King George I (1845-1913) and Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia (1851-1926)


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There's some confusion here. Prior to World War II the term was British Empire, post 1945 it became the British Commonwealth, and later the Commonwealth of Nations.

There is no way in the world that Greece, a sovereign nation, would have become a member state of the British Empire if Prince Alfred had become King.
Using the same analagy, one could just as well claim that King Otto (born a Prince of Bavaria) would have made Greece a member state of the German Confederation.
It's absurd.
 
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I'm talking about an organization formed by states that have historical ties with England, the States are independent and sovereigns, they aim to collaborate. I thought it was called so ..... It has no sense because the King was George which belonged to the Danish royal family.

This picture of George and Olga It is very old.

http://i953.photobucket.com/albums/ae16/RFAMILY_G/goegeyolga.jpg
 
In what date is that photo? They were very young
 
The foto was taken right after their marriage. Given that they were married when he was 22 and she 16, no wonder they look so young :eek:. I can't imagine how hard it must have been for Olga to have to leave her family and country for another unkown one AND become a Queen with all the work that comes with the crown AND become a mother just 10 months after her marriage and al this while still a TEENAGER. It's not surprising that at first Grand Duke Konstantin was strongly opposed to the marriage. I wonder how she must have felt when she first came to Greece so young, to an unfamiliar palace with no one to help her but her young husband. Well , thanks God that the marriage was more of a love match that an arranged matter.
 
I have always had great admiration of Queen Olga. I wish more were written about her.
 
Voting for a new monarch

I ve been lucky enough to find the results of the elections which where held in 11 December 1962 in order for the Greeks to chhose a new monarch after Otto's exile. All Greeks men over 21 voted, as well as those abroad (in the consulates)

The results:
Prince Alfred, Duke of Endimburg: 230,066
the Duke of Leuchtenberg:2,400
"an Orthodox King" : 1,917
the Tsar (no kidding): 1,841
"a King" : 1,763
" an Imperial Prince of France" : 246
Prince Napoleon: 245
a republic: 93
the Count of Flanders:17
Prince Amedeo of Italy:15
Prince William of Denmark:6
Prince Ypsilanti:6
King Otto:1

It seems that King George was on the list , although he received very few votes. What surpises me was that over a 1,000 people said that they wanted the Tsar to become their sovereign. This alone clearly shows that many Greeks of the time had little , if none, political education and knowledge since they couldn't realise that the Tsar, who was the sovereign of another country, couldn't also rule their country. It also show that the idea of an actual Greek being placed in the throne wasn't very popular, since Ypsilantis only got 6 votes....
 
The best choice was George because he was who had more ties with other states ..
His brother and his father were Kings of Denmark, his nephew King of Norway .... Besides the relationship he had with other royal houses...
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/2036/lagranfoto.jpg
I think that ultimately prevailed in the choice of economic criteria because the normal had be a Christian Orthodox King ...
 
King George was pretty adamant about his religion. He accepted every other term the Greek National Assembly had decided, exept converting to Orthodoxy. He said he was to remain Lutheran whatsoever. At first, the Greeks didn't like that, since they still remembered very well Otto and Amalia and their efforts to support Catholicism and Protestantism in Greece, but threy finally accepted it, on the term that he would not raise any of his children as Lutheran. Then , he went on to marry one of the most devout Grand Duchesses of Russia and that solved the problem forever.
 
Exactly, I think that Greece had never elected a Catholic king, this is obvious .. Greece is Orthodox territory .... but then prevailed the Lutheran church and interests of an economic ...
There is a similar between King George I and Queen Sofia of Spain. The Queen Sofia hadn´t renounced her Orthodox religion ..When she married with Juan Carlos , the Pope John XXIII, granted a marriage dispensation to them, the Queen Sofia pledged that her children were educated in the Catholic Church but She would maintain her Orthodox religion
 
Indeed, Greece would never have elected a Catholic King, although they had one , and a very devout one we must say. But that was proved to be a big thorn, since Otto brought with him many Catholic missionnaires, and people in Greece became furious.

Didn't Queen Sofia convetred to Catholicism during her honeymoon? And the Greek Orthodox Church didn't like that very much, because she " rushed" to convert and didn't at least wait a little longer....
 
I don´t speak this ...I wanted say the Queen is similar King George, she pledged that her children were reared in the faith catolic, but she didn´t resigned when she marry with King Juan Carlosh, as George, he did not renounce the religion for marry with Queen Olga , she was ortodox Russian and he was Luterano...(Queen Sophie became ).
I think this is peculiar because in George's case, this shows that his election was by economic interests ......
 
One of the main reasons he was elected was that the Great Powers couldn't agree on a single candidate. Britain proposed Ernst, the Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha the Prince of Leiningen, the Prince of Lohenhole and Maximilian of Austria. Russia was torn between the Duke of Leuchtenberg and William of Baden and France supported the Duc d Aumale. Then , after long disagreements the Emperor proposed Prince Wilhelm of Denmark. All the Great Powers said that he was the best solution and that he should be King. They had doubts nowever , since he was so young and he could easily fail due to inexperience, but they decided that economically and politically it was indeed the best solutions
 
King George I was the best King of Greece
Trouble started when his son took over KG shouldn't have trusted him
He could have named another son his successor Prince George or Nicholas maybe
The Monarchy in Greece could have lasted until today
 
How could King George name his successor? Wasn't primogeniture the rule in Greece and therefore the King's eldest son would be his successor?
 
According to the Constitution the Greek King could name a successor , but only if he had no relatives to suceed him at all. So, the only case in which George could have named a successor was if his marriage was childless.
 
Snowflower,

Thank you. Thus, the sons had to succeed their father in proper order and the king could not pick and choose. The only shakeup to the succession order would be through voluntary abdication and being thrown out.
 
George I was the first King in Greece He could have made an amendment

He had the power
 
He was the second actually, the first one being Otto of Bavaria. And if he wished to make an amendement , it would have to be a general one - not only for his succesor, but for the succesor of every Greek King. IMO, there is no way that the Parliament would have agreed to that term - no matter how much power he actually had, legally the ministers were the ones acting in his name he was "irresponsible" - that's the actual translation of the greek word, I can't think of a better one right now :ermm:. Plus , even if he was able to do that,there would definitely be a term that the Parliament's majority would have to vote for it and that it could veto his support, becuase if the succeor was to be chosen in term of value, why would the King be the only one evaluating the candidates? Not to mention that the main reason the Great Powers and the Greek people wanted a King was to guarantee some kind of stability and thus, an elective succession was definately not a good idea
 
Otto of Bavaria was an old King with no luck or continuity He made incorrigible mistakes
King George I was the first of the Glucksburg Dynasty
He knew what happened to Otto and should have tried to gain more power and impose himself for the sake of the Monarchy
Your arguments are very weak Admit it Constantine was not the right one to succeed his Father and George didn't do anything to change the order of succession
Or maybe George didn't realize the trouble they were getting into
 
Whether Constantine was the "right" son to succeed is not relevant -- kings believe they rule by divine right, they recognized the rules of primogeniture and I don't think George would have appointed a younger son just because he did not think Constantine was the "right" one. History is replete with monarchs believing more deserving children were kept from the throne because of birth order (George V of Great Britain comes to mind and luckily Edward VIII abdicated, bringing George VI to the throne). I believe you are making too great a leap by stating George I could have exercised his power to appoint a younger son or that he could have persuaded the Greek parliament to do so.
 
I just finished a biography of Queen Alexandra of Great Britain (Alexandra, Princess and Queen by David Huff) and there is a charming story in the book about Queen Olga. Olga was Queen Alexandra's sister-in-law and the two were very fond of each other. After Olga lost the right to live in her properties located in Greece and Russia due to displacement of the royal family and revolution, she moved to London. George V was fond of his aunt and often invited her to Windsor Castle, where Olga was wheeled about the corridors by an old retainer who had also served Queen Victoria. Due to her short-sightedness, Olga saw through misty eyes a bronze figure of a woman on a horse and said, "Queen Victoria, I presume" but she could not see that the figure was naked. "No, ma'am" said the servant, "Lady Godiva of Coventry." Ha!
 
 
The photograph in the first link reminds me of Queen Alexandra, who was George's oldest sister.
 
BELTRANEJA said:
This pictures are wonderful, I like of Queen Olga of Greece
Click to expand...
Beltraneja,
A fantastic group of photos- that are also very rare- many thanks again!
 
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it is fantastic, the story related in images. I surprise the picture of the body of the King about bed. It is obvious, he was a great King and demostration of this, was his funeral. thank you!!!!
 
This is a reconstruction of the scene of the murder, the "x" marks the spot where King George was killed. Nine escorts!!!????????????????????
 
I too have called attention the number of escorts wore the king, was too wide for a shot so accurate .
 
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