Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark
{{Short description|Greek princess (born 1942)}}
{{About|the daughter of King Paul of Greece|information on her namesake aunt|Princess Irene, Duchess of Aosta}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Princess Irene
| image = Princesa Irene de Grecia 2018.jpg
| caption = Princess Irene in 2018
| full name = Irene
| house = Glücksburg
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1942|5|11}}
| birth_place = Cape Town, South Africa
| father = Paul of Greece
| mother = Frederica of Hanover
| signature = Signature of Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark.jpg
}}
{{Greek Royal Family}}
Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark {{post-nominals|post-noms=R.E.}} ({{langx|el|Ειρήνη}}, romanized: Iríni; born 11 May 1942) is the youngest child and second daughter of King Paul of the Hellenes and his wife, Queen Frederica. She is the younger sister of Queen Sofía of Spain and King Constantine II of the Hellenes. She is also the great-granddaughter of Wilhelm II, German Emperor, who was the first grandson of Queen Victoria.
Biography
Irene was born in Cape Town, South Africa, where her parents were living in exile, on 11 May 1942. She was christened at her parents' Claremont home by the Metropolitan of the Holy Archdiocese of Good Hope. She had ten godparents, including General Jan Smuts, Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark (her paternal aunt), King George II of the Hellenes (her paternal uncle), Queen Mary of the United Kingdom, and the Duchess of Kent (her paternal first cousin once removed). She was a pupil of concert pianist Gina Bachauer and, for a while, she was a professional concert pianist herself.{{cite web|title=Royal Baby Christened 1942|url=https://www.britishpathe.com/video/royal-baby-christened/query/Royal+Baby+Christened|website=British Pathé|access-date=18 December 2022|archive-date=18 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221218021615/https://www.britishpathe.com/video/royal-baby-christened/query/Royal+Baby+Christened|url-status=live}}
File:Prinses Irene met een klasgenote en een kat in de tuin, Bestanddeelnr 255-7387.jpg
Irene was courted by Prince Michel of Orléans, Count of Évreux, a younger son of the Orléanist pretender Henri, Count of Paris, until he met French noblewoman Béatrice Marie Pasquier de Franclieu,Herrero, Nieves. [http://www.elmundo.es/suplementos/magazine/2009/523/1254329765.html Beatriz de Orleans] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141215013835/http://www.elmundo.es/suplementos/magazine/2009/523/1254329765.html |date=15 December 2014 }}, El Mundo Magazine. 4 October 2009 whom he married in 1967.Philippe de Montjouvent. Le Comte de Paris et sa Descendance. Editions du Chaney, 1998, Charenton, France. pp. 21, 23-26, 34-36, 40-41, 187, 197, 310, 313, 467-468. (French) {{ISBN|2-913211-00-3}}.
Between her father’s death and her brother having his first child, she had the title “Crown Princess of Greece”.
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.{{cite web | url=https://www.diariodesevilla.es/gente/Irene-Grecia-divertida-Dona-Sofia_0_1758425597.html | title=Irene de Grecia, así es la hermana rebelde, divertida y bohemia de Doña Sofía | date=19 January 2023 | access-date=29 March 2023 | archive-date=29 March 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329175202/https://www.diariodesevilla.es/gente/Irene-Grecia-divertida-Dona-Sofia_0_1758425597.html | url-status=live }}
Irene was the founder and president of the organisation World in Harmony (Mundo en Armonía) from 1986 to 2023.{{cite web |url=http://www.worldinharmony.org/who_en.html |title=Who We Are |work=World In Harmony |access-date=10 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081218/http://www.worldinharmony.org/who_en.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }} On 16 March 2018, Princess Irene obtained Spanish nationality and renounced her Greek nationality.{{Cite web |url=https://www.elmundo.es/loc/casa-real/2018/03/19/5aafdd73468aeb57218b4684.html |title=El Mundo |date=19 March 2018 |access-date=22 March 2018 |archive-date=22 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322145110/http://www.elmundo.es/loc/casa-real/2018/03/19/5aafdd73468aeb57218b4684.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2018/04/03/pdfs/BOE-A-2018-4570.pdf |title="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." |access-date=4 April 2018 |archive-date=5 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405024150/http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2018/04/03/pdfs/BOE-A-2018-4570.pdf |url-status=live }}
Notable published works
- En Decelia: fragmentos cerámicos de Decelia y miscelánea arqueológica. Athens, (1959–1960). Edited in Spanish in Spain, 2013.{{Cite web |url=http://www.logintegral-libros.com/?editorial=Editorial-CSED&libro=EN-DECELIA |title=Logintegral |access-date=2 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103180532/http://www.logintegral-libros.com/?editorial=Editorial-CSED&libro=EN-DECELIA |archive-date=3 November 2013 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite book |url=http://www.marcialpons.es/libros/en-decelia-fragmentos-ceramicos-de-decelia-y-miscelanea-arqueologica/9788494103308/ |title=Librería Marcial Pons |access-date=2 November 2013 |archive-date=4 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104063335/http://www.marcialpons.es/libros/en-decelia-fragmentos-ceramicos-de-decelia-y-miscelanea-arqueologica/9788494103308/ |url-status=live }} {{ISBN|9788494103308}}
Honours
- {{Flag|Denmark}}: Knight of the Order of the Elephant (R.E., 11 September 1964).Jørgen Pedersen: Riddere af Elefantordenen 1559–2009, Odense: Syddansk Universitetsforlag, 2009. {{ISBN|8776744345}}
- File:Flag of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1738).svg House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies: Dame Grand Cross of Justice of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George (1962).[http://www.constantinianorder.org/the-order/membersip-of-the-constantinian-order.html Membership of the Constantinian Order] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305153427/http://www.constantinianorder.org/the-order/membersip-of-the-constantinian-order.html |date=5 March 2012 }}
- {{Flag|Italy}}: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (27 November 1962).{{Cite web |url=https://www.quirinale.it/onorificenze/insigniti/33146 |title=Sito web del Quirinale: dettaglio decorato. |access-date=21 September 2019 |archive-date=21 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921173645/https://www.quirinale.it/onorificenze/insigniti/33146 |url-status=live }}
- {{flag|Thailand}}: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Chula Chom Klao.{{cite web | url=https://www.instagram.com/p/Con0eCYNAPI/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== | title=Instagram }}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg|11 May|1942|||House of Oldenburg }}
{{s-roy|gr}}
{{S-bef|before=Constantine|as=Crown Prince}}
{{S-ttl|title=Heir-presumptive to the Greek throne|years=1964–1965}}
{{S-aft|after=Princess Alexia}}
{{s-end}}
{{Greek princesses}}
{{Danish princesses}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Thai sort key not needed}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irene Of Greece And Denmark, Princess}}
Category:Princesses of Denmark
Category:House of Glücksburg (Greece)
Category:People from Cape Town
Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
Category:Dames Grand Cross of the Order of Chula Chom Klao
Category:Naturalised citizens of Spain