Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark

Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark
Prince Andrew, c. 1910
Born(1882-02-02)2 February 1882
Tatoi Palace, Athens, Greece
Died3 December 1944(1944-12-03) (aged 62)
Hotel Metropole, Monte Carlo, Monaco
Burial
Royal Cemetery, Tatoi Palace, Athens
Spouse
(m. 1903)
Issue
HouseGlücksburg
FatherGeorge I of Greece
MotherOlga Constantinovna of Russia
Military career
AllegianceKingdom of Greece
Service/branchHellenic Army
Years of service
  • 1901–1909
  • 1912–1917
  • 1920–1922
RankMajor General
Commands held
Battles/wars

Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark (Greek: Ανδρέας; Danish: Andreas; 2 February [O.S. 21 January] 1882 – 3 December 1944) was the seventh child and fourth son of King George I and Queen Olga of Greece. He was a grandson of King Christian IX of Denmark and the father of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He was a prince of Greece and Denmark, both by virtue of his patrilineal descent.

A career soldier, Prince Andrew began military training at an early age, and was commissioned as an officer in the Greek army. His command positions were substantive appointments rather than honorary, and he saw service in the Balkan Wars. In 1913, his father was assassinated and Andrew's elder brother Constantine became king. Constantine's neutrality policy during World War I led to his abdication, and most of the royal family, including Andrew, was exiled. On their return a few years later, Andrew saw service as Major General[1] in the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), but the war went badly for Greece, and Andrew was blamed, in part, for the loss of Greek territory. He was exiled for a second time in 1922, and spent most of the rest of his life in France.

By 1930, Andrew was estranged from his wife, Princess Alice of Battenberg. His only son, Philip, served in the British navy during World War II, while all four of his daughters were married to Germans, three of whom had Nazi connections. Separated from his wife and son by the effects of the war, Andrew died in Monte Carlo in 1944. He had seen neither of them since 1939.

  1. ^ Kalaitzis, Georgios, Infantry Colonel (1965). The Minor Asia Campaign, Angora Operation, volume 5, part one. Athens: Army History Directorate, Greek Army General Staff. p. 152.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)