

Princess Eleonore Reuss of Köstritz (Eleonore Caroline Gasparine Louise) was the second wife of Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (born Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Koháry). She was born on August 22, 1860, in Trebschen, a village in the Province of Brandenburg, now part of Poland, to Prince Heinrich IV Reuss of Köstritz and Princess Luise Caroline Reuss of Greiz.

Eleonore had three siblings:

  • Prince Heinrich XXIV Reuss of Köstritz (1855 – 1910), married his cousin Princess Elisabeth Reuss of Köstritz, had five children
  • Helene Reuss of Köstritz (1864 – 1876)
  • ElisabethReuss of Köstritz  (1865 – 1937)

From an early age, Eleonore was involved in helping others. In 1905, she traveled to the Far East to work as a nurse during the Russo-Japanese War. Two years later, following a bit of match-making by Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, Eleonore became engaged to Ferdinand of Bulgaria in December 1907.  Ferdinand’s first wife, Princess Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Parma, died on January 31, 1899, after the birth of the youngest of their four children.

source: Wikipedia

Following extensive negotiations, due primarily to their different religions, Eleonore and Ferdinand were married in a Catholic ceremony at St. Augustine’s Church in Coburg, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, now in the German state of Bavaria, on February 28, 1908. The following day, a Protestant ceremony was held at Schloss Osterstein in Gera, Principality of Reuss-Gera, now in the German state of Thuringia. At the time, Ferdinand was the reigning Prince (Knyaz) and Eleonore became Princess of Bulgaria. Later that year, Eleonore would become the first Tsaritsa of Bulgaria after Ferdinand declared the country a kingdom.

Eleonore and Ferdinand did not have any children however, Eleonore was instrumental in raising her four stepchildren:

With very little attention or affection from her husband, Eleonore focused on the welfare of the Bulgarian people. She quickly became involved with the Bulgarian Red Cross, and later set up the Queen Eleonore Fund in 1910 to raise funds to build institutes for children who were blind and deaf. She also founded an orphanage for Jewish children, which still exists today as The Queen Eleonore Orphanage.

Eleonore also took a great interest in the medieval Boyana Church, on the outskirts of Sofia, Bulgaria. The small church dating as far back as the 10th century was too small to accommodate the needs of the village and it was planned to tear it down and build a new church. However, Eleonore dreaded the loss of such a historic building, and purchased a plot of land for a new church, allowing the original building to remain and be restored.

Eleonore as a nurse with the Red Cross during the Balkan Wars. source: Wikipedia

During the Balkan Wars and World War I, Eleonore worked tirelessly as a nurse on the front lines. Sadly, after a serious illness, the Tsaritsa died on September 12, 1917, at Euxinograd Palace. near Varna, Bulgaria. Per her wishes, she was buried in a very modest grave next to the medieval Boyana Church she had helped save.

Grave of Tsaritsa Eleonore. source: Wikipedia, photo by Elena Chochkova

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Princess Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Parma, Princess of Bulgaria

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

source: Wikipedia

Princess Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Parma, Princess of Bulgaria

Princess Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Parma was the first wife of the future Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria. She was born Princess Maria Luisa Pia Teresa Anna Ferdinanda Francesca Antonietta Margherita Giuseppina Caroline Bianca Lucia Apollonia of Bourbon-Parma on January 17, 1870 in Rome, Italy. Maria Luisa was the eldest child of Robert I, Duke of Parma and his first wife, Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and had eleven younger siblings. Six of her eleven siblings were mentally disabled.

  • Ferdinando (born and died 1871) died in infancy
  • Luisa Maria (1872 – 1943), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Enrico, Duke of Parma (1873 – 1939), unmarried, mentally disabled, Titular Duke of Parma 1907-1939, his brother Elias took up the role as regent and head of the family
  • Maria Immacolata (1874 – 1914), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Giuseppe, Duke of Parma (1875 – 1950), unmarried, mentally disabled, Titular Duke of Parma 1939-1950, his brother Elias continued the role as regent and head of the family
  • Maria Teresa (1876 – 1959), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Maria Pia (1877 – 1915), unmarried, mentally disabled
  • Beatrice (1879 – 1946), married Pietro Lucchesi-Palli, had issue
  • Elias, Duke of Parma (1880- 1959), married Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, had issue; Head of the Ducal Family of Parma (1950–1959)
  • Maria Anastasia (born and died 1881), died in infancy
  • Stillborn child (September 22, 1882), Maria Pia died in childbirth

Two years after her mother died in childbirth in 1882, Maria Luisa’s father married Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal and had another twelve children, Maria Luisa’s half-siblings:

  • Maria della Neve Adelaide (1885 – 1959), a Benedictine nun at the Monastery of Solesmes, France
  • Sixtus (1886 – 1934), married Hedwige de La Rochefoucauld, had issue
  • Xavier, Duke of Parma (1889 – 1977), married Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset, had issue, the Carlist claimants to the Spanish throne descend through this line
  • Zita (1892 – 1989) – married Emperor Karl of Austria, had issue
  • Francesca (1890 – 1978), a Benedictine nun at the Monastery of Solesmes, France
  • Felix (1893 – 1970), married Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg, had issue
  • René (1894 – 1962), married Princess Margrethe of Denmark, had issue including Anne who married King Michael I of Romania
  • Maria Antonia (1895 – 1937), a Benedictine nun at the Monastery of Solesmes, France
  • Isabella (1898 – 1984), nun
  • Luigi (1899 – 1967), married Princess Maria Francesca of Savoy, had issue
  • Henrietta Anna (1903 – 1987), unmarried, was deaf
  • Gaetano (1905 – 1958), married and divorced Princess Margarete of Thurn and Taxis, had issue

Princess Maria Luisa was raised primarily in Switzerland, in the care of English governesses. Artistically gifted, she became fluent in five languages and enjoyed painting and music.

In 1892, her father began to arrange a marriage for Maria Luisa to the reigning Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria. He and Ferdinand’s mother went through extensive negotiations in order to make the match possible. One of the biggest obstacles was religion. Maria Luisa’s family was staunchly Catholic and insisted that any children would be raised in the Catholic Church. Ferdinand was also Catholic and had been permitted to remain so when elected Prince of Bulgaria. However, the Bulgarian constitution required that any future Prince be a member of the Orthodox Church. This would mean that Ferdinand’s heir could not be raised Catholic. Capitalizing on the exceptions that had been given to both Ferdinand and his predecessor, Alexander of Battenberg, Prime Minister Stefan Stambolov quickly had the constitution amended to provide another exception for Ferdinand’s heir.

Maria Luisa and Ferdinand, 1893. source: Wikipedia

With this final issue resolved, the engagement was announced in August 1892. Being a truly arranged marriage, it would be on their engagement day that Maria Luisa and Ferdinand met for the first time. They married on April 20, 1893, at Villa Pianore, the Duke of Parma’s residence in Lucca, Italy. They had four children:

Maria Luisa with her sons, Boris and Kiril, 1896. source: Wikipedia

Less than two years after the birth of their first son, Boris, Ferdinand decided that he would have his son baptized in the Orthodox church, despite the agreements made at the time of their marriage. This was part of his efforts to be recognized as sovereign of Bulgaria by the new Emperor of Russia, Nicholas II. Maria Luisa, supported by both her family and her mother-in-law, argued strongly against the conversion but Ferdinand insisted. Prince Boris was received into the Orthodox Church, with Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia as his godparent. Maria Luisa left the country in protest, not returning until the late spring of 1896. The rest of their children were raised Catholic.

source: Wikipedia

Maria Luisa’s marriage, which had been strictly for political and dynastic reasons, was not a happy one. Having given birth to three children, and expecting a fourth within five years had taken a toll on her already frail health. She developed pneumonia while pregnant with her youngest child, and died on January 31, 1899, just a day after giving birth. She was just 29 years old. Princess Maria Luisa was buried in the Cathedral of Saint Louis of France, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

Tomb of Marie Luisa; Credit – By Бирдас – Собствена творба, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22874195

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Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria – source: Wikipedia

Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria was born on February 26, 1861, at the Palais Coburg in Vienna, Austria. At birth, he was Prince Ferdinand Maximilian Karl Leopold Maria of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Koháry, a member of the Catholic Koháry branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was the son of Prince August of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Koháry and Princess Clémentine of Orléans, daughter of King Louis Philippe I of the French.

Ferdinand had four older siblings:

Ferdinand with his mother, c1866. source: Wikipedia

The Koháry branch began with Ferdinand’s grandfather who married Princess Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábrág et Szitnya, who was Catholic. She was the daughter and heiress of one of the largest landowners in Hungary. Upon her father’s death in 1826, the couple inherited his estates and fortune, at which point her husband and the rest of the family converted to Roman Catholicism and added Koháry to the family name.

Prince Ferdinand grew up in Vienna, where his father was a General in the Austrian military. He attended and graduated from the Theresianum Academy and became a Colonel in the Second Regiment of the Austrian Hussars, where he would remain until 1887. From a young age, he developed an interest in ornithology, entomology, and botany – subjects that fascinated him his entire life. During his schooling, he and his brother Ludwig August embarked on a scientific expedition on the Amazon River, after which Ferdinand published a study, ‘Description of Birds by Prince Ferdinand Saxe-Coburg and Gotha’ in 1884.

source: Wikipedia

In 1886, after the abdication of Alexander of Battenberg as reigning Knyaz (Prince) of Bulgaria, a search began for a new prince. While many European princes refused, fearing the same fate as Alexander Battenberg, Prince Ferdinand’s name was put forth by his mother. Following a vote by the National Assembly, Ferdinand was elected Knyaz of Bulgaria on July 7, 1887, although he remained unrecognized by the Great Powers.

Ferdinand and Maria Luisa, 1893. source: Wikipedia

Knowing that establishing a royal house and ensuring the succession would be crucial in order to be recognized as sovereign, Ferdinand married Princess Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Parma on April 20, 1893. She was the daughter of Robert I, Duke of Parma and Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Ferdinand’s mother arranged the marriage before the couple had met each other. Despite Ferdinand’s complete disinterest in his wife, the couple had four children:

The early years of Ferdinand’s reign brought Bulgaria to the forefront of the Balkan countries, primarily due to the efforts of Prime Minister Stefan Stambolov. However, Russia had severed diplomatic relations, and Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia was strongly opposed to recognizing Ferdinand as Prince. After Alexander’s death, his son Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia, who was much more moderate, proposed a reconciliation providing that Ferdinand’s heir was raised in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Despite the feelings of Ferdinand’s Catholic family, he realized that formal recognition from Russia would be necessary before any European country would recognize him. On February 2, 1896, Ferdinand had his son Boris baptized in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, with Tsar Nicholas II as a godparent. Soon after, Ferdinand was recognized as Prince of Bulgaria by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Ferdinand quickly began to bring Bulgaria to the level of other European monarchies.

Prince Ferdinand, c1897. source: Wikipedia

The Bulgarian army became one of the most powerful in the Balkan region and Ferdinand established Universities, an Arts Academy, a Seminary, and technical schools around the country. He founded the Institute of Natural Sciences with a museum, zoo, and botanical gardens. The nation’s railway and road network was developed, and post offices and telegraph stations opened across the country.

Ferdinand and his second wife, Eleonore, on their wedding day. source: Wikipedia

Having given birth to three children, and expecting a fourth within five years had taken a toll on Maria Louise’s already frail health. She developed pneumonia while pregnant with her youngest child, and died on January 31, 1899, just a day after giving birth. Nine years later, on February 28, 1908, Ferdinand married Princess Eleonore Reuss of Köstritz. She stepped in as a mother to his children, although the couple did not have any children.

Since its establishment as a principality, Bulgaria had been under the sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire. However, on October 5, 1908, Ferdinand proclaimed independence, elevating Bulgaria to a kingdom and becoming Tsar Ferdinand I. Much of the next ten years was consumed by war. The First Balkan War in 1912 saw significant land gains, but these were nearly all negated by losses during the Second Balkan War the following year, and soon, World War I began. In the beginning, Bulgaria remained neutral while being courted by both sides due to the country’s location and strong military. Having entered the war in the fall of 1915, siding with the Central Powers, initial successes were soon overshadowed by significant losses and defeats. On October 3, 1918, taking full responsibility for the loss of the war, Tsar Ferdinand abdicated in favor of his son Boris. Ferdinand settled in Coburg, where he devoted his time to his favorite pastimes – art, gardening, travel, and history.

In 1943, his son Tsar Boris III died after visiting Hitler in Germany and was succeeded by his son Simeon who was just six years old. In 1945, Ferdinand’s other son Kyril was executed, and in 1946, the young Simeon was deposed, and the Bulgarian monarchy was abolished. Heartbroken at the loss of his family and his kingdom, Ferdinand died in Coburg on September 10, 1948. Unable to be buried in Bulgaria at the time, his remains were temporarily placed in the crypt of St. Augustine’s Church in Coburg, besides those of his parents. They remain there to this day.

The casket of Tsar Ferdinand I, at the foot of the tomb of his parents, St. Augustine’s Church, Coburg. source: Wikipedia

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