Princess Irene (1942- 2026), sister of King Constantine


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
And princess Irene of the Netherlands as well who was born only weeks before Germany's invasion in Poland.
Irini is a Greek word meaning peace. Pronounced exactly the same is also a quite common female name in Greece, given quite often and not only in war period. The GRF had also other Irini, the duchess of Aosta the daughter or King Konstantine 1st of the Hellenes and aunt of Irini daughter of King Pavlos.
So the story of the baby girl named after a residence area... at least funny...
Orthodox names are given with strict rules, especially at this period. To name a baby it should exist a Saint of the orthodox church having this name. Full stop. So a residence area..


Sent from my SM-A426B using The Royals Community mobile app
 
Wikipedia — "Nellmapius renamed the farm Irene Estate, after his daughter Irene Violet Nellmapius. Irene is derived from the Greek word meaning peace. She used to pronounce her name with three syllables: Ireenee, it is still pronounced like this today."

So while I don't believe Princess Irene was specifically named for the place, the place and the name are the same. And perhaps might have served as an inspiration for her parents. But she very likely could have been "Irini" if they'd stayed anywhere else, too.
 
Princess Irene at the White House with Lynda Johnson in 1967
 
Dated February 1967 just 10 months later the King,Queen ,Queen Mother and Royal Family were in exile :previous:
 
Lovely to see Queen Anne Marie in attendance!
 
Posts including speculative articles about the mental health of Princess Irene and replies to the posts have been removed. Without an official confirmation/announcement it is inappropriate and violating to speculative on such a highly sensitive topic/aspect of private life. Thank you for your understanding.
 
I agree with you, but, for that reason, it is very unethical, since it affects a person's privacy, for the media to publish this information based on presuppositions of the press itself
 
Princess Irene at the White House with Lynda Johnson in 1967

One of my silly minor wishes is that Infanta Sofia will decide to borrow a vintage dress and restyle her hair for the occasion and then we can really see just how much she looks like young Princess Irene. :heart2:
 
One of my silly minor wishes is that Infanta Sofia will decide to borrow a vintage dress and restyle her hair for the occasion and then we can really see just how much she looks like young Princess Irene. [emoji813]2:
She does not need to do all this. It is true that she looks a lot. It is crazy, it is like if they were mother and daughter....and in reality they are separated by 2 generations and there is no direct lineage. Biology plays games...
 
She does not need to do all this. It is true that she looks a lot. It is crazy, it is like if they were mother and daughter....and in reality they are separated by 2 generations and there is no direct lineage. Biology plays games...

It's not entirely crazy; even though Irene and her sister don't look very much like each other, the video still shows the family resemblance between the two of them, so it's not completely from nowhere. Why Sofia's granddaughter should look like her sister, when neither of her own daughters did, is a little bit of a mystery. Unless Sofia's deep love for her siblings was bound to pop up somewhere eventually. :flowers:

I know Infanta Sofia doesn't actually have to emphasize her obvious resemblance to her great-aunt, but Irene's never had Sofia's kind of long straight hair, nor do we see very many pictures of them together, sadly, so I just think a more vintage-looking young Sofia on some occasion or other would be cute.
 
Sad news :sad:

Princess Irene of Greece has announced in the following letter that she is forced to stop the activities of her Organization "World in Harmony".

Dear friends,

After a period of 37 years, the activities of "World in Harmony" will cease at the end of 2023. Our organization will cease to operate after December 31st.
You have our gratitude for all these years of friendship and cooperation.
Thank you for your solidarity and support. We will always be grateful.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2024.
With our best wishes,

Irene of Greece
President

The actions of "World in Harmony" for 2023:
* Emergency.
-Through the Red Cross, we sent money to the victims of the earthquakes in Turkey and Morocco.
* Health and nutrition.
- Monthly food shipment to the soup kitchen of Santa Pontificia y Real Hermandad del Refugio (Spain).
-Distribution of snacks to Roma pupils at the 7th School of Aspropyrgos (Greece).
-Purchase of medical equipment for the Tygerberg Hospital (South Africa)
-Collaboration with Philani Nutrition Center (South Africa)
-Purchase and distribution of medicines through the Metropolis of Acharnon (Greece).
* Music Scholarships.
-Piano scholarship 2022-2023 at Anton Bruckner University (Austria).
- Collaboration 2022-2023 for an advanced course in conducting (Spain).
* Education.
-Cultural Conservation and Training Collaboration in classrooms in a school on the Hopi Indian Reservation: Hopitutukuaiaki (United States)
-Contribution to the programs of the Greek Orthodox Church in Spain and Portugal.

With deep gratitude to all the donors who made these projects possible.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C1nh4l5IXRI/?igsh=MjJkMmIyYzQxYw==
 
Video of Princess Irene's baptism. She was christened at her parents' Claremont home by the Metropolitan of the Holy Archdiocese of Good Hope.
 
As has been the case in recent years, the Royal Household has only announced the presence of King Felipe and Queen Letizia at the reception for Balearic society, which will take place on Monday the 4th. Although it was announced that way other years, Queen Sofia attended afterwards.


But this year there is considerable uncertainty. Several media outlets close to the House had announced that the Princess of Asturias and Infanta Sofía would be attending for the first time but it has not been officially confirmed. It also appears to be confirmed that Queen Sofia has not yet traveled to Palma because Princess Irene's health is quite delicate.
If queen Sophia has not yet travelled to Mallorca this summer, I assume her sister's health is such that she can no longer travel with her. Does anyone know more about her current health condition?
 
If queen Sophia has not yet travelled to Mallorca this summer, I assume her sister's health is such that she can no longer travel with her. Does anyone know more about her current health condition?
According to Hola, Queen Sofia will travel to Palma tomorrow to attend the reception on Monday, and her delay is due to Irene having to undergo medical tests. No media has confirmed whether Irene will travel with her or not.

Irene is not a member of the Spanish Royal Family, so there is no official information about her or her health, but she was last seen in public in February at Nikolaos's wedding in Athens. It's with the arrival of summer that the rumors have increased because by mid-July they were usually settled in Palma, but this year no one confirmed what was going to happen. When a journalist confirmed that Felipe and his sisters had convinced Sofía to go to Palma with Irene and that they would take turns accompanying them, it seems that Irene's health suffered a setback and everything changed again.

What all sources confirm is that she is experiencing increasing cognitive and mobility impairment.
 
Before King Constantine passed away, every time Queen Sofia didn't attend an event, she'd gone weeks without attending events or had no haven photos of her... the rumor of the press was about Constantine's health... Now, the rumor is about Princess Irene.

It's obvious that Princess Irene's health is poor, we can all see it, but that doesn't mean that every time Queen Sofia doesn't travel...., it's about her sister's health. It could also be that Queen Sophia's undergoing medical tests.
In any case, it would be justified for Princess Irene not to travel to Mallorca, this would be normal, it is not necessary to alarm with rumors of Irene's worsening health.

This has become an obsession in the Spanish press: raising concerns about the health of the Queen's relatives.
 
Princess Irene's health is very fragile. It's not just a Spanish press obsession, it's been noticeable in photos in the last 3 years - from walking supporting herself on a steady arm, to be in a wheelchair.

She's 83 y.o. and well documented sources in Spain are saying her physical and mental health are deteriorating fast. Queen Sofia made a token institutional appearance in Mallorca this year when she's always the first one to arrive in Marivent. and the last one to leave. If nothing else, this should give us a clue how much she's worried about her sister.
 
Last edited:
And why is that Irene? Queen Sofia is 87 years old. Last year she had a terrible time in Mallorca when she was walking with her granddaughter Leonor; she got dizzy due to the high temperatures. In Spain, many older people prefer to change their vacation destination to the north of Spain because of the heat. I remember King Juan Carlos's mother, who decided to change her vacation destination and went to spend the summer in the north of Spain, specifically in Cantabria, because the climate is more humid and the temperatures are lower.

Queen Sofia is older, and she has to take care of herself. The high summer temperatures in Mallorca are not beneficial for her either, as demonstrated last year. It is possible that Queen Sofia has decided not to travel, because instead of being locked up in the Palace, she prefers to stay in the Palace of Madrid. That is another possibility.

There's no official announcement. It's true and obvious that Irene can't travel, but I think Queen Sofia can either. Traveling to Mallorca to be locked away in a palace isn't a vacation.
 
The Spanish press has been reporting that the Queen Sofia has canceled her agenda due to the health condition of her sister, Princess Irene.According to the press, her health is extremely fragile.

 
The description in Spanish is that her life is fading out bit by bit. Her situation is critical - Sophia did still travel to Paris last weekend for her cousin’s funeral mass. So, the situation must have gotten even more critical since.
 
It is important to distinguish between what comes from the Spanish Royal House (Zarzuela) and what the press adds.
In this article ; it talks about what the Spanish Royal House has informed to Europa Press:
"Queen Sofía has postponed the scheduled events she had planned this week in order to accompany her sister, Princess Irene, who has suffered a relapse in her health condition, according to sources from Zarzuela to Europa Press." This has been said by Zarzuela


The Princess has had very poor health for months, and this statement from the royal house leads us to think that her condition is very, very delicate, and if we add that Queen Sofia traveled to France this weekend, it is obvious that this deterioration has occurred between yesterday and today. From this come the statements of the press.
 
I disagree:
The Royal Household has said that she has had a relapse, but has not said that she is in critical condition, or that her end is near, as the Spanish press is claiming.

I think King Constantine always expressed his wish to die in Athens, and as his health worsened, a year before his death he sold his house in Porto Heli and settled in Athens to fulfill his last wish.

Prince Michel lived in France; he resided in Athens seasonally, but his usual residence was in Paris. When he fell ill, and the treatment failed, he settled in Athens, aware that he was in the final stage of his life.

I remember Princess Irene walking through the Tatoi cemetery during a Greek interview in 2007. She felt Greek and sensed a special energy in that cemetery. Based on everything she said and what we've read in her biography in Spain, I believe she, too, should die in Athens when the time comes.

Therefore, I believe Princess Irene may have had a relapse of her illness (the exact nature of which we don't know), but that doesn't mean she's fading away, as the press claims.

I think this should be taken into consideration, since what the Spanish Royal Household has said is that she has had a relapse... I think this possibility should also be considered.

This afternoon I was watching a Spanish television program that was talking about Queen Sofia, and I found it cruel. They were even discussing the Princess's funeral and where she would be buried.
She is alive, and her specific state of health is not known to the press. They shouldn't play with this, because it is cruel.

I pray for the Princess.
 
Princess Irene is not a member of the Spanish Royal Family, therefore the official information service of the Royal Household will not give personal information about her, only what is necessary to explain why Sofia has decided to cancel her schedule.

Hola magazine is often the unofficial source for Queen Sofía... her team leaks personal activities and news to the magazine that the official press office of the Royal Household doesn't share with the press. So when they published that Irene's health is critical, it's strange that they didn't have reliable information.

The trip to Paris lasted just long enough to attend the funeral, as she traveled with King Felipe on an official plane and they were back in Spain within a few hours. Tatiana was like a sister to her.
 
Didn’t Princess Irene obtain spanish citizenship in 2018 and renounced her greek citizenship at the same time ? That’s what was reported at least…

If that is true, to me that sounds like she wishes to be close to her sister even if that would mean being buried in Spain…
 
Didn’t Princess Irene obtain spanish citizenship in 2018 and renounced her greek citizenship at the same time ?

Yes, see the posts on page 9 of this thread, starting here:


Interesting news. Why would she have applied for an expedited process after so many years in Spain? What are the benefits for her (and the down sides) of obtaining Spanish citizenship?

I didn't see any mention of expediting her file, though perhaps something was lost in translation.

According to the article linked below her "previous status was unclear since she was stripped of her Greek Nationality in 1994" but it doesn't explain why she waited 24 years to apply for Spanish citizenship.

Princess Irene of Greece is now a Spanish citizen – Royal Central

The Greek former royal family was technically never stripped of their Greek citizenship, rather, they were stripped of their Greek passports and other rights associated with Greek citizenship.

 
Princess Irene did not apply for Spanish nationality through the ordinary channels; she received it through an exceptional procedure. Perhaps it was a wish of her nephew, the King, stemming from her years living in Spain, her support for Sofia, and her humanitarian work... or perhaps given her age and health problems, it was easier to manage her legal and health affairs if she was a Spanish citizen.
 
Back
Top Bottom