Princess Elizabeth of Greece and Denmark
Princess Elizabeth of Greece and Denmark was a Greek and Danish princess who became Countess of Törring-Jettenbach upon marrying Bavarian count.
The second of three daughters of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia, Princess Elizabeth spent her childhood between the Kingdom of Greece and the Russian Empire. However, the First World War and the divisions it brought to Greece forced the teenager and her family into exile in Switzerland between 1917 and 1920. Returning to her country after the restoration of King Constantine I, she was banished once again by the proclamation of the Second Hellenic Republic in 1924.
Settled in Paris with her parents and sisters, the princess then undertook numerous trips that took her to visit her extended family in the United Kingdom, Italy, Yugoslavia, Romania, and Germany. Penniless and single, the princess sold her image to an American cosmetics brand. After unsuccessful attempts at courtships with the Prince of Wales, the Prince of Piedmont, Prince Nicholas of Romania, and Lord Ivor Spencer-Churchill, Elizabeth married Count Carl Theodor of Törring-Jettenbach, head of a high-profile Bavarian house, in 1934. The couple then settled between Munich and Winhöring, where they had two children, Hans Veit and Helene.
At the time of Elizabeth's arrival in Germany, Adolf Hitler had just established his dictatorship, and although the princess and her husband never joined the Nazi Party, they felt its full influence. Used for their family ties to the Prince Regent of Yugoslavia and the Duke of Kent, husbands of Elizabeth's sisters, the Törrings were required to support the Führers policies together with some other relatives, which led to tensions during the Second World War.
Isolated from her family after the Third Reich's invasion of Yugoslavia, Elizabeth emerged weakened from the global conflict, but nevertheless regained her place within the European royalty. Suffering from cancer, she died in 1955 and her remains were buried in the Törring family mausoleum in Winhöring.
Biography
Early childhood (1904–1909)
Childhood in Greece
Second daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia, Princess Elizabeth was born on 24 May 1904, at the Tatoi Palace. Nicknamed "Woolly" because of her thick hair, she was born less than a year after her older sister Olga, with whom she became very close as she grew up. Two years later, the family expanded again with the arrival of Princess Marina, who did not quite have the same closeness with her elder sisters.Regularly dressed identically by their mother, the three girls grew up in a loving and united home. Together and to their parents the girls generally spoke in English, and it was this language that they used most spontaneously, even though they had a perfect command of Greek, which they spoke among themselves while abroad when they did not want to be understood. During their early childhood, Elizabeth and her sisters received a relatively simple education, under the supervision of a British governess named Kate Fox. Raised in the Orthodox faith, the princesses received their religious instruction from Ioulía Somáki-Karólou, a friend of their paternal grandmother, Queen Olga.
In Greece, Elizabeth and her family resided at the Nicholas Palace, an Athenian wedding gift from the Tsar of Russia to his cousin. During the reign of George I, the family also stayed regularly in Tatoi, where Elizabeth and her sisters were happy to meet up with their many Greek cousins. After Constantine I's accession to the throne, however, the princess's parents acquired their own second home, in Kifissia. With Kate Fox being a fan of outdoor activities, Elizabeth regularly visited the beaches of Vouliagmeni and Phalerum, where she enjoyed swimming and sunbathing. Together with their parents, she and her sisters also used to visit archaeological sites, museums and art galleries.
Travel and family relationships
Prince Nicholas and his wife travelled to Russia once or twice a year, and Elizabeth and her sisters spent time in their mother's country from their early childhood. Their first visit to the Russian Empire coincided with the 1905 revolution, which forced the princesses to leave Saint Petersburg in a hurry and find refuge in Schwerin with their maternal grandmother.For the girls, these trips to Russia were an opportunity to meet their numerous Romanov relatives: first the Vladimirovich branch, then the Konstantinovich branch and finally the main branch of the imperial family.
While Grand Duke Vladimir intimidated his granddaughters with his booming voice, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna proved to be a loving and generous grandmother, pampering the princesses while carefully monitoring their upbringing and manners. The Grand Duchess, however, caused significant issues in the lives of Elizabeth and her sisters. In 1913, Maria Pavlovna forced her daughter and son-in-law to dismiss Kate Fox, under threat of depriving them of all financial support if they refused. The Englishwoman was then separated from the girls, without even being able to say goodbye. Despite this event, Elizabeth and her family retained all their affection for the governess, who returned to their service in 1921, a few months after the death of Maria Pavlovna.
Besides Russia, Princess Elizabeth explored, at a very young age, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy. With her parents and her elder sister, she also visited Constantinople, where she met the Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II in 1905.
Political turbulence (1909–1920)
Rise of Venizelos and the Balkan Wars (1909–1913)
Elizabeth's early childhood was also marked by the series of upheavals that shook Greece from 1909. That year, a military coup, known as the Goudi coup, forced the sons of King George I, including Prince Nicholas, to resign from the Army. Shortly after, Eleftherios Venizelos, a Cretan politician known for his distrust of the royal family, took over as head of government. Under his leadership, Greece engaged in the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, which allowed it to considerably expand its territory at the expense of the Ottoman Empire. However, King George I was assassinated during the conflict, causing great grief to Elizabeth and her sisters.At the same time, Kate Fox was sidelined and the education of the three girls took a new turn. Entrusted to the care of two tutors, a Frenchwoman named Miss Perrin and a Greek woman named Kyria Anna, the princesses received lessons in French literature, German and gymnastics while their religious instruction was reinforced in preparation for their first communion. With her sister Olga, Elizabeth also took riding lessons and soon became a skilled rider, which distinguished her from her elder sister. Initially, these lessons were held in the gardens of the royal palace and the little girls learned to ride on ponies belonging to their cousins Prince Paul and Princess Irene. However, the deterioration of the relations between Queen Sophia and Grand Duchess Elena then led the little girls to train far from the royal palace.
First World War and the National Schism (1914–1917)
Despite the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo and the tensions it caused in the Balkans, Elizabeth and her family undertook their annual visit to Russia in July 1914. Surprised by the outbreak of the First World War while they were in Saint Petersburg, the family returned hastily to Athens in September after crossing Romania and Serbia. This was the beginning of a difficult period, known as the National Schism, during which the Greek people were torn between Venizelists, who supported entering the war on the side of the Triple Entente, and royalists, who were keen to preserve the neutrality of the country, weakened by the Balkan Wars.Even within the royal family, the question of participation in the global conflict was causing tensions, especially since Elizabeth's mother suspected Queen Sophia of supporting the cause of her brother, Kaiser Wilhelm II. In addition to these divisions, which led Elizabeth to see the daughters of King Constantine I less regularly, the war also brought its share of financial difficulties. Prince Nicholas's income depended very largely on his wife's appanage, and his household was heavily affected by the economic crisis that was raging in the Russian Empire. Long protected from fighting, the Hellenic capital was also hit by Allied fire in December 1916, forcing Elizabeth and her sisters to seek refuge in the cellars of the Nicholas Palace.
The family's situation worsened further in 1917. In February, a revolution overthrew the Tsarist regime, depriving Constantine I of the last of his supporters within the Entente. At the same time, concern grew over the fate of members of the former imperial family. Like many other Romanovs, Elizabeth's two grandmothers found themselves trapped in their palace, while several other relatives were arrested. Finally, in June, the Entente forced Constantine I to abdicate in favor of his second son, Prince Alexander, and go into exile. Initially spared by the events, Prince Nicholas and his family were soon forced to abandon Greece in turn, which they did on 4 July.
Swiss exile and concern for the Romanovs (1917–1920)
In Switzerland, Elizabeth and her family led an itinerant life which took them successively to St. Moritz, Zurich, Ouchy, Villeneuve and Montreux. With Grand Duchess Elena's fortune having been confiscated by the Bolsheviks, the family was forced to dismiss some of its servants. As a cost-saving measure, Elizabeth also had to share a room with her sisters for the first time in her life. Due to war-related coal and hot water shortages, she was also forced to limit herself to one bath per week. For a time, the princess and her sisters attended a school in Zurich, but their difficulties with German eventually forced their parents to resort to home education, supervised by a trilingual tutor named Miss Genand.The situation of their Russian relatives was another source of concern for Elizabeth and her family. While Prince Nicholas's family was relieved to find Queen Olga safe and sound, and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, the latter had been greatly weakened by deprivation, and she died only a few months after having managed to flee her country. Many other Romanovs were less fortunate, and the news of the assassination of the imperial family thus sowed consternation among the Greek exiles. The only consolation for the small group: the Vladimirovich branch was entirely spared by the civil war and communist repression. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna also managed to save her jewels, which provided some support for Elizabeth's family.
Despite these concerns and the pettiness periodically suffered by the Greek exiles at the hands of the Entente and the Swiss authorities, exile was also a time of discovery for Elizabeth and her sisters. The princesses learned to ski and ice skate. They also received dance lessons and took part in their first tea dances. With her elder, Elizabeth also played tennis, a sport for which both sisters were passionate. Finally, the Swiss stay was also an opportunity for the teenagers to attend the wedding of their uncle Prince Christopher to a wealthy American woman named Nancy Stewart in January 1920.