King George II (1890-1947) and Princess Elisabeth of Romania (1894-1956)

[Marengo]

King George (Georgios) II of the Hellenes (Tatoi, 19 July 1890 - Athens, 1 April 1947); married in Bucharest on 27 February 1921 (divorced in 1935) Princess Elisabeth of Romania (Pelesch, 12 October 1894 - Cannes, 14 November 1956)

Reign: 1922 - 1924 and 1935 - 1947

Dynasty: Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

Predecessor: King Constantine I of the Hellenes

Successor: King Paul I of the Hellenes

Children: -

Parents George: King Constantine I of Greece and Princess Sophie of Prussia

Parents Elisabeth: King Ferdinand of Romania and Princess Marie of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Great Britain & Ireland

Siblings George: King Alexander I of the Hellenes; Queen Helen of Romania; King Paul of the Hellenes; Princess Irene of Italy, Duchess of Aosta, titular Queen of Croatia; and Princess Katharina of Greece & Denmark, Mrs. Brandram

Siblings Elisabeth: King Carol II of Romania; Queen Maria of Yugoslavia; Prince Nicholas of Romania, Archduchess Ileana of Austria-Tuscany and Prince Mircea of Romania

[Marengo]

From wikipedia:

George II (Greek: Γεώργιος Β', Βασιλεύς των Ελλήνων) (19 July/20 July 1890 - 1 April 1947) ruled Greece from 1922 to 1924 and from 1935 to 1947.

George was born at the royal villa at Tatoi, near Athens, the eldest son of Constantine I, King of the Hellenes and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia. He was a great-grandson of Queen Victoria and grandson of George I of Greece, the Danish prince of Glucksburg who had been selected as King in 1863. He was a direct descendant of five Greek imperial (Byzantine) dynasties (Monomachos, Comnenos, Laskaris, Angelos, and Paleologos). George pursued a military career, training with the Prussian Guard at the age of 18, then serving in the Balkan War as a member of the 1st Greek Infantry. When his grandfather was assassinated in 1913, George became the crown prince (Diadochos) as well as the Duke of Sparta.
After a coup deposed King Constantine during the First World War, Crown Prince George, by then a Major, followed his father into exile in 1917 (see National Schism); his brother Alexander was installed as a puppet ruler by prime minster Eleftherios Venizelos.
When Alexander I died following an infection from a monkey bite in 1920, Venezelos was voted out of office, and a plebiscite restored Constantine to the throne. Crown Prince George served as a colonel, and later a major general in the war against Turkey. During this time he married, on 27 February 1921 in Bucharest, Princess Elisabeth of Romania, daughter of King Ferdinand I of Romania and Princess Marie of Edinburgh. When the Turks defeated Greece at the Battle of Smyrna, the military forced the abdication of Constantine, and George succeeded to the Greek throne on September 27, 1922.
Following a failed royalist coup (by Ioannis Metaxas) in October 1923, the Revolutionary Committee "asked" him to depart Greece while the National Assembly considered the question of the future form of government. He complied and, although he refused to abdicate, he left on December 19, 1923 for exile in his wife's home nation of Romania. When a republic was proclaimed on March 25, 1924, he was officially deposed, stripped of his Greek nationality and his property confiscated.
His wife stayed in Bucharest whilst he spent more and more time abroad visiting Britain, and his mother in Florence. In 1932 he left Romania permanently and moved to Britain. Elisabeth and he had no children, and were divorced on July 6, 1935.

Read the entire article here.

[Marengo]

From wikipedia:

Elisabeth of Romania (12 October 1894 - 14 November/15 November 1956) was the Queen Consort of King George II of Greece. She was the daughter of King Ferdinand I of Romania and his wife, Marie of Edinburgh. Her full birth name was Elisabetha Charlotte Josephine Alexandra Victoria.
She was born in the Peleş Castle. In Bucharest on 27 February 1921, she married the future King George, then Crown Prince, in Bucharest. She was queen consort from 1922 to 1923, and afterwards the couple lived in exile. The marriage was unsuccessful, and they were divorced on 6 July 1935. George was restored to his throne on 3 November 1935. Elisabeth then returned to live in Romania until its monarchy was abolished after World War II.

Read the entire article here.

[Zonk]

Okay...I finally read Born to Rule and the book centers on the granddaughters of Queen Victoria (Sophie of Greece and Marie of Romania, Maud of Denmark, Alexandra of Russia and Ena of Spain). Its an excellent book and let's just say that it doesn't say anything positive about Elisabeth. Its a shame that good intentions of parents often gone astray.

I question how Elisabeth and Carol would have turned out if there parents would have had more of an influence in their lives.

[Marengo]

Originally Posted by Zonk

Okay...I finally read Born to Rule and the book centers on the granddaughters of Queen Victoria (Sophie of Greece and Marie of Romania, Maud of Denmark, Alexandra of Russia and Ena of Spain). Its an excellent book and let's just say that it doesn't say anything positive about Elisabeth. Its a shame that good intentions of parents often gone astray.

I question how Elisabeth and Carol would have turned out if there parents would have had more of an influence in their lives.

To be honest, i don't know how good the intentions of the parents were, most of the upbringing must have been taken care of by the staff. Though Marie did fire the governess, Miss Saxon Winter. She hired her after she heard good stories about her from the Dutch court, where she 'drilled' Wilhelmina, but Marie was less strict than queen Emma. From what I read in Hanah Pakula's bio. Marie wasn't an especially doting mother, and most of her interest went to her youngest daughter (and in the early years probably to the mirror).

-
About queen Elisabeth: she is supposed to have said the following: 'I have commited every vice but one, and I do not intend to die before I killed a man'.

[Zonk]

Well I am sure they were raised by nannies but the book implies that Marie didn't have that much of an impact in the lives of Elisabeth and Carol due to the interference of Queen Elisabeth (King Carol's wife).

[EmpressRouge]

Marie suffered a similar fate to her aunt Vicky, Empress Frederick. Highly intelligent woman but whose mothering skills were called into question with a few enfants terribles (Vicky: Wilhelm and Charlotte, Marie: Carol and Elisabeth). Queen Sophie learned from was against the Greco-Romanian marriages perhaps as a result of her own mother's dealings with her siblings.

[aria753]

Does anyone know what happened to Elisabeth in her final years? After being thrown out of Romania I have never heard anything about her last years.

[maria-olivia]

After 1945 Elisabeth , ex Queen of Greece ,went to France and she died in Cannes.

[maria-olivia]

The Queen of Romania was Helena of Greece, mother of King Michel.
The two sisters Irene and Helena of Greece had sad lifes.
Irene who married the Prince of Aoste, Amadeo's father , could not assist to her husband's funerals in south of America because she had no money at all.

[BELTRANEJA]

Excuseme my translation to english, it is not good.this is a summary of the life of Queen Elizabeth that I have found:

Elisabeth of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. Born on October 11, 1894 Sinaia, Romania. Daughter of King Fernando I of Romania and Princess Mary of Saxe-Coburgo and Gotha.
On February 27, 1921 in Bucharest, Romania, Princess Elizabeth married the Prince George of Greece. Of this marriage weren´t born children . One month later, her brother Carol, Prince Crown of Romania, married in Athens, Greece, with Princess Elena, sister of George.
On September 27, 1922, after the abdication of his father, King Constantine I, George became King of Greece.

The Republicans won the elections in Greece. The new government asked the King to leave the country for three months .
He and his spouses went to live to the royal palace of Bucharest. Three months later, in 1924, was proclaimed the Republic in Greece. George II went to England, leaving his wife in Bucharest. In 1935, they were divorced, she lost her title of Queen Elizabeth of Greece.
When her brother Carol was divorced of Princess Elena of Greece, she became in the first lady of Romania.
Carol II was forced to abdicate in his son Michael in 1940. Elizabeth collaborated with the Communists against King Michael. After the Second World War, the Communists reached the government and the monarchy was replaced in 1947. In 1948 Elizabeth was expelled from the country. Princess Elisabeth of Romania,ex Queen of Greece, died on November 14, 1956.Some historians claim that the favorite phrase of Elizabeth was :
"I have committed all the vices possible in my life except murder, and I will not expect to die without having done it"

one picture
Imageshack - elizabethw

I think that she wanted be Queen of Romania.

[stef]

If this phrase is the former Queen Elizabeth,I think that she should be a woman very cruel and she could not be very religious..If she collaborating with the communists, she also conspired against romanian orthodox church

[BELTRANEJA]

She died in France but. Is her body buried in France? Or is her body buried in Portugal with her beloved brother, Carol?

I imagine that by her conduct her funeral should not be the Orthodox rite.

[maris]

George of Greece & Elisabeta of Romania: budding romance, 1914

'Shattered Dreams', my new article on Elisabeta ex-Queen of Greece in Majesty magazine Sept 2009

[snowflower]

I ve always wondered how comes he never married after the divorce . I mean , didn't he want to leave behind a child of his own to succeed him as a King or Queen? Most royals at that time saw it as a duty to produce children for the dynasty's sake.....

By the way . I ve read that he died just 3 weeks before his sister Catherine's marriage. She is the one to find him dead nhis bed . How horrible for her and the rest family he didn't have the opportunity to see his baby sister getting married ( he was 23 years her senior and he became quite the parental figure in her life after their father died).

[cataliny]

Hi,

I'm surprised to see what you wrote about ELISABETH OF ROMANIA dear BELTRANEJA. Could you please tell us wich are the historians who said that horrible phrase about this princess? I've studied history and I never read about this. She was a person who deeply loved solitude ,classical music,reading .... but not a murderer . If you would read her journal you would never say that about hear.

[Nikolopoulus]

I have read the words of the former Queen in several biographies, it is possible that it was false, but her support to the communism in Romania, is true,She supported the Romanian Communists to overthrow her nephew, King Michael of Romania, the present King.

King George had no children because he could not have it, he suffered a problem of heart.

[stef]

I've always thought that the former Queen Elizabeth, never liked Greece, I think she was smart for this reason she wanted to have power, in Greece she had no such power over the King George, she knew she had a great influence on her brother Carol, , I think she was smarter than Carol, and she had a strong influence on her brother.She was who wanted the divorce

[Vasillisos Markos]

Wasn't Elizabeth's world view warped by her upbringing at the hands of King Carol and his consort, Elizabeth, also known as Carmen Sylva?

[BELTRANEJA]

I did not say she was foolish, on the contrary, she had a reputation for very smart.


and yes THE qUEEN ELIZABETH OF ROMANIA wrote poetry with the name of Carmen Sylba, when you're looking famous phrases, you find phrases of her , for example:: Foolishness is always placed first in line to be seen, the intelligence behind to see.

but Carmen Sylba was Queen Elizabeth of Romania(1843-1916) She was not Queen Elizabeth of Greece.

Queen elizabeth of Romania(Carmen Sylba) was aunt of Princess Elizabeth.(Queen of Greece)(I think)