50th anniversary of the death of King Paul I of Greece: March 2014.

[Duke of Marmalade]

It seems you are correct. Anway, we know what picture will be on the cover of the magazines next week.

Strangely, this event is not being covered by the tabloids. There is only a small pic on front of diez minutos, stressing that Letizia & Cristina met again at an event, showing them in the same car.
http://www.ecestaticos.com/imagesta...ca5ae3d96dfad8d39d6ae2d9.jpg?mtime=1394609015

Maybe Letizia just has to dress her daughters in Marie Chantals designs

I have to say, I find the former GRF a bit obnoxious.

LOL

 

[Carminha Stalker]

The reason the Infantas Leonor and Sofia as well as the children of Alexia were not present had to do with the fact that their school schedules did not allow for it.

 

[fandesacs2003]

Could Greek members of the Board say if this Event was in the newspapers or TV ?
Grateful thanks. MO

Very few. Newspapers talked about the film but not about the remembrance. Some people magazines, yes.

 

[maria-olivia]

Thanks Fandesacs ,
King Constantin has some interest for some people magazines . Sad !
Had King Paul a longer life , perhaps Greece will still have Monarchs.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Very few. Newspapers talked about the film but not about the remembrance. Some people magazines, yes.

Was the limited media coverage negative or positive towards the Royal Family?

 

[wartenberg7]

Thanks Fandesacs ,
King Constantin has some interest for some people magazines . Sad !
Had King Paul a longer life , perhaps Greece will still have Monarchs.

Who can say? King Paul had his share of trouble with PMs, too.

As far as I know from reading records of the 1960s the political class distanced itself more and more from the monarchy as such since about the mid-1950s while before the military coup the population in general (especially the one in the countryside) was willing to keep this institution.
It was a bit like the situation in Sweden today: Most politicians would like to get rid of the monarchy while the majority of the population still wants to keep it. After Paul died, there were scenes of hysteria pro monarchy (women fainting on open street when they heard the news of the King´s death or when his coffin was driven by) as well as tremendous goodwill at Constantine and Anne-Marie´s wedding. Even in 1967 after the coup when CP Pavlos was christened large crowds, cheering and clapping, lined the streets to see the royal family drive by, while, I´m sure, many politicians were not happy to witness this goodwill towards the Royal Family.
The coup d´etat was the chance for them to finally abolish the monarchy and after the King stayed away from Greece for so many years, many Royalists changed their opinion about the monarchy similar to the political class.
I´m not sure if King Paul would have been able to stop this development.

 

[maria-olivia]

Thanks for your opinion , but should Queen Frederica be different as Queen Consort than Queen Dowager ?

 

[wartenberg7]

Thanks for your opinion , but should Queen Frederica be different as Queen Consort than Queen Dowager ?

Well, that´s hard to say, because opinions differ. Some say she wasn´t any different and tried both to influence her husband and her son politically, others (including herself in her memoirs) say there was some sort of a campaign against her starting about at the end of her husband´s reign to discredit her (like so often in history it was the woman who was blamed for her husband´s decisions - in this case sacking a PM).
I think it´s very hard to say after all these years, who´s right. May be there´s some truth to both sides as things are hardly only black or white. Perhaps people of today wouldn´t judge her that hard because selfassured, free-minded women are much more accepted nowadays other than back in the 1950s and 60s and expressing ones own opinion wouldn´t be conmdemned so easily as "influencing".
I think she was treated largely unfair because her merits for her role during the greek civil war after WW2 and her fearlesness riding out on a donkey through the mountains and facing herself with communist guerrillas who were taught to hate the royal family with virtually no protection, trying to convince them to put down their weapons was later very much underestimated. I cannot think of any other Queen in modern times to have done the same and proof her love for her people with such a lioness heart!
Still I don´t want to canonize Frederica as she had, like any other human-being, both her lighter as well as her darker sides.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KRexOl95S30/T453Wb5oH0I/AAAAAAAABtU/4rNyXRpNBJk/s1600/1951%2BGreek%2Bsoldier%2Bdisplaying%2Ba%2Bpinup%2Bof%2BQueen%2BFrederika%2Bon%2Bhis%2Bjeep%2527s%2Bwindshield%2Bduring%2Bthe%2BKorean%2BCivil%2Bwar..jpg

http://newhistories.group.shef.ac.uk/wordpress/wordpress/?p=2734

 

[fandesacs2003]

Was the limited media coverage negative or positive towards the Royal Family?

I would say the media which bothered to refer to, were not negative.

If this has been posted before, I´m sorry!
It´s a video (unfortunately mute) of King Paul´s sad, but still spectacular, state funeral procession through the streets of Athens (from Brit. Pathé News):

KING PAUL'S FUNERAL PROCESSION - British Pathé

Very precious video, thanks. I could not distinguish, behind the King and the dowager Queen, the two ladies should be Pcs Irinia and Q Sofia, but who were the 3 men walking with them?
From other royals I recognized only Pcs Rainier.

 

[wartenberg7]

Very precious video, thanks. I could not distinguish, behind the King and the dowager Queen, the two ladies should be Pcs Irinia and Q Sofia, but who were the 3 men walking with them?
From other royals I recognized only Pcs Rainier.

The 3 men are Princes Michael (young King´s cousin)and Peter of Greece and Don Juan Carlos of Spain (Sophias husband). From left to right:
Prcss Sophia, Prince Peter, Prcss Irene, Pr Michael and Juan Carlos de Bórbon.
http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/c95617ba781916e6_large

Among the foreign royals are, besides Pr. Rainier, King Frederik IX of Denmark, King Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, King Baudoin of the Belgians, dutch Queen Juliana, GD Jean of Luxembourg, King Olav of Norway, Prince Philip of Britain and Juan Carlos´father the Count of Barcelona.
Behind them follow the republican heads of state or representatives such as First Lady Ladybird Johnson (USA) or the german President and deposed Kings (of Italy, Romania, Bulgaria).

This is a video (also Brit. Pathé News) days earlier when the late King was brought to the Cathedral for his lying-in-state:
http://www.britishpathe.com/video/king-pauls-body-taken-to-cathedral/query/king+paul

and a link from Life about colour pics of King Paul´s funeral. Click on photos beneath "related images" on the right for further photos and the photos themselves to enlarge them:
http://images.google.com/hosted/life/0811cbdbba384d9b.html
.

 

[fandesacs2003]

Thanks @wartenberg.
This pic of young King Constantine is heartbreaking. And 50 years after he had the same sorrow!

 

[Nikolopoulus]

I liked the memorial of King Paul, I've seen in the tomb are deposited other flowers. I acknowledge that the Tatoi´s palace is not of the Greek royal family, it is of the government, but I was surprised to know that Crown Prince Felipe has never visited the property, his mother, HM Queen Sophia only has visited the Palace in 1998, after she only has visited the cementery , I guess they want to avoid controversy, but I was surprised, I thought the Prince Felipe would have visited the Palace on occasion, however he has only visited the cemetery.

 

[wartenberg7]

But when or why would he visited the palace? He was born in 1968 at a time when his greek uncle and aunt couldn´t live there any longer. And the building itself is an empty, ghostly place.
For Félipe only the graveyard, where his ancestors from his mother´s side of the family are buried, is of importance.
To your remark Tatoi was property of the greek state: That´s only the case since 2004 (I believe) after long, endless negotiations between the greek royal family and the greek government. King Constantine was justified by the european court of human rights, that he had to get compensation for the property as Tatoi was, up to this time, ALWAYS a PRIVATE property of the royal family and NOT the state!
The father of George I, the danish King, bought Tatoi for his son as his own private property when he was offered the greek throne! It was not the greek state giving it to him.
King Constantine had no chance other than giving it up after the government blocked every rational offer by the former King only for reasons of harassment. It´s a real shame how they dealt with the property of another man!

 

[tamta]

Can someone say when/where is the documentary of Paul scheduled to be screened for the wider public, or if not, where is it that we can access it..?

 

[BELTRANEJA]

The documentary can be seen in the War Museum, in Athens, the days 12-13-14th april , at 18:00 and 21:00 hours

offical web:
the picture
http://www.greekroyalfamily.gr/images/stories/eidiseis/King_Pavlos_docum.jpg
and link.
Î*ΡΟΓΡΑΜΜΑ Î*ΡΟΒΟΛΩΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΚΟΥ ΒΙΟΓΡΑΦΙΚΟΥ ΝΤΟΚΙΜΑΝΤΕΡ "Î*ΑΥΛΟΣ ΕΝΑΣ ΑΣΥΝΗΘΙΣΤΟΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΑΣ" ΣΤΗΝ ΑΘΗΝΑ - Royal Greek Family

http://www.greekroyalfamily.gr/images/stories/eidiseis/King_Pavlos_docum.jpg

 

[carlfraley]

After you have seen the Documentary you will know that even Constantine Mitsotakis (former Greek Prime Minister , Minister of Foreign Affairs, he was also one of King Pauls ministers) and Knew King paul well. He talks in the Documentary a lot and says that King Paul was his OWN MAN. That the Rumors about HM The Queen Influencing The King were just that , Rumors. The King was just that the King, and had the King lived 10 more years, Greece would be different Today. This is amazing coming from a a former member of Georgios Papandreou's government.

People in Greece barely remember the stabilizing effect HM The King had on Greek Politics by exercising His Constitutional Perrogatives wisely and effectively in the 17 years of his Reign. Even his opponents fifty years later are re-evaluating his reign and his actions such as Mitsotakis(granted i think it has a lot to do with documents coming to light, and a lot of the truth coming to the surface, and stuff that people have tried to bury in the last 50 years).

King Pavlos just like his Grandfather was an Excellent Sovereign and his successor King Constantine (just like his grandfather) fell prey to the corrupt and unscrupulous politicians b/c of their Mothers German origins. Look at the similarities. and Yet look back at the 152 years who has suffered the entire time ----> The Greek People.

The only time the Greek Politicians seem to be able to function IMO is when they are held responsible to a permanent Head of state (such as George I, II, and HM King Paul.)

 

[eya]

We never know if King Paul lived 10 more years Greece it would different or he was unable to prevent the coup. The fact is fact and the can't change.

 

[Nikolopoulus]

I liked this film, I recognize the opinion of Mitsotakis about Queen Frederika for me has been a great novelty. King Paul was an excellent diplomat, his diplomatic work was essential to Greece after the Second World War. I agree with K. Mitsotakis, King Pavlo was old and had experience with politicians.