Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark | |
| Born | May 4, 1913 Athens, Greece |
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| Died | October 2, 2007 (aged 94) London, United Kingdom |
| Spouse | Richard Brandram (m.1947) |
| Children | Paul Brandram (b.1948) |
| Parents | Constantine I of Greece Sophie of Prussia |
| Styles of Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark (until 1947) |
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| Reference style | Her Royal Highness |
| Spoken style | Your Royal Highness |
| Alternative style | Ma'am |
Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark (born Princess Ekaterini of Greece and Denmark) (May 4, 1913 – October 2, 2007) was the third daughter and sixth child of King Constantine I of Greece (1868–1923) and Sophie of Prussia (1870–1932).
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[edit] Early life
Her paternal grandparents were King George I of Greece and Olga Konstantinovna of Russia. Her maternal grandparents were Frederick III, German Emperor, and the Empress Victoria. Victoria was the eldest child of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.
Katherine was born in the Royal Palace in Athens, a few weeks after her grandfather, King George I of Greece, was assassinated in Salonika. She had five siblings - three brothers (George, Alexander and Paul, each of whom would become King of the Hellenes) and two sisters (Helen, who married Carol II of Romania, and Irene). Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was a first cousin. When she was christened, the members of the whole Greek Army and Greek Navy became her godparents.
[edit] Life in exile
Her father abdicated in 1917, replaced as King by her brother Alexander. She and her parents were exiled to Switzerland. They were re-instated following Alexander's death in 1920, but abdicated again in 1922. Exiled again, this time to Sicily, her father died in Palermo in 1923. The family moved to Villa Sparta in Florence, where Katherine took up painting. Her second brother George became King George II of the Hellenes in 1922, but was deposed in 1924.
| House of Oldenburg (Glücksburg branch) |
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| Constantine I |
| Children |
| George II |
| Alexander I |
| Helen, Queen Mother of Romania |
| Paul I |
| Irene, Duchess of Aosta |
| Princess Katherine |
Katherine was educated in England, at a boarding school at Broadstairs and then North Foreland Lodge. Her mother died in January 1932, after which she continued to live at the Villa Sparta with her sister, Helen. She and Queen Elizabeth II were bridesmaids at the wedding of her first cousin, Princess Marina, to the Duke of Kent in 1934. It is interesting to note that through Christian IX of Denmark, Katherine was a first cousin to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a second cousin once removed of Queen Elizabeth II. However, in descent from Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, she was a second cousin once removed to both of them.
[edit] Return to Greece and marriage
Her brother, George, was reinstated as King of Greece in 1935, and Katherine returned to Greece with her sister, Irene. She joined the Greek Red Cross when the Second World War broke out in 1939. In 1941, she moved to South Africa with her third brother, Paul, in a Sunderland flying boat, where she continued to work as a nurse in Cape Town. She heard no news of her sister Helen for four years. She returned to England in 1946, sailing the last leg from Egypt to England on the Cunard steamer SS Ascania. On board, she met Major Richard Brandram MC (5 August 1911 - 5 April 1994), an officer in the Royal Artillery. They were engaged three weeks after they arrived in England, and married on April 21, 1947 at the Royal Palace in Athens. Her brother, George, died on 1 April, three weeks before the wedding, and was succeeded by her third brother Paul, or Pavlos. Now Paul I of Greece, he acted as best man at the wedding, and reigned until 1964.
She accompanied her new husband to his new British Army posting in Baghdad, but they later settled in England. She received permission to style herself Lady Katherine Brandram and King George VI also granted her the status of a duke's daughter in the order of precedence. However, this style was only valid within the United Kingdom, as she remained a Princess of Greece. She and her husband lived in Eaton Square in Belgravia, and later moved to Marlow. They had one son: Richard Paul George Andrew Brandram, born April 1, 1948.
Since the death of Infanta Beatriz of Spain in 2002, Katherine was the last surviving great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She was also the last surviving niece of William II, German Emperor. Amazingly, she lived for 87 years after the death of her brother, King Alexander I of Greece Her death leaves Count Carl Johan Bernadotte of Sweden (born 31 October 1916) as Queen Victoria's only living great-grandchild.
