House of Oldenburg (Glücksburg branch) George I Children    Constantine I    Prince George    Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna of Russia    Prince Nicholas    Grand Duchess Maria Georgievna of Russia    Princess Olga    Prince Andrew    Prince Christopher Grandchildren    Prince Peter    Eugénie, Duchess of Castel Duino    Olga, Princess Paul of Yugoslavia    Princess Elizabeth, Countess of Toerring-Jettenbach    Marina, Duchess of Kent    Margarita, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg    Theodora, Margravine of Baden    Cecilie, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine    Sophie, Princess George of Hanover    Philip, Duke of Edinburgh    Prince Michael Great Grandchildren    Princess Alexandra    Princess Olga Constantine I Children    George II    Alexander I    Elena, Queen of Romania    Paul    Irene, Duchess of Aosta    Princess Katherine Alexander I Children    Alexandra, Queen of Yugoslavia George II Paul I Children    Sofia, Queen of Spain    Constantine II    Princess Irene Constantine II Children    Princess Alexia    Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece    Prince Nikolaos    Princess Theodora    Prince Philippos Grandchildren    Princess Maria    Prince Constantine    Prince Achileas    Prince Odysseas

Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark (June 22, 1911 - November 16, 1937) was the wife of Hereditary Grand Duke George Donatus of Hesse and the sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (in Danish: Slesvig-Holsten-Sønderborg-Lyksborg (or Glücksborg)), from Glücksburg in northernmost Germany, is a line of the House of Oldenburg (Danish: Oldenborg), to which the royal houses of Denmark, Norway, and the former royal house of Greece belong. ... Image File history File links RoyGrec. ... George I (December 24, 1845 – March 18, 1913) was King of the Hellenes (Greece) from 1863 to 1913. ... Constantine I, King of the Hellenes (2 August 1868 - 11 January 1923), ruled Greece from 1913-1917 and from 1920-1922. ... Prince George of Greece and Denmark (24 June 1869–25 November 1957) was the third child of King George I of Greece and Grand Duchess Olga. ... Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna of Russia (Александра Георгиевна), née Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark (August 30, 1870–September 24, 1891) was the daughter of George I of Greece and Olga Konstantinovna of Russia, herself the daughter of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia. ... Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark (January 20, 1882 - December 3, 1944), of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, was the son of George I (1845-1913), King of the Hellenes, and of Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinova (1851-1926) of Russia. ... Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark (10 August 1888 - 21 January 1940) was a member of the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg Royal House. ... Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark (June 11, 1903 - October 16, 1997) was the grand-daughter of King George I of Greece and wife of the last Prince Regent of Yugoslavia. ... HRH Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (née Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark), (13 December 1906 - 27 August 1968) was a member of the British Royal Family; the wife of Prince George, Duke of Kent, the fourth son of King George V and Queen... The Duke of Edinburgh The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (Philip Mountbatten, formerly Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark) (born 10 June 1921, Greece) is the husband of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. ... Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark (June 11, 1903 - October 16, 1997) was the grand-daughter of King George I of Greece and wife of the last Prince Regent of Yugoslavia. ... Constantine I, King of the Hellenes (2 August 1868 - 11 January 1923), ruled Greece from 1913-1917 and from 1920-1922. ... George II (Greek: Γεώργιος [Geōrgios]; 20 July 1890 — 1 April 1947), King of the Hellenes (Greece) ruled from 1922-1924 and 1935-1947. ... Alexander of Greece King of Greece Alexander I, King of the Hellenes, ruled Greece from 1917-1920. ... Princess Helen of Greece and Denmark was born on May 2, 1896 in Athens, the third child of the King Constantine I, King of the Hellenes and his Queen, Sophie Dorothea Ulrica of Prussia. ... Paul, King of the Hellenes (December 14, 1901 - March 6, 1964), was King of Greece from 1947 to 1964. ... Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark (Greek: Irini) (13 February 1904 - 14 April 1947) was the fifth child and second daughter of Constantine I of Greece and his wife, the former Princess Sophie of Prussia. ... The Lady Katherine Brandram (née Princess Ekaterini of Greece and Denmark) (May 4, 1913 - ) is a daughter of Constantine I of Greece (1868- 1922) and Queen consort Sophie of Prussia. ... Alexander of Greece King of Greece Alexander I, King of the Hellenes, ruled Greece from 1917-1920. ... George II (Greek: Γεώργιος [Geōrgios]; 20 July 1890 — 1 April 1947), King of the Hellenes (Greece) ruled from 1922-1924 and 1935-1947. ... Paul, King of the Hellenes (December 14, 1901 - March 6, 1964), was King of Greece from 1947 to 1964. ... Constantine of Greece, formerly Constantine II, King of the Hellenes (born June 2, 1940) was King of Greece from 1964 until the abolition of the monarchy in 1974. ... Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark is the youngest child of King Paul of Greece and his wife Frederika of Hanover. ... Constantine of Greece, formerly Constantine II, King of the Hellenes (born June 2, 1940) was King of Greece from 1964 until the abolition of the monarchy in 1974. ... Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark, born 10 July 1965, is the elder daughter and eldest child of King Konstantinos II and his wife Queen Anna-Maria (née Princess Anne-Marie Dagmar Ingrid of Denmark who is the youngest daughter of King Frederick IX of Denmark and his wife... Prince Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece, Prince of Denmark is the eldest son of Constantine II, King of the Hellenes from 1964 to 1973. ... HRH Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark is the second son and third child of HM ex-King Constantine II of the Hellenes and HM Queen Anne-Marie (youngest daughter of the late King Christian IX of Denmark and Queen Ingrid and sister of the current Queen Margrethe II). ... Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark (b. ... This article discusses Prince Philippos of Greece & Denmark, a name and title which has also belonged to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. ... Princess Maria Olympia of Greece and Denmark (born July 25, 1996) is the daughter of TRH The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Greece. ... Constantine Alexios (Anglicized version of Konstantin-Alexios, (29 October 1998 - ) is the eldest son and second child of TRH Crown Prince Pavlos and Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece. ... Prince Achileas Andreas of Greece and Denmark (b. ... Prince Odysseas Kimon of Greece and Denmark (b. ... June 22 is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 192 days remaining. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... November 16 is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 45 days remaining. ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse (1906-1937) was the first child of Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse and Eleonore of Solms-Braunfels. ... The Duke of Edinburgh The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (Philip Mountbatten, formerly Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark) (born 10 June 1921, Greece) is the husband of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. ...

Birth and ancestry

Cecilie was the third child and daughter of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg. She was born on 22 June 1911 at the summer estate of the Greek Royal Family at Tatoi, fifteen kilometres north of Athens. Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark (January 20, 1882 - December 3, 1944), of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, was the son of George I (1845-1913), King of the Hellenes, and of Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinova (1851-1926) of Russia. ... Princess Alice of Battenberg Princess Alice of Battenberg, later Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark (25 February 1885 - 5 December 1969) was a great-granddaughter of the British Queen Victoria who married into the royal house of Greece. ... June 22 is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 192 days remaining. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... Tatoi, located 15 kilometers north of the center of Athens, was the summer palace and private property of the former Greek Royal Family, and the site of George II of the Helleness birth. ... Athens (Greek: Αθήνα, Athína IPA: ) is the capital of Greece and one of the most famous cities in the world, named after goddess Athena. ...

Cecilie was baptised at Tatoi on 2 July 1911. Her godparents were King George V of the United Kingdom, Grand Duke Ernst Louis of Hesse, Prince Nicholas of Greece, and Duchess Vera of Württemberg. July 2 is the 183rd day of the year (184th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 182 days remaining. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert) (3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was the first British monarch belonging to the House of Windsor (formerly known as the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha). ... Ernest Louis Grand Duke of Hesse in 1905 Ernest Louis Charles Albert William (de: Ernst Ludwig Karl Albert Wilhelm), (25 November 1868-9 October 1937) was the last Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine from 1892 until his abdication in 1918. ... Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark (1872-1938), of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, was the third son of George I (1845-1913), King of the Hellenes, and of Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna (1851-1926) of Russia. ...

Through her father, Cecilie was a grandchild of King George I of Greece and his wife Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinova of Russia (a granddaughter of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia). Through her mother she was a great-granddaughter of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha). George I (December 24, 1845 – March 18, 1913) was King of the Hellenes (Greece) from 1863 to 1913. ... Olga, Queen of Greece Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia (in Russian Великая Герцогиня Ольга Константиновна) (3 September 1851 - 18 June 1926) was the queen consort of King George I of Greece. ... Nicholas I of Russia (Russian: Николай I Павлович, Nikolai I Pavlovich), July 6 (June 25, Old Style), 1796–March 2 (February 18, Old Style), 1855), was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855 and king of Poland from 1825 until 1831. ... Princess Alice (Alice Maud Mary), (25 April 1843 – 14 December 1878), was a member of the British Royal Family, the third child and second daughter of Queen Victoria. ... Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria) (24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India from January 1, 1877, until her death in 1901. ... Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (in full Francis Charles Augustus Albert Emmanuel), later The Prince Consort, (26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the husband and consort of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ...

Cecilie had three sisters: Margarita (wife of Prince Gottfried of Hohenlohe-Langenburg), Theodora (wife of Berthold, Margrave of Baden), and Sophie (wife firstly of Prince Christoph of Hesse and secondly of Prince Georg Wilhelm of Hanover). Her brother Philip, later Duke of Edinburgh, is the husband of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Hohenlohe-Langenburg was a German County of northeastern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located around Langenburg. ... Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor) (born 21 April 1926) is the Queen of 16 independent sovereign states known as the Commonwealth Realms. ...

In 1922 Cecilie and her sisters were bridesmaids at the wedding of their uncle Lord Louis Mountbatten (later Earl Mountbatten of Burma) to Edwina Ashley. ^[1] Admiral of the Fleet The Right Honourable Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, KStJ, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British admiral and statesman and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. ... The Honourable Edwina Cynthia Annette Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, CI, GBE, DCVO (28 November 1901 – 21 February 1960) was an English heiress, socialite, relief-worker and the wife of the 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma. ...

Marriage and children

On 2 February 1931 at Darmstadt Cecilie married George Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine. They had three children: February 2 is the 33rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland (federal state) of Hessen in Germany. ... Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse (1906-1937) was the first child of Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse and Eleonore of Solms-Braunfels. ...

• His Grand Ducal Highness Prince Ludwig Ernst Andreas (born 25 October 1931)
• His Grand Ducal Highness Prince Alexander Georg Karl Heinrich (born 14 April 1933)
• Her Grand Ducal Highness Princess Johanna Marina Eleonore (born 20 September 1936)
• A fourth child was stillborn in an air accident (see Death).

On May 1, 1937 Cecilie and her husband both joined the Nazi Party. ^[2] October 25 is the 298th day of the year (299th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 67 days remaining. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... April 14 is the 104th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (105th in leap years). ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... September 20 is the 263rd day of the year (264th in leap years). ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... National-Socialist German Workers Party (German: ), better known as the NSDAP or the Nazi Party was a political party that was led to power in Germany by Adolf Hitler in 1933. ...

Death

In October 1937, Cecilie's father-in-law Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse died. A few weeks after the funeral, her brother-in-law Prince Ludwig was due to be married to Margaret Geddes in London. Ernst Ludwig Karl Albrecht Wilhelm Großherzog von Hessen und bei Rhine or Ernest Louis of Hesse (25 November 1868-9 October 1937) was Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt from 1892 until his abdication in 1918. ... London is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom, and is the most populous city in the European Union. ...

On 16 November 1937, Georg Donatus, Cecilie, their two young sons, along with Georg's mother Grand Duchess Eleonore, left Darmstadt for the United Kingdom. The aeroplane hit a factory chimney near Ostend and crashed into flames, killing all those on board. Cecilie was heavily pregnant with her fourth child at the time of the crash, and the remains of the foetus were found in the wreckage, indicating that Cecilie had gone into premature labour. ^[3] November 16 is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 45 days remaining. ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Ostend (Dutch: Oostende, French: Ostende) is a municipality located in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium, and in the Flemish province of West Flanders. ...

Cecilie was buried with her husband and two sons in Darmstadt at the Rosenhöhe, the traditional burial place of the Hesse family. Cecilie's daughter Johanna was adopted by Prince Ludwig and Princess Margaret; she died two years later from meningitis. Meningitis is inflammation of the membranes (meninges) covering the brain and the spinal cord. ...

Titles from Birth

• Her Royal Highness Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark (1911-1931)
• Her Royal Highness The Hereditary Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine (1931-1937)

References