Greek Crown Jewels
When Otto of Bavaria became the first King of Greece in 1832 when the great European powers forced the militarily chastened Ottoman Empire to formally accept its independence, he had no crown or associated jewels. The crown, orb, sceptre and sword were ordered in Paris (Fossin et Fils Goldsmiths); the sword, however, was made by Jules Manceaux. The regalia arrived in Greece in 1835. Their model were the regalia of Bavaria but they did not have any precious stones (especially the crown) and thus they resemble funerary European regalia. They were made of precious metals, mainly gold and perhaps partly silver. Otto, as all kings of Greece after him, was never crowned. When Otto was overthrown in a coup in 1862 and fled, he took the jewels back with him to Bavaria.
In 1959, Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria presented the Greek Crown Jewels (also called the Greek Regalia) back to King Paul of Greece. Greek monarchs since Otto had not been crowned. Nevertheless the Crown Jewels of Otto were accepted and remain in Greece.
References
- Λόρεντς Σέλιγκ, 2000. "Τα βασιλικά εμβλήματα του Όθωνα", στο Κασιμάτη, Μ.Ζ. (επιμ.), Αθήνα Μόναχο, Τέχνη και Πολιτισμός στη νέα Ελλάδα, σελ. 179-187. Αθήνα (με παραπομπές και βιβλιογραφία).
- John Van der Kiste, Kings of the Hellenes: The Greek Kings 1863-1974 (Sutton Publishing, 1994).
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