Greece dethroned their king in 1964, and they formally abolished their monarchy in 1973. Ever since, the “Greek royal family” has been in exile. They still use their royal titles, although no one really recognizes them, which means the Greek royals are neither Greek nor royal. Still, the British royal family is deeply connected to the Greek royals – Prince Philip was a “Greek prince,” and the Greek royals and British royals go to each other weddings, funerals, christenings, etc. Princess Diana was godmother to the Greek prince we’re talking about in this post, Prince Philippos. Philippos is the youngest son of King Constantine III, and Greece is back to allowing their “royals” into the country, so Philippos was allowed to have his wedding in the country.
This is technically his third wedding to wife Nina Flohr – their first wedding was in St. Moritz last December, an intimate pandemic wedding with few guests. Then they did a spring wedding in England, at the home of Vogue writer Alice Naylor-Leyland. This third wedding was the religious service – they were married in the Greek Orthodox Church, at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens. The wedding was attended by many Greek royals, including King Constantine (Philippos’ father) and siblings. Queen Sofia of Spain was there, as was Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.
Both Philippos and Nina have real jobs, although Nina is already an “heiress” and daughter of a billionaire. She’s the creative director of her father’s aviation company and Philippos works for a hedge fund in New York.
The bride wore Chanel – it’s silk taffeta and it has a long train and a full skirt. I kind of think it’s unflattering? I like the neckline a lot, but the midsection of the gown is a whole-ass mess. Her tiara is the Antique Corsage pearl & diamond floral tiara of Scandinavian origin. It belongs to Nina’s mother-in-law, Queen Anne-Marie, and it has been worn by Princess Marie-Chantal and Princess Tatiana on their wedding days. The tiara is one of my favorite things about her wedding look, honestly.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
Isn’t Queen Sofia also a greek royal?
Yes.
Yes, she’s king constantine’s sister
And they’re actually Danish.
There’s a giant wrinkle in one of the front panels of the dress, just below the waist, that seems to be throwing things off a bit and the placement of the bow makes it seem there is way too much material in the midsection. I like the concept but the execution seems to have gone slightly wrong. The top of the dress is lovely
its an odd choice to wear as a wedding dress. could she be pregnant?
I wondered that too.
I think we’re all asking this question. There’s no other reason for the midsection to be so awful.
Oh it definitely reads “maternity gown” to me.
Totally looks like a maternity gown whether that was the intention or not.
That was my first thought, too… that’s a VERY “forgiving” dress in the waist area.
If she’s pregnant then the dress makes sense. Otherwise….
Also that picture of Beatrice and Ed made me realise that he is tiny!
Um. That’s all I’ve got. I’ll show myself out…
If they first married in December, perfectly normal to be pregnant now. How many weddings were they meant to have before she was allowed to get pregnant already?
The dress definitely has a maternity look about it. Thought she may be pregnant. 3 wedding ceremonies seems a bit much. The taffeta is such a heavy fabric, very Victorian, looks like upholstery fabric. The York sisters are back in circulation doing what they do best, which is being party guests.
Love it above the bow.. below almost like it was an 80’s style wedding dress look, but as long as the bride felt beautiful that is all that matters really.
Exactly what I came to say, and I see you beat me to it. I do truly think she is preggers!
I wonder if she’s pregnant.
The Greek “royal” family are likely to be closer to the Danish and Spanish royal families than the British because Queen Anne-Marie is the Queen of Denmark’s younger sister and Queen Sofia of Spain is King Constantine’s sister. I haven’t checked but they’re probably all cousins.
Even the Danish royal family has origins in Germany. But I think it goes like this
– Alexandra, the sister of King George I of Greece (who were Danish), married the oldest son of Queen Victoria (who then became King Edward VII). Her son was King George V, the grand father of Queen Elizabeth. So the King of Greece was Elizabeth’s great-great-granduncle?
Crown Prince Pavlos is the first cousin of King Felipe of Spain and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark. But they are invited to all the royal weddings including William’s.
Actually all of Constantine and Anne Marie’s children are princes of both Greece and Denmark. They all use both titles.
I love you are covering the Greek royals. Wild story. Wild grandkids. Wild in-laws in Spain, (mostly) chill in-laws in Denmark. And the marriage to Marie-Chantal made them so insanely rich.
I don’t really know what to think of her wedding dress, but i hate the bridesmaid dresses. Sorry.
Anyway i do wish them lots of happiness. It was nice to see king constantine. Especially since his health isn’t really all that good.
Oh @Chloe, those bridesmaid dresses – ouch. I might never see again.
And they compounded the problem with those shoes. Yikes!
The fashion being served here is not good. Everything is messy and the bridesmaid dresses are the definition of unfortunate. But the couple looks happy and that is what matters so congrats to them!
I’m surprised at how much I like her dress. It’s usually not a style I’d go for. She almost looks pregnant.
I sort of like the dress.Her hair and makeup are really pretty;very simple classic bridal look.
I too think she looks pregnant,I guess she could easily be especially if this is her third wedding! I mean many brides are pregnant by their first wedding so yeah I’m voting pregnant.
Good luck to the happy couple.
I can’t say specifically what it is about her dress that makes me think this, but her style is Very Traditional Greek Orthodox. I’ve been to dozens if not more of those weddings. There’s a style.
Hmmm…have to disagree with you on that point. I’m as Greek as they come (first generation American) and every wedding I’ve been to the dress was all strapless mermaid-tail Vera Wang vibe. No Greek bride would be caught dead in this dress.
Beatrice actually looks good! I mean…I don’t care for the dress, but she does look radiant. I cannot tell what Eugenie is wearing, but it doesn’t look good from the little we do see.
And the bride was beautiful, but I have to agree, the dress doesn’t do anything for me.
Is Eugenia in black satin? Black to a wedding? hoh boy.
For all the Greek Orthodox weddings I’ve been to Black in a dress with other tones is not frowned upon. Red is.
She looks good!
I hate that stupid bow in front of Beatrice dress, she has way too much wiglets going on in her hair and she needs a better bra. And yes I know she just had a baby . Not judging her size, just her clothes and hair And I also think the brides dress is hideous. However I am in a foul mood so you should all just ignore me
Yeah, I’m constantly amazed at how inadequate the bras the royals wear are. You’d think they could afford the best.
It was the bra for me too. Even nursing you can wear a decent bra.
Beatrice looks so pretty! Prettier than I’ve ever seen her. New mommy glow.
The “Greek and Danish” and wider Glucksburg royal family is a great Wikipedia rabbit hole. Whether it’s going way back to when they sent a sixth son to go be King of Norway, or more modern affairs. In this particular case, I too-often think of Prince Pavlos of Greece (not a real title anymore, obviously) and how his maternal first cousin is CP Frederick, future King Frederick, and his paternal first cousin is King Felipe. Was it weird for them growing up, his two cousins still had their thrones but he didn’t? Pavlos also married a very rich American heiress. Then his mom, she and her big sister are both Queens, but one doesn’t have a throne. How does she “maintain” her Queenly role in practice? Any duties? Does her sister let her come along to inspect military units just so her sister can feel Queenly? Given how restrictive monarchy can be, do the Greek-Danes get to enjoy the fun without the duty or scrutiny?
I do not like the bride’s dress. It seems bulky across the bodice and not in a good way.
Beatrice looks really good. There seems to be something off with the fit of the dress but overall its a good dress for her, her hair looks great, and she looks happy.
@Becks: Beatrice is wearing a dress from her pregnancy days so it’s not going to fit right. But it was probably the most comfortable thing in her wardrobe after having a baby.
Don’t like the dress, but everyone looks pretty.
Just to clarify the constant drumbeat about the Greek royal family not being Greek. If you’re born in Greece, you’re Greek. If your grandparents and and/or your parents are Greek, you’re Greek. Constantine served in the Greek military, won an Olympic medal for Greece had a Greek passport for 20 years after the monarchy was abolished.
The way you stop being Greek is if you renounce your citizenship or, in the case of Constantine, the government votes to take away your citizenship and confiscate all your property, which they did in 1994. The Hague Court ruled this was illegal, but whatever, Greece can do what it wants. My point is that if the people of the UK decided to get rid of the monarchy, confiscate Balmoral, etc., and strip the royal family of their citizenship, that doesn’t suddenly make them German again. Their personal history will still be British.
“… If you’re born in Greece, you’re Greek [etc]…”
Not true. Greek citizenship is jus (and leges) sanguinis. For example Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t recieve citizenship until he was 17/18 despite being born in Greece, speaking Greek as a first language and growing up in Greece, because he was not an ethnic Greek. However, irrc if you gain Greek citizenship then afterwards your children become Greek citizens when they are born.
The “Greek” royals were installed from Northern Europeans and most of them treated the country like a playground or a nuisance. I don’t think it’s irrational that some Greeks don’t consider them Greek considering the Greek domestic history of it instead of the Royal history. They have passports and citizenship because they were the “Greek Royal Family”. If they’d been any other Danes or Germans then it wouldn’t have been automatically granted, they would have had to apply and naturalise like any other non ethnic-Greek citizen.
I’m not Greek but I’ve Greek friends who live in Greece and whom I’ve known for decades. Over the years I’ve talked to my friends’ elderly relatives who can actually remember the days of kingdom well, as well as how the royal family was exiled. They’ve told me that the family was widely considered “Germans” and particularly Constantine’s mother was very unpopular. Some of them don’t like that some members of the family now live in Greece as they think it adds to political tensions in the country. What comes to the family of Pavlos and Marie-Chantal, I’ve understand from some interviews I’ve read that neither Marie-Chantal nor the children are fluent in Greek. I remember reading that in some interview they mentioned how Pavlos had started trying to teach his older children Greek, but “it was not easy” so he obviously hasn’t consistently used Greek from the very beginning to communicate with them, which in the eyes of the Greeks I know is a really negative thing when the family wants to be seen as Greek royals. I can’t help thinking from what I’ve seen in glossy magazines and social media that for them, Greece is yet another luxury holiday destination among many others they regularly travel to. They can’t be very connected to it as their life is elsewhere, and Pavlos was just a baby when his family had to leave the country. Anne-Marie’s family inherited money from her mother Queen Ingrid (who, accordingly to the rumors here in Scandinavia, supported them financially in exile), but Marie-Chantal comes from a rich family and to me, they seem to lead the life of rich jetsetters rather than a royal one, but it’s just my opinion.
Yes, I misspoke. If you are born in Greece of Greek parents you have citizenship (which still applies to Constantine). I am Greek and not a royalist in any way, but I don’t know that the royals treated Greece as a playground – the country was a mess for a very long time with nothing playful about it. Greece didn’t want a monarchy at all after the War of Independence, but the political chaos in the country brought the “great powers” in to install a monarchy. That really didn’t calm things down all that much – Greek political history is full of coups and royal exiles. The monarchy had been abolished in the 1920s and then reinstated in 1935. WWII sent the royal family into exile again – basically a revolving door until they were finally gone and there could be a sigh of relief. But still, the Greek royal family is a part of Greek history with real effects on that history – we can’t just wave our hands and act like were aliens from another planet.
I too have Greek friends and this is a trigger and hot button subject – the “Greek” royals. My friends roll their eyes and say that the only reason these “royals” want to live and teach their children Greek is due to wanting ties to the non-existent titles and whatever else comes of it.
I recall a heated argument while speaking to them about Prince Philip – they said: If he is Greek why did he do nothing for Greece???? He could have helped return the marbles back to where they belong.
Long stories short, this topic tends to cause a lot of grief in some circles.
As a Greek…
Yes, you are Greek if you have Greek parents or 1 full side being Greek. We are generally proud of our heritage and blood. If you have Greek blood you should be proud of that.
Yes, the Royal history is very messed up and it was never very helpful to the people to have families overthrowing each other while the country was in chaos.
Yes, the politics are also pretty bad and the bureaucracy is a nightmare to navigate.
Yes, Prince Philip did not return the marbles and that’s very bad. He pretty much became British from his choices there.
Everyone is making good points, but these are big ones for me.
Eurydice
The latest “Greek royal family” did use Greece as a playground. The islands have almost always been the resort area while the mainland has held the poverty and natives.
They did not live there. They did not bother to learn the language. Their bloodline was not terribly Greek. They were just offspring that were born into a family that at some point was the last to overthrow the last Greek royals.
IMO to claim they are Greek is only to use their titles. They are not Greek in any meaningful way. We’re they even baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church as babies? Or did that come later to be able to get married there?
Uhm, all that seems rather nitpicky and for why? All of it is true. Facts over here do not make facts over there less true. It’s rather common to discuss royal lineage in terms of how national/ethnic the dynasty is. They are Greek royals who aren’t particularly Greek just as the British royals aren’t terribly British and the Ptolemaic royals weren’t particularly Egyptian.
Well, it’s kind of a trap really and not a thing for a celebrity site, but there is a long history of outside scholars and experts defining what is Greek. They’ve defined how the language should be spoken, whether Greeks are “ethnic” or not, what is the Greek national character. They’ve defined the borders and which populations should go here and there. It’s pretty touchy and I apologize for letting this discussion push my triggers.
The British royals are terribly British, in spite of the 19th century German marriages and in spite of Philip, who was a mongrel. They are mostly very insular and boringly British.
As George V said when H G Wells accused the court of being uninspiring and alien: “I may be uninspiring, but I’ll be damned if I’m an alien!”
People have to remember that the British royal family, in cahoots with Churchill at the end of WWII, completely plunged a knife into the back of the Greek people who fought with the Allied forces. They didn’t want to country to go communist, as the new leaders were sympathetic to Russia, so long story short Churchill interfered with Greece’s politics in ways that directly led to the ugly, bloody civil war of the 1950s. Depending where you fall on the political spectrum, the British were long seen as traitorous bast*rds by a large number of Greeks who took a gleeful satisfaction to see them deposed and booted out of the country once the leftists were back in power. I’ve seen my now elderly mother hiss and throw things at the TV whenever Queen Elizabeth came on, and my dad once told me he’d be happy for me to marry a non-Greek, “just not anyone English. They’re a selfish people. Wicked people”.
Anywho, nowadays Greece has moved on and the royals are basically rich celebs with private helipads on exclusive islands. Meh {shrug}. I’d have to Google if they invest in cultural foundations like the Niarchos and Onassis ones, before I completely write them off as useless to Greece.
I think it’s pretty sad how they cling to their titles. And all the deposed monarchies do it- not just the Greeks. All they did to get them was be born (or marry someone). Goes to show how valuable “titles” are in the world of the super rich. And reminds me of the rumors that British and Monaco aristocracy wouldn’t accept their “common” princesses.
I agree with the midsection part. Otherwise, it looks like an interesting wedding dress and different from the usual royal wedding dresses we see.
And I think Greeks still have Danish titles due to Christian X and those are still legal and valid. But yeah, their Greek ones aren’t.
Thank you so much for the introduction paragraph. I know it helps to orient readers but I really dislike that writers and bloggers keep referring to these people by their ‘royal’ titles. Countries like Italy, Greece and Austria are democratic republics and have purged aristocracy. The continued use of titels by the people themselves and any media gives them more legitimacy.
Pregnant. Clear as day. All that stuff is hiding a bump… Even her face looks slightly less defined than previously… but congrats!
I think the dress looks like she pulled some giant bath towels around herself, but the tiara is pretty. And hey, royal weddings are always fun to see. Beatrice looks great–not her dress so much, but she looks great.
+1
I saw that church when I was in Athens this summer. The pics didn’t do justice because it is gorgeous with a capital g.
The Greek Orthodox churches are usually stunning. They demand quite a lot from their members.
My cousin passed a few years ago and to bury him in the church they needed backed tithings with their estimate of his wealth at the highest point by all the Sunday’s he missed in church. They shake down grieving families like a mafia and the deeply religious Greeks pay.
Those churches are built from corruption.
They’re also sexist as hell.
The wedding dress is terrible but to me the hair is just as bad.
I believe Eugenie was there too. Beatrice’s outfit makes her boobs look like they’re at her waist. A weird illusion.
That is one ageing, hideous, unflattering dress.
I absolutely love Bea’s look– the best by far, including the hair, just amazing.
The Chanel dress would have been commissioned and fitted at least 6 months ago, made especially for her so doubt pregnancy was an issue during the design. Maybe retrofitted?
That gown looks like a cross between a bathrobe and a kimono.
If she’s not pregnant, then that’s a hideous dress.
If pregnant, then excusable masses of fabric, but could have been a less weighty design
That wedding dress time-traveled from the 1980s.
The bride looks lovely despite it.
My first thought. 1980s.
Swap out the full skirt for a long, smooth straight one…chef’s kiss, mwah.
Everyone is taking about her dress, but can we talk about Philip suit. The fit is bad The pants look like belong to someone taller, the whole suit look like a hand me down.
I see my prior post didn’t go through, probably due to all the links to her previous wedding outfits. Anyways I was curious and googled what she wore to her previous ceremonies because this dress is not great. And I wondered if her wedding dress was this bad, how bad were the previous looks? This one reminded me of a bathrobe at first when I saw the bow around the middle. It’s so much voluminous taffeta and while I usually love tiaras, I don’t like this one for some reason.
The first outfit she wore to her small COVID-19 civil ceremony with just the dads present was by far the best outfit, a nice tweed blazer/dress. It was simple yet very classic. The second one she wore to the England reception was a hot mess, it looked like a wrinkly nightie (Tatler has the pics). And the dress she wore to her pre-wedding dinner for the Greek ceremony looks like a cross between a Victorian ghost and curtains, you can search for it on Google images. She just doesn’t have great taste when it comes to fashion.
But she and Philippos look very happy and I think most of us would probably have three weddings if we could afford it!
If she’s pregnant, they’ve actually been married quite a while, not that that matters. I adore the tiara! They are a beautiful couple. Beatrice looks so happy!!!
“They still use their royal titles, although no one really recognizes them”
Why is this allowed?
I heard of people who were meant to have nobiliary titles but since those titles were abolished ages ago, they named their kids “Baron” or “Baroness” so it seems like they have a title. Pathetic.
I agree. Greece DOES NOT HAVE A ROYAL FAMILY. Stop using these phony titles that have no meaning. Shouldn’t we all follow the will of the Greek people in not recognizing these titles, instead of the will of some spoiled, inbred family who wants to pretend they are still important? It’s not even as if Greece had a long history of a monarchy and change comes slowly — all total, that family had, what, 100 years on the throne?
And at any rate, the Greek people didn’t want a monarchy. We should honor the will of the people and stop using these phony titles
These Ex Greek Princes sure have a way of picking billionaire heiresses. Call me cynical but would he be marrying her if her daddy wasn’t who he was?
The dress is better than my first though- I actually quite like it on her.
Bea’s dress is quite nice. Eugenie’s look on the other hand? Not sure what she was was dressing for but sure doesn’t look like a wedding.
Marie Chantal had gone to the Kate school of dressing for weddings. Her dress is a very pale ‘pink’
Same, the Brazilian and Greek deposed royal branches all seem thirsty and desperate to regain their “nobleness” but without big money nobody cares.
Marry for money. Love can come later. They have perfected this, along with Ranier of Monaco (Grace Kelly) and others.
Seriously, these are the homeliest people. They think they’re God’s chosen and the best genes? Just gross.
The only thing I got about the Greek ‘royals’ is their desperate need for relevance. Guess how they did that? By spreading ‘Meghan is horrible and no one likes her’ gossip a couple of years ago in personal dms on social media. They want to seem in the know.
And that dress is ghastly, just a bit of a mess all round. Got princess Di 80s vibes. It definitely reeks of pregnancy – noting wrong with that,good luck to them.
Are William and Kate ever invited to these weddings? Are they acquainted with any of they’re European “royal” contemporaries?
I always thought the Greek middle brother was the fairest of them all. I found him oh, so sexy.
And, if I remember correctly, the deposed king was nasty to Diana, so, no love for him.
I really liked her dress, very elegant. They both aren’t really good looking though. I suppose it’s another marriage if convenience in which the moneyed heiress marry a deposed prince.