Princess Maria of Greece and Denmark (; ; – 14 December 1940) was a daughter of King George I of Greece and his wife Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia. She was a sister of King Constantine I of Greece and a first cousin of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and King George V of the United Kingdom.
Born as a princess of Greece and Denmark, she was educated in Athens by private tutors. Her father instilled in her a great love for Greece and throughout her life, she remained a fervent patriot. She married Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia, her first cousin once removed, who courted her for five years. The wedding took place in 1900 in Corfu. The couple settled in St. Petersburg and they had two daughters: Princesses Nina (1901 -1974) and Xenia (1903 -1965).
Grand Duke George Mikhailovich had a house built for her in Crimea and he was a devoted father and husband, but the marriage was unhappy. Princess Maria, known upon her marriage as Grand Duchess Maria Georgievna of Russia, neither got to love her husband nor her adopted country. Longing for her native Greece, she never adapted to life in Russia. Over the years, she became estranged from her husband taking any opportunity to spend time abroad. At the outbreak of World War I, she was vacationing in England with her daughters and chose not to return to Russia. During the conflict, she was a patron of three military hospitals in Harrogate, which she financed generously.
Her husband was trapped in Russia after the revolution and he was shot by the Bolsheviks with several other Romanov relatives in January 1919. In her widowhood, deprived of her Russian income, Princess Maria faced serious financial difficulties. She returned to live in Greece with her daughters in 1920. There, she began a relationship with Admiral Perikles Ioannidis, who had been the commander of the ship that she took at her return to Athens. They were married in 1922. The proclamation of the Second Hellenic Republic in 1924, sent her into exile. The princess returned to live in Britain for a couple of years and she settled in Rome in 1926 with her second husband. She lived in Italy for over a decade until the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in 1940 forced her to return to her native Greece. She was in poor health and was cared for by her nephew King Paul of Greece and his wife Frederica. She died, as the Greek royal family was about to leave for exile. She left a book of memoirs, published posthumously by her grandchildren with the title A Romanov Diary.
Early life
Princess Maria of Greece and Denmark was born on at the Royal Palace in Athens.Zeepvat, A True Daughter of Greece: Princess Marie of Greece. Part 1: A Marriage of Inconvenience, p. 49 She was the fifth child and second daughter of King George I of Greece and Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia.Zeepvat, A True Daughter of Greece: Princess Marie of Greece. Part 1: A Marriage of Inconvenience, p. 48 Maria's father was born a Danish prince.Van der Kiste, Kings of the Hellens: The Greek Kings 1863–1974, p. 6 Thus, the Greek royal family was part of the Danish.Marie Georgievna, Grand Duchess of Russia, A Romanov Diary p. 1
Princess Maria, nicknamed "Greek Minnie" to tell her apart from the elder "Minnie", her paternal aunt (Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia), grew up as part of a large family of eight children.King & Wilson, The Romanovs Adrift, p. 156 One sister, named Olga, died in childhood, but she had five brothers: (Constantine, George, Nicholas, Andrew, Christopher) and one surviving sister: Alexandra.Van der Kiste, Kings of the Hellens: The Greek Kings 1863–1974, p. 36
King George and Queen Olga were devoted parents who provided a happy, homely environment for their children. The Greek royal family was not wealthy by royal standards and they lived with simplicity. Throughout the year, following a regular pattern, they moved around their different properties. They began the year at the Royal Palace in Athens. On Sundays, they often visited Themistocles, the King's small estate at the entrance of the port of Piraeus.Marie Georgievna, Grand Duchess of Russia, A Romanov Diary p. 6 In the spring, they moved to Mon Repos, the family royal villa on the island of Corfu. During April, they toured the Greek provinces, choosing a different region each year. In the summer, the Greek royal family stayed in Tatoi, in the mountains north of Athens, until mid-October before returning to the Royal Palace for the winter.Marie Georgievna, Grand Duchess of Russia, A Romanov Diary p. 9Marie Georgievna, Grand Duchess of Russia, A Romanov Diaryp. 9
King George was a strict and demanding father, but contrary to the general approach of the time, he believed in happy rambunctious children. Maria and her siblings were mischievous, playing pranks, even taking "bike rides" through the long corridors of the Royal palace, sometimes led by the King himself.
Education
Maria and her siblings were raised by British nannies and educated by governesses and private tutors.Van der Kiste, Kings of the Hellens: The Greek Kings 1863–1974, p. 44 English was the children's first language. They spoke Greek between themselves and English with their parents.Marie Georgievna, Grand Duchess of Russia, A Romanov Diaryp. 4Marie Georgievna, Grand Duchess of Russia, A Romanov Diaryp. 3Van der Kiste, Kings of the Hellens: The Greek Kings 1863–1974, p. 42 Maria's education followed the conventions for princesses of her time. There was an emphasis on languages and she learned German, English, and French besides her native Greek. She studied mathematics, history, literature, and geography. In addition, she was taught court etiquette, Orthodox religion, drawing, painting, music, dancing and learned to play the piano. She also practiced horse riding, gymnastics and took singing lessons.Marie Georgievna, Grand Duchess of Russia, A Romanov Diary p. 5
As Maria's eldest brothers were already occupied by their studies, she grew up closer to her sister Alexandra and her brother Nicholas, who preceded her in age. She was short and dark, less pretty than her sister but more vivacious.King & Wilson, The Romanovs Adrift, p. 169 Family reunions took her many times abroad. She visited Wiesbaden, Germany in 1882.Marie Georgievna, Grand Duchess of Russia, A Romanov Diaryp. 17Marie Georgievna, Grand Duchess of Russia, A Romanov Diary p. 19 In 1886, her mother took her to Russia for the first time.Marie Georgievna, Grand Duchess of Russia, A Romanov Diary p. 23 They stayed with the Romanovs at Pavlovsk, the home of her maternal grandmother.Marie Georgievna, Grand Duchess of Russia, A Romanov Diary p. 24
Every two years, Princess Maria spent holidays in Denmark, visiting her paternal grandparents.Marie Georgievna, Grand Duchess of Russia, A Romanov Diary p. 20 At Fredensborg Palace on the island of Zealand, Maria and her siblings met their Russian and British cousins in large family gatherings. She became lifelong friends with two of her cousins: Grand Duchess Xenia of Russia and Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom.
A Princess of Greece
King George I instilled in his offspring a great love for Greece. He used to tell them: "Never forget that you are strangers among the Greeks, and make sure that they never remember". As a consequence, she would remain all her life intensely Greek. As a child, she cried when she was told she belonged to a foreign dynasty and had no Greek blood. As an adult, she always looked at Athens as her home. In her book of memoirs, she described herself as: " A true daughter of Greece".
The popular desire to unite all Greeks within a single territory (Megali Idea) led to a revolt in Crete against the Turkish rule.Van der Kiste, Kings of the Hellens: The Greek Kings 1863–1974, p. 55 In February 1897, King George sent his son, Prince George, to take possession of the island. To support the Cretan cause Greek troops crossed the Macedonian border and Abdul Hamid II declared war. During the conflict, Queen Olga organized a military hospital and Princess Maria served as a nurse. The Greco-Turkish War of 1897 went badly for the ill-prepared Greeks.Van der Kiste, Kings of the Hellens: The Greek Kings 1863–1974, p. 57 They were forced to give up Crete to international administration, and agree to minor territorial concessions in favor of the Turks and to a monetary indemnity.Van der Kiste, Kings of the Hellens: The Greek Kings 1863–1974, p. 58
Since her sister Alexandra's marriage in 1889, Princess Maria became her father's favorite child and constant companion.Zeepvat, A True Daughter of Greece: Princess Marie of Greece. Part 1: A Marriage of Inconvenience, p. 52 She helped her father acting as his unofficial secretary as her mother, Queen Olga, suffered from bad eyesight. On 27 February 1898, father and daughter were returning from a ride in a landau to the beach at Phaleron, when they were shot at by two riflemen.Marie Georgievna, Grand Duchess of Russia, A Romanov Diary p. 57 The King tried to shield his daughter; both were unhurt though a footman and both horses were wounded. A church was later built on the site of the assassination attempt.
A Russian marriage
Princess Maria wanted to spend her entire life in Greece instead of following the traditional path of Princesses of her time that had to marry a foreign prince and move abroad.Zeepvat, A True Daughter of Greece: Princess Marie of Greece. Part 1: A Marriage of Inconvenience, p. 53 In her late teens, she fell in love with a Greek commoner, but her parents did not allow her to contract an unequal union.
She just turned twenty years old when, in April 1896, during the Olympics games held in Athens, King Alexander I of Serbia (last representative of the Obrenović dynasty) proposed to her.Marie Georgievna, Grand Duchess of Russia, A Romanov Diary p. 51 Princess Maria found King Alexander too ugly and rejected him.
Since her childhood, Princess Maria of Greece had visited Russia many times with her mother, who remained very attached to her native country. They usually stayed at Pavlovsk Palace with Princess Maria's maternal grandmother, Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna. While in Russia, in summer 1894, for the wedding of her cousin Grand Duchess Xenia to Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, Princess Maria became smitten with the groom's brother, Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia, who was her mother's first cousin. However, he had no interest in her then. In a subsequent visit to Russia in the autumn of 1895, they were reunited at a Court Ball. This time she found him too old and boring and was no longer interested. On the other hand, he fell in love with her and asked to marry him. She turned him down, to the dismay of Maria's mother, Queen Olga, who was in favor of a Russian marriage for her daughter.
In spring 1896, Grand Duke George Mikhailovich arrived in Athens and proposed while they were playing billiards.King & Hall, Imperial Crimea, p. 365 She accepted him and the engagement was officially announced on 4 April 1896. The wedding was to take place a few months later in the summer. However, she had a change of heart and after putting off the wedding date twice, she broke off the engagement in October.