Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark

Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark (born Katherine zu Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Princess of Greece and Denmark^[1]) (Greek: Πριγκίπισσα Αικατερίνη της Ελλάδας και Δανίας) (4 May 1913 – 2 October 2007) was the third daughter and sixth child of King Constantine I of Greece (1868–1923) and Queen Sophie (1870–1932).

Early life

Her paternal grandparents were King George I of Greece, child of King Christian IX of Denmark, and Olga Konstantinovna of Russia. Her maternal grandparents were Frederick III, German Emperor, and the Empress Victoria, the eldest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

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 who married Prince Aimone of Savoy, Duke of Spoleto) . 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.

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.

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 the future 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 of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a second cousin once removed of Elizabeth II. However, in descent from Queen Victoria, she was a second cousin once removed of both of them.

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 Campbell Brandram MC (5 August 1911 – 5 April 1994), son of Richard Andrew Brandram and Maud Campbell Blakeran, an officer in the Royal Artillery. They were engaged three weeks after they arrived in England, and married on 21 April 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 Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark. She and her husband lived in Eaton Square in Belgravia, and later moved to Marlow.

Since the death of Infanta Beatriz of Spain in 2002, Katherine was the last surviving great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, as well the last surviving grandchild of Frederick III, German Emperor and Victoria, Princess Royal. She lived for almost 87 years after the death of her brother, King Alexander I of Greece and her death leaves Count Carl Johan Bernadotte of Sweden (born 31 October 1916) as Queen Victoria's last living great-grandchild. From the time of the death of her sister Helen, Queen Mother of Romania (Helen of Greece and Denmark) in 1982, to the time of her own death, she was Queen Victoria's most senior female line descendant. Her death marked the end of all female-line direct descendants of Frederick III, German Emperor and Victoria, Princess Royal.^[1]

Issue

Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark and Major Richard Campbell Andrew Brandram, had one child; a son:^[1]

• Richard Paul George Andrew Brandram (b. 1 April 1948), married, firstly, Jennifer Diane Steele, daughter of Lt. Col. Robert Steele and Gyllian Diane Greville-Williams, on 12 February 1975 at London, England. The couple had three children:^[1]
  • Sophie Eila Brandram (b. 23 Jan 1981)^[1]
  • Nicholas George Brandram (b. 23 Apr 1982)^[1]
  • Alexia Katherine Brandram (b. 6 Dec 1985)^[1]

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

• 4 May 1913–21 April 1947: Her Royal Highness Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark
• 21 April 1947–2 October 2007: The Lady Katherine Brandram

Ancestry

References

• Obituary, The Daily Telegraph, 4 October 2007