Princess Elizabeth of Greece and Denmark

Princess Elizabeth of Greece and Denmark (Greek: Ελισάβετ; 24 May 1904 – 11 January 1955) was the middle daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and his Russian wife, Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia.[1]

Princess Elizabeth
Countess of Törring-Jettenbach
Born(1904-05-24)24 May 1904
Tatoi Palace, Tatoi, Kingdom of Greece
Died11 January 1955(1955-01-11) (aged 50)
Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Burial
Winhöring, Bavaria, Germany
Spouse
Carl Theodor, Count of Törring-Jettenbach
(m. 1934)
IssueHans Veit, Count of Törring-Jettenbach
Archduchess Helene of Austria
HouseGlücksburg
FatherPrince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark
MotherGrand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia

Early life

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Princess Elizabeth, centre, with her sisters Princess Olga, left, and Princess Marina, right.

Princess Elizabeth was born on 24 May 1904 at the Tatoi Palace just north of Athens, Greece, during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King George I. She was the second daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark, and his wife Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia. Her father was the third son of King George I and Queen Olga of Greece, while her mother was the only daughter of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia. Her father was a grandson of King Christian IX of Denmark, while her mother was a granddaughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia.[2][1]

Princess Elizabeth had two sisters, an older sister Princess Olga and a younger sister Princess Marina.[2] Princess Olga married Prince Paul of Yugoslavia in 1923. After the assassination of his cousin, King Alexander I, Paul served as Prince Regent of Yugoslavia from 1934 to 1941. Princess Marina married Prince George, Duke of Kent, in 1934. One of their paternal uncles was Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, the father of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (making Elizabeth and her sisters Philip's first cousins).

Her family nicknamed her 'Woolly' because of her thick, dark brown hair. Princess Elizabeth was a keen horsewoman and painter.

Marriage and issue

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Elizabeth on her wedding day in 1934

Elizabeth married Bavarian Count Carl Theodor of Törring-Jettenbach (22 September 1900 – 14 May 1967), member of an ancient German mediatised family, on 10 January 1934. Through his mother, Duchess Sophie Adelheid in Bavaria, he was the nephew of Queen Elisabeth of Belgium and of Princess Marie Gabrielle of Bavaria.[1] Elizabeth and Carl Theodor had two children:

  • Hans Veit Kaspar Nikolaus, Count of Törring-Jettenbach (11 January 1935),[1] who married Princess Henriette of Hohenlohe-Bartenstein and had issue
  • Countess Helene Marina Elisabeth of Törring-Jettenbach (20 May 1937), who married Archduke Ferdinand Karl Max of Austria and had issue, including Archduchess Sophie of Austria, the designer Sophie Habsburg.

Death

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Elizabeth died of cancer on 11 January 1955 in Munich and was buried in a Törring family mausoleum in Winhöring, Bavaria. She was 50 years old.[3]

Honours

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Ancestry

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d McNaughton, C. Arnold. "The Book of Kings: A Royal Genealogy". 3 volumes. London, U.K.: Garnstone Press, 1973, ISBN 978-0812902808
  2. ^ a b Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh, ed. (1977). Burke's Royal Families of the World. Vol. 1: Europe & Latin America. London: Burke's Peerage Ltd. p. 326. ISBN 0-85011-023-8.
  3. ^ "Greece".
  4. ^ Wedding of Juan Carlos of Spain and Sophia of Greece Archived 2015-07-21 at the Wayback Machine
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  Media related to Princess Elizabeth of Greece and Denmark at Wikimedia Commons