Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece

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Prince Pavlos
Crown Prince of Greece
Spouse Marie-Chantal Miller
Issue
Princess Maria-Olympia
Prince Constantine Alexios
Prince Achileas-Andreas
Prince Odysseas-Kimon
Prince Aristide Stavros
Titles and styles
HRH Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece
HRH The Crown Prince of Greece
Royal house House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
Father Constantine II of Greece
Mother Anne-Marie of Denmark
Born 20 May 1967 (1967-05-20) (age 41)
Flag of Greece Tatoi Palace, Tatoi, Greece
Greek Royal Family
Coats of Arms of the Royal Family of Greece

HM The King
HM The Queen
v • d • e
Styles of
Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece
Reference style His Royal Highness
Spoken style Your Royal Highness
Alternative style Sir
The personal standard of Crown Princes of Greece

Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece, Prince of Denmark (in English: Paul; b. May 20, 1967) is the eldest son of Constantine II, King of the Hellenes from 1964 to 1973.[1] If Constantine is ever restored to the throne Pavlos would be his heir apparent. If no restoration occurs, following Constantine's death Pavlos will become the pretender to the defunct Greek throne.

By royal descent, he is a member of the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg line of the House of Oldenburg. His family has adopted de Grecia (of Greece) as a surname[citation needed]. His title Crown Prince of Greece, although used as a courtesy title among European royalty and in the media, academia and the public generally, is not recognized in the Hellenic Republic, which abolished the monarchy in 1974. Since reaching adulthood, he has lived in New York City and in London, and has worked as an investment consultant.

He is an experienced bluewater yachtsman and crews on the multi-record-breaking monohull Mari-Cha IV owned by businessman Robert W. Miller, his father-in-law.

Contents

Early life

Crown Prince Pavlos was born on May 20, 1967 in Athens, to King Constantine II of Greece and Queen Anne Marie, by birth a Princess of Denmark. His mother is a sister of Margrethe II of Denmark. His maternal grandparents were Frederick IX of Denmark and Ingrid of Sweden.

By Greek tradition, he was named for his paternal grandfather, King Paul (Pavlos) of the Hellenes. His older sister, Princess Alexia, had been born two years earlier, in 1965. Crown Prince Pavlos was baptized into the Greek Orthodox Church, with Charles, Prince of Wales (King Constantine’s second cousin), as one of his godparents.

Military coup of 1967

Crown Prince Pavlos was born into a turbulent era in Greek politics. His father, King Constantine II, had acceded to the throne on March 6, 1964, at the age of 23, following the death of his father, King Pavlos. In July 1965, following a conflict with Prime Minister George Papandreou over control of the armed forces, King Constantine dismissed Papandreou. The effect was to destabilize the political balance which had been achieved within the country. There followed within the next 22 months a succession of unstable coalition governments, strikes, and loss of confidence by foreign investors. The term July Apostates refers to the group of George Papandreou's dissidents, led by the politician Konstantinos Mitsotakis, then also member of the Center Union, who crossed the floor to bring about the fall of the Greek government and its replacement by a government favourable to the King.

On April 21, 1967, just a month prior to Crown Prince Pavlos' birth, a military coup occurred, in which a group of colonels seized control of the government. The King decided to co-operate with the dictators and was persuaded to swear the new regime in only when the junta agreed to include a number of civilian politicians, with a royalist nominee, Constantine Kollias, as Prime Minister. Constantine's brief co-operation with the coup was later seen by many as a fatal error, since the military dictatorship soon became very unpopular. In the months following the coup, the junta continued to acknowledge King Constantine as head of state, although the king had very little actual power.

As 1967 drew to a close, the "Regime of the Colonels", led by Colonel George Papadopoulos, was increasingly characterised by suppression of civil liberties, along with imprisonment or exile of opponents. In December of that year, King Constantine attempted a counter-coup, but could not rally sufficient military support. The King fled with his wife and children to Rome. Crown Prince Pavlos' younger brother Prince Nikolaos, was born in Rome in 1969.

Abolition of the monarchy

During the years 1964-1973, Greece remained officially a monarchy, with a regency appointed in the absence of the king. Beginning in 1973, when Prince Pavlos was six years old, a series of rapid changes occurred in the government of Greece. On 1 June 1973, Constantine II was declared deposed and Georgios Papadopoulos was self-appointed President of Greece. On 29 July, 1973, the Greek plebiscite, 1973 was held to confirm the change. In November, following the government’s harsh suppression of the Athens Polytechnic uprising, Papadopoulos was ousted from office by Brigadier General Dimitrios Ioannides. Ioannides appointed Phaedon Gizikis as the new President rather than restoring the monarchy.

On 15 July 1974 Ioannides attempted a coup in Cyprus. Makarios III, President of Cyprus, was removed from power and Nikos Sampson of EOKA B hand-picked as his replacement. The Greek coup triggered the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and occupation of Northern Cyprus by the Turkish Armed Forces. Amidst fears of war with Turkey, the junta agreed to resign, and invited former Prime Minister Constantine Karamanlis to establish a civilian government.

On 17 November, 1974, the Greek legislative election, 1974 were held, resulting in a victory for Karamanlis and his New Democratic (ND) party. On 8 December, 1974, the Greek plebiscite, 1974. As in the one of the previous year, the outcome was in favour of a republican constitution (69%), over restoration of the monarchy (31%). Constantine Karamanlis, who had served as Greek Prime Minister under King Paul, in his radio address in the evening of December 8, 1974, as the polling returns became known declared that "A carcinoma was resected today from the body of the nation".

A cover of Greek newspaper Athinaiki reports the polling results: From corner to corner, Greece is burning down with one voice: "The era of the Glücksburg family is over"

King Constantine accepted that his reign was at an end. He and Queen Anne Marie had been settled with their family in London for some time. Crown Prince Pavlos' youngest siblings were born in London, Princess Theodora in 1983, and Prince Philippos in 1986.

Education

Crown Prince Pavlos was educated in London at the Hellenic College of London, the Armand Hammer United World College of the American West in New Mexico, USA and at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. After completing these he earned a Master of Science in Foreign Service degree at Georgetown, where he was roommates with his cousin, Felipe of Spain, the Prince of Asturias.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

Crown Prince Pavlos has used the following titles and styles:

Marriage and issue

Crown Prince Pavlos married American heiress Marie-Chantal Miller now styled as Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Pavlos of Greece, Princess of Denmark on July 1, 1995. After their marriage, the couple resided in New York City, where he worked as an investment consultant. Their children are:

Ancestry

Footnotes

  1. ^ The monarchy was initially abolished in 1973 by the Regime of the Colonels. Rather than reinstating the monarchy prior to holding a referendum, the new democratic government which replaced the regime left the republic in place, and accepted the Greek president as head of state until the referendum took place. The referendum opted not to reinstate the monarchy.
  2. ^ The Greek Royal Family - News and Media
  3. ^ WWD.com - The Littlest Prince

References

Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece
House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
Cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg
Born: 20 May 1967
Greek royalty
Preceded by
Constantine II of Greece
current pretender		 Line of succession to the Greek throne
1st position		 Succeeded by
Prince Constantine Alexios of Greece and Denmark
Preceded by
Queen Anne-Marie of Greece		 Line of succession to the British throne