Oct. '04: Prince Nikolaos of Greece

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OCTOBER 2004 ROYAL OF THE MONTH: PRINCE NIKOLAOS OF GREECE

The alpha Greek male of his generation and the man many monarchists favour to succeed King Constantine to the Greek throne were it to be re-instated, Prince Nikolaos of Greece is both the ultimate Greek and the ultimate bachelor prince--though both are not necessarily exclusive.

Born two years after his parents King Constantine and Queen Anne Marie were forced to flee Athens after an army coup overthrew the King, Prince Nikolaos was born on 1 October 1969 at the Villa Claudia Clinic in Rome. He joined older sister Alexia (1965) and brother Pavlos (1967), who were both born in Greece. The family was rounded out nearly 15 years later with "after thought" children, Theodora (1983) and Phillippos (1986), who were both born in London, England.


The family briefly resided at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen, the childhood home of the Queen who was born a Princess of Denmark, before settling permanently in London, where the family calls home to this day.


Nikolaos, along with his older siblings, were home educated by Professor John Kanellopoulos for six years. He then attended the Hellenic College of London, a boarding school that his father helped to start and is now closed, until the age of 17 at which time he then attended the Collingham Tutorial College in Kensington. In 1988, Prince Nikolaos began his studies in International Relations at the elite Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, whose alumni includes the late John F. Kennedy Jr.

In 1990, Prince Nikolaos joined the British Army on a short service limited commission. He also spent three weeks at Sandhurst before joining the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards as a Second Lieutenant, where he was stationed in Germany as part of the "Medicine Man," a major military exercise.

Professionally, Prince Nikolaos briefly took on a market research post with Metromedia, a telecommunications company in New York City, which he describes as "my favourite city in America." In 1993 the prince entered the world of television news production with his position at Fox News, where most of his colleagues were unaware of his royal roots until the July 1995 marriage of his brother Pavlos to heiress Marie-Chantal Miller, which made the society pages in New York City. That same year, Nikolaos returned to London to work at NatWest Markets, where he worked in the foreign exchange options department. Currently, the Prince works for his father at the King’s private office in London.

Whether it be London or Greece, Prince Nikolaos’s playboy status defies all geographic barriers, and is considered one of London’s most eligible bachelors. He has been pictured with the likes of models Elle MacPherson and Claudia Schiffer to actress Gwyenth Paltrow.


But the most talked about relationship the Prince has been rumoured to be in is his rumoured relationship with Crown Princess Victoria, the 27 year old heir to the Swedish throne. From the Norwegian King and Queen’s 60th birthday celebrations in 1997, where apparently the Love Boat made a love match, to subsequent royal gatherings from Princess Martha Louise of Norway’s 30th birthday and her wedding to author Ari Behn, the rumour mill has always ran rampant with a Greek-Swedish love match, though neither the Prince or Crown Princess has ever confirmed a romantic relationship ever existed between them.

Most recently, Prince Nikolaos has been linked romantically to Tatiana Blathnick, a 22 year old student who has visited Greece with the Prince on several occasions.


Until very recently, when the Greek government granted permission for the exiled royal family to return to their homeland for visits, Prince Nikolaos had only visited Greece twice in his life: for his paternal grandmother Queen Frederika’s funeral in 1981, and again for a private holiday with his family in 1992. This past August, the royal family was back in Greece for the Athens Olympics, and was pictured cruising on a boat proudly bearing the Greek flag amongst them.

Taki Theodoracopoulos, a long-time friend of the Greek royal family and a society columnist once said of Nikolaos: “[He] is Greek in a way we call mangas, which means somebody who is upper class but can mix with anybody. He knows both how to behave in Buckingham Palace and the ways of the street.”

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Official presentation of Prince Nikolaos in Rome after his birth, 1 October 1969.

King Constantine of Greece and his Danish born wife, Queen Anne Marie, present their newly born son Prince Nikolaos to the press in the garden of the couple's Rome villa 8 October. With them is their three year old daughter Princess Alexia. Their other son, Crown Prince Pavlos, 2, is not shown. The baby is eight days old. Constantine and family are living in voluntary exile in Italy.

Source: Australian Picture Library courtesy of Mandy

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Baptism of Prince Nikolaos, pictured here with his mother, Queen Anne Marie.

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Prince Nikolaos as a child through the years with his maternal family, including grandmother Queen Ingrid and cousins who included Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim of Denmark and Princess Alexandra, Prince Gustav and Princess Nathalie of Berelberg, pictured below in Denmark and in Graasten.

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The growing Greek royal family through the years, in London, Gstaad and Greece.

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Some special occasions in the Greek royal family, in order.

1. Birth of Olympia Maria, the King and Queen's first grandchild and Nikolaos's first niece.

2. Engagement of older sister Princess Alexia to Spanish archictect Carlos Morales.

3. & 4. Wedding of Princess Alexia to Carlos Morales in London.

5. December 2001 in Denmark.

6. Baptism of Princess Alexia and Carlos Morales's second daughter, Ana Maria in Greece.

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In order:

1. Baptism of younger brother Phillippos in London.

2. Silver Jubilee luncheon for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip, London, with Princess Martha Louise of Norway.

3. Joint 60th birthday celebrations for King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway, pictured with paternal cousin Prince Felipe of Spain.

4. Pre-wedding dinner for paternal cousin Infanta Cristina of Spain to Inaki Urdangarin.

5. & 6. Princess Alexandra of Berleberg's wedding to Count Jefferson von Pfeil. Prince Nikolaos escorting sister Princess Alexia and his cousin, the bride's younger sister, Princess Nathalie of Berleberg.

7. Baptism of cousin Prince Joachim of Denmark's first born son, Prince Nikolai.

8. Baptism of cousin Princess Alexandra of Berleberg's first child, son Count Richard von Pfeil, to whom Nikolaos is a godfather.

9. Sixtieth birthday celebrations for King Constantine.

10. Rehearsal in London for the baptism of oldest nephew Konstantine Alexios.

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Prince Nikolaos with his maternal grandmother at her 90th birthday (with a beard!) and attending her funeral.

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Prince Nikolaos at the recent weddings of his cousins Frederik of Denmark and Felipe of Spain.

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Prince Nikolaos the ladies man with the many rumoured relationships he's alleged to have, from Sophie Egmont Petersen and Elle MacPhereson to Gwyneth Paltrow and his current girlfriend, Tatiana Blathnick.

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The most talked about of all of Prince Nikoalos's relationships is the rumoured one with Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden.

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Some say that Prince Nikolaos is the ultimate Greek male. Here he is during visits to Greece within the past four years, including the most recent in August for the Olympic games.

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Prince Nikolaos