Queen Anne-Marie of Greece
Anne-Marie is a Danish princess who was Queen of Greece as the consort of King Constantine II from their marriage on 18 September 1964 until the abolition of the Greek monarchy on 1 June 1973.
Anne-Marie is the youngest daughter of Frederik IX of Denmark and Ingrid of Sweden. In 1964, she married Constantine and became queen consort of Greece. They had five children: Princess Alexia, Crown Prince Pavlos, Prince Nikolaos, Princess Theodora, and Prince Philippos. As queen, Anne-Marie spent much of her time working for a charitable foundation known as "Her Majesty's Fund", a foundation established by her mother-in-law, Queen Frederica of Greece. In 1967, Anne-Marie and her family were forced into exile upon the rise of a military dictatorship. After fleeing to Rome, they eventually settled in London, when the Greek monarchy was officially abolished.
Anne-Marie and her family were stripped of their Greek citizenship and had their property revoked, leading them to sue in the European Court of Human Rights. From the compensation she earned, Anne-Marie set up the "Anne-Marie Foundation", which provided assistance to people in rural areas of Greece. In 2013, she and Constantine moved back to Greece. They moved to Athens in 2022, where Constantine died in January the following year.
Birth and family
Anne-Marie was born on 30 August 1946 at Frederik VIII's Palace, an 18th-century palace which forms part of the Amalienborg Palace complex in central Copenhagen. She was the third and last daughter and child of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Ingrid of Denmark. Her father was the eldest son of Christian X of Denmark and Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin; her mother, born a princess of Sweden, was the only daughter of the Crown Prince of Sweden and Princess Margaret of Connaught. At birth, Anne-Marie had two elder sisters: Princess Margrethe and Princess Benedikte.Anne-Marie was baptised on 9 October at the Holmen Church in Copenhagen. Her godparents were her paternal grandparents, King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine of Denmark; her maternal grandfather, Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden; her maternal uncle Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland; her paternal great-uncle King Haakon VII of Norway; her paternal great-aunt Princess Dagmar of Denmark; her grandfather's cousin Prince George of Greece and Denmark; her father's cousin, Crown Princess Märtha of Norway; Queen Mary of the United Kingdom; and Crown Princess Juliana of the Netherlands.
Anne-Marie is a great-great-granddaughter of both Queen Victoria and Christian IX of Denmark. Therefore, she is related to many other members of European royalty, such as her future husband Constantine II, who is also a great-great-grandchild of both Queen Victoria and Christian IX of Denmark. Moreover, Anne-Marie is the maternal aunt of Frederik X of Denmark, the first cousin of Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, and an aunt by marriage of Felipe VI of Spain.
Early life
Anne-Marie and her sisters grew up in apartments at Frederik VIII's Palace at Amalienborg in Copenhagen and in Fredensborg Palace in North Zealand. She spent summer holidays with the royal family in her parents' summer residence at Gråsten Palace in Southern Jutland. On 20 April 1947, less than a year after Anne-Marie's birth, her grandfather, Christian X, died, and her father ascended the throne as King Frederik IX.At the time of her father's accession to the throne, only males could ascend the throne of Denmark. As Anne-Marie's parents had no sons, it was assumed that her paternal uncle, Prince Knud, would one day assume the throne. The popularity of Frederik IX and his daughters and the more prominent role of women in Danish life paved the way for a new Act of Succession in 1953 which permitted female succession to the throne following the principle of male-preference primogeniture, where a female can ascend to the throne if she has no brothers. Her eldest sister, Margrethe, therefore became heir presumptive, and Benedikte and Anne-Marie became second and third in the line of succession.
Anne-Marie was educated at N. Zahle's School, a private school in Copenhagen, from 1952 to 1961. In 1961, she attended the Chatelard School for Girls, an English boarding school outside Montreux in Switzerland. In 1963 and 1964, she attended the Institut Le Mesnil, a Swiss finishing school also in Montreux. Upon returning from schooling, Anne-Marie undertook childcare work for a few years. This was in approval of her mother, who wished for her to become a good housewife to her future husband.
Marriage
In 1959, at the age of 13, Anne-Marie first met her future husband, her third cousin Constantine, Crown Prince of Greece, who accompanied his parents, King Paul and Queen Frederica, on a state visit to Denmark. Constantine at the time was 19 years old. They met a second time in Denmark in 1961, when Constantine declared to his parents his intention to marry Anne-Marie. The pair became secretly engaged without telling the public nor members of their families due to Frederik IX's opposition to their relationship because of her young age. They met again in Athens in May 1962 at the wedding of Constantine's older sister, Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark, and Prince Juan Carlos of Spain. Anne-Marie was a bridesmaid, while Constantine was a groomsman for the future monarchs of Spain. The couple spent time in Athens afterward and told their families about their engagement. They met again in 1963 at the centenary celebrations of the Greek monarchy. Though it had already been revealed to their family, their engagement was announced to the public during these celebrations. Following this, Anne-Marie began studying the history of Greece and the history of the Greek monarchy, as well as taking Modern Greek lessons in order to learn the language of the country her husband was to reign over.Constantine's mother, Frederica, initially requested that one million dollars be spent on the wedding, however, the private office of the Danish royal family denied this. The Danish and Greek royal families eventually agreed on two million dollars being invested in the wedding. Prior to it being spent, this money was stored in the Swiss banking system. In July 1964, the announcement of the engagement of Constantine and Anne-Marie raised the polite protests of the Left in Denmark. Previously, on 6 March 1964, King Paul died, and Constantine succeeded him as King of the Hellenes. There was speculation that as a result of Paul's death, the wedding would be postponed and delayed. However, Frederica requested that their marriage take place on its original date. Anne-Marie and Constantine were married on 18 September 1964 in the Metropolis, the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Athens. Anne-Marie converted from Lutheranism to the Greek Orthodox Church 7 months and 3 days after her marriage. On April 21, 1965. There was a special permission, for this, from the Archbishop of Athens and all Greece, who is the head of the Orthodox Church of Greece. In order for her to be able to celebrate the Easter, which was 4 days later.
Also, as she was marrying a foreign ruler, consent to the marriage was given on the condition that Anne-Marie renounce her succession rights to the Danish throne for herself and her descendants.
Queen of the Hellenes
As Queen of Greece, Anne-Marie's initial primary role was to provide the nation with an heir who would eventually take over as King. Anne-Marie spent much of her time working for a charitable foundation known as "Her Majesty's Fund" and later as the "Anne-Marie Foundation", which provided assistance to people in rural areas of Greece. Her Majesty's Fund was an organisation set up by Frederica during her husband's reign which aimed at assisting the poor and disadvantaged. Anne-Marie also worked closely with the Red Cross and other not-for-profit charities.On 10 July 1965, Queen Anne-Marie gave birth at the villa Mon Repos in Corfu to her first child, Princess Alexia, who was heir presumptive to the throne of Greece, from her birth until the birth of her younger brother Crown Prince Pavlos on 20 May 1967 in accordance with Greece's order of succession adhering to male-preference primogeniture. At the time of Alexia and Pavlos' births, political stability within Greece was diminishing due to a schism between Constantine and the Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou, who wished to demote the minister of defence, Petros Garoufalias, in order to assume office himself. A falling out resulting in Papandreou's resignation then ensued.
A group of Greek soldiers in April 1967 overthrew the government of the new Prime Minister, Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, which marked the beginning of a military dictatorship in Greece. The royal family was left unaware and in order to avoid fighting, Constantine and Anne-Marie agreed to recognise the dictatorship against their will, however many members of the public therefore believed that they supported and even funded the coup. The following month, Anne-Marie gave birth to a son, Pavlos, who immediately assumed the position of Crown Prince of Greece from his sister. At his baptism, Anne-Marie and Constantine decided to make Frederica his godmother and the Hellenic Army his godfather figure. Many people viewed this decision as the royal family's recognition of the military dictatorship. As a result of the military coup, relations between Athens and Copenhagen had been deteriorating and in an attempt to salvage "national security", no member of the Danish royal family was permitted to attend the baptism. Margrethe II of Denmark, the future queen of Denmark, was married to Henri de Laborde de Monpezat at their wedding on 10 June 1967. Anne-Marie, the sister of Margrethe, and Constantine were subsequently denied an invite to their wedding, further ruining relations for a period of time.
Exile
In December 1967, Constantine attempted to shake off the military's authoritarian regime by trying to stage a counter-coup with the help of his political allies. The counter-coup failed. Upon the coup's abandonment, the military junta in Greece strongly advised Anne-Marie and Constantine to leave the country. Without leaving them any real options when saying this, they were essentially forcing them to be exiled from the country. Anne-Marie and Constantine fled to nearby Italy and sought refuge at the Greek Embassy in Rome, where Anne-Marie and Constantine became puppet monarchs. After two months of refuge at the Greek Embassy, Anne-Marie and Constantine received greeting from Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse, who organised to put them up at the Villa Polissena, an Italian palace where Moritz himself had previously lived upon his family's exile. Anne-Marie eventually agreed with Constantine to move to 13 Via di Porta Latina, where a large villa owned by Countess Cristina Paolozzi was located. The couple rented out the space at 8,000 francs per month for the next five years.Possibly due to stress and worry, Anne-Marie suffered a miscarriage in early 1968. Anne-Marie fell pregnant again in February of the next year and gave birth to Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark. Anne-Marie and Constantine established a small school in their villa to preserve the Greek culture among their children. Despite the expansion of their family, Anne-Marie and Constantine had been experiencing some marital struggles in the early 1970s. It was reported that Anne-Marie in 1974 was considering filing a divorce and moving back to Denmark, however, their relationship was repaired and even "strengthened" as a result.
Throughout this time, although they were living in exile, Anne-Marie and Constantine still formally remained the monarchs of Greece. They were paid monthly by the military junta, but lacked invitations to Greek governmental events. They were still allowed to represent Greece and the Greek crown at international royal events. For example, the pair attended the 21st birthday of Charles, Prince of Wales, in 1969, the 2500th anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire in 1971, and the baptism in Madrid of François, the eldest son of Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz. One of the last events Anne-Marie and Constantine attended as the monarchs of Greece was the funeral of Frederik IX, Anne-Marie's father, whom she grieved deeply.