Queen Anne-Marie’s 65th Birthday

Her Majesty Queen Anne-Marie of the Hellenes today celebrates her sixty-fifth birthday.

Born Her Royal Highness Princess Anne-Marie Dagmar Ingrid of Denmark on August 30^th, 1946; she is the third and final daughter of the late King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid, nee Princess of Sweden. Like her two older sisters, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Princess Benedikte of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, Anne-Marie was born in Amalienborg Palace, in Copenhagen.

She was christened a short time later, and was given a bevy of royal godparents – Their Majesties King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine of Denmark, King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, King Haakon VII of Norway, Queen Mary of the United Kingdom and Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, and Their Royal Highnesses Prince Bertil of Sweden, Crown Princess Märtha of Norway and Princess Dagmar of Denmark. Anne-Marie spent her childhood, along with her sisters, in the palaces of Amalienborg, Fredensborg and Graasten. The Princess was educated at the Zahle’s School between 1952 and 1963, spent a year in 1961 at the Chatelard School for Girls boarding school in Switzerland, and then attended the Le Mesnil finishing school in Switzerland in 1963 to 1964.

Then-Princess Anne-Marie was officially engaged to His Royal Highness Crown Prince Constantine of the Hellenes on January 23^rd, 1963, on the condition that the couple wait until the Princess was eighteen to marry. The couple had first met in 1959, when the Crown Prince accompanied his parents, Their Majesties King Paul and Queen Frederica, on a state visit to Denmark. It was after their second meeting, in 1961, that Constantine informed his parents of his wish to marry the Danish Princess. Said Princess was a bridesmaid in 1962 at the wedding of Constantine’s younger sister, Princess Sophia, to Prince Juan Carlos of Spain.

The couple were married on September 18^th, 1964 at the Athens Cathedral, in front of dozens and dozens of Europe’s royals – for the bride and groom were related to most of crowned Europe (including each other). Crown Prince Constantine was by this time King Constantine II of the Hellenes, following the March 1964 death of his father. The following year, in July 1965, the couple welcomed their first child, Princess Alexia, who was born at Mon Repos, on the island of Corfu. Crown Prince Pavlos followed in May 1967 at Tatoi.

In December 1967, the family was forced to flee Greece in the middle of the night following the King’s failed counter-coup against the military junta. Their destination was Rome, Italy where the family of four, plus Queen Frederica and Princess Irene, spent the five years. The Queen suffered a miscarriage in the months following their exile from Greece. In October 1969, the couple’s third child, Prince Nikolaos, was born. In 1973, the family moved to London, with Queen Anne-Marie and the children joining King Constantine after spending some time in Denmark with her recently widowed mother (King Frederik IX passed away in January 1972). That same year, King Constantine was officially deposed as King of Greece and the country became a republic. Constantine and Anne-Marie therefore joined the mass of European royals without countries to rule over.

During their time in London, the King and Queen founded and ran the Hellenic College of London, where their children were educated. London is also the birthplace of Anne-Marie’s two youngest children, Princess Theodora (born 1983) and Prince Philipppos (born 1986). In 2003, following the court ruling against the state of Greece which required King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie to receive appropriation for their private properties in Greece (which were seized during and after their exile), the couple founded the Ana-Maria Foundation to provide assistance to victims of natural disasters in Greece.

Between her and King Constantine’s five children, Queen Anne-Marie currently has nine grandchildren:

• Princess Alexia’s four children, with Carlos Morales Quintana: Arrietta Morales (b. 2002), Ana-Maria Morales (b. 2003), Carlos Morales (b.2005) and Amelia Morales (b. 2007)
• Crown Prince Pavlos’ five children, with Marie-Chantal Miller: Princess Maria Olympia (b. 1996), Prince Konstantine-Alexios (b. 1998), Prince Achileas Andreas (b. 2000), Prince Odysseus Kimon (b. 2004) and Prince Aristide Stavros (b. 2008)

Their second son, Prince Nikolaos, is married to Tatiana Blatnik; while Theodora and Philippos are unmarried.

Queen Anne-Marie and King Constantine are related through the inter-marriages and dynastic ambitions of their forbearers. They share King Christian IX of Denmark as a common great-great-grandfather, and Queen Victoria as a common great-great-grandmother:

Christian IX of Denmark — George I of the Hellenes — Constantine I of the Hellenes — Paul of the Hellenes — Constantine II of the Hellenes

or

Christian IX of Denmark — Thyra of Denmark — Ernst Augustus, Duke of Brunswick — Frederica of Hannover — Constantine II of the Hellenes

Christian IX of Denmark — Frederik VIII of Denmark — Christian X of Denmark — Frederik IX of Denmark — Anne-Marie of Demark

***

Victoria of the United Kingdom — Victoria, Princess Royal — Sophie of Prussia — Paul of the Hellenes — Constantine II of the Hellenes

or

Victoria of the United Kingdom — Victoria, Princess Royal — Wilhelm II of Prussia — Viktoria Luise of Prussia — Frederica of Hannover — Constantine II of the Hellenes

Victoria of the United Kingdom — Arthur, Duke of Connaught — Margaret of Connaught — Ingrid of Sweden — Anne-Marie of Denmark

Queen Anne-Marie currently lives in London with her husband.

Please visit the Greek Forum to read more about Queen Anne-Marie’s current activities.

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Tagged Biography, Birthday, Queen Anne-Marie of Greece.

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