Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark
| Princess Irene | |
|---|---|
 Irene in 1966 | |
| Born | 11 May 1942 Cape Town, South Africa |
| House | Glücksburg |
| Father | Paul of Greece |
| Mother | Frederica of Hanover |
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Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark (Greek: Ειρήνη; born 11 May 1942) is the youngest child and second daughter of King Paul of Greece and his wife Queen Frederica. She is the younger sister of Queen Sofía of Spain and of the deposed King Constantine II of Greece, Prince of Denmark and maternal aunt of King Felipe VI of Spain.
Biography[]
Irene was born in Cape Town, South Africa, on 11 May 1942. She was a pupil of concert pianist Gina Bachauer and, for a while, she was a professional concert pianist herself.
Irene was dating Prince Michel of Orléans, comte d'Évreux, a younger son of the Orléanist pretender Henri, Count of Paris, until he met French noblewoman Béatrice Marie Pasquier de Franclieu,[1] whom he married on 18 November 1967 in Casablanca, Morocco, without his father's consent.[2]
After her brother was dethroned, Irene moved to India with her mother. Since her mother's death in 1981, she has lived in Spain in an apartment at the Zarzuela Palace in Madrid, the residence of her sister and brother-in-law, Queen Sofía and King Juan Carlos.
Irene is the founder and president of the World in Harmony organisation (Mundo en Armonía).[3] On 16 March 2018, Princess Irene obtained the Spanish nationality and renounced her Greek nationality.[4][5]
Notable published works[]
- En Decelia: fragmentos cerámicos de Decelia y miscelánea arqueológica. Athens, (1959–1960). Edited in Spanish in Spain, 2013.[6][7] ISBN 9788494103308
Titles and honours[]
- 11 May 1942 – present: Her Royal Highness Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark.
Greece: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Olga and Sophia.[8]
House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies: Dame Grand Cross of Justice of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George (1962).[9]
Italy : Knight Grand cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (27 November 1962).[10]
Thailand: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Chula Chom Klao (14 February 1963).[11]
Denmark : Knight of the Order of the Elephant (11 September 1964).[12]
Ancestry[]
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References[]
- ^ Herrero, Nieves. Beatriz de Orleans, El Mundo Magazine. 4 October 2009
- ^ Velde, Francois. The Royal Family: A Genealogy, Heraldica.org, Retrieved 12 October 2009
- ^ "Who We Are". World In Harmony. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
- ^ El Mundo
- ^ «Real Decreto 164/2018, de 16 de marzo, por el que se concede la nacionalidad española por carta de naturaleza a Su Alteza Real doña Irene de Grecia de Hannover.»
- ^ "Logintegral". Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
- ^ Librería Marcial Pons
- ^ Flickr, Photo of Princess Irene and Princess Sofia, Queen of Spain
- ^ Membership of the Constantinian Order Archived 5 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Sito web del Quirinale: dettaglio decorato.
- ^ Royal State Visits
- ^ Jørgen Pedersen: Riddere af Elefantordenen 1559–2009, Odense: Syddansk Universitetsforlag, 2009. ISBN 8776744345
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- Danish princesses
- Greek princesses
- House of Glücksburg (Greece)
- People from Cape Town
- 1942 births
- Living people
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
- Dames Grand Cross of the Order of Chula Chom Klao
- Naturalised citizens of Spain
- Alumni of Schule Schloss Salem