Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark

 
Titular Royal Family of Greece
Princess Irene in the midst of conversation at Expo 1967.
Princess Irene in the midst of conversation at Expo 1967.

Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark (born May 11, 1942) is the youngest child of King Paul of Greece and his wife Frederika of Hanover. She is the younger sister of Queen Sofía of Spain and of deposed King Constantine II of Greece. She is officially styled in Spain and Denmark as Her Royal Highness Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark.

She was born in Cape Town, South Africa, on May 11, 1942. She was a pupil of concert pianist Gina Bachauer and, for a while, she was a professional concert pianist herself. After her brother was dethroned, she moved to India with her mother. Since her mother's death, Princess Irene has lived in Spain in an apartment at the La Zarzuela Palace in Madrid, the royal residence of the King and Queen of Spain. Her niece, Infanta Cristina of Spain named her daughter Irene (born in 2005) after her.

Princess Irene has never married though she is believed to have had a long time relationship with a married Greek man, close to her brother Constantine. The late King Olav V of Norway had hoped that his son, now King Harald V, would marry her and make her Queen of Norway. However, King Harald desired to marry Sonja Haraldsen (now Queen Sonja). It is said that Princess Irene learned to speak fluent Norwegian due to this projected future role as Queen of Norway.

She is the founder and president of the World in Harmony Foundation (Fundación Mundo en Armonía) and also collaborates with other benefic foundations and cultural activities.

Princess Irene is 426th in the line of succession to the British throne.


Genetics

As a matrilineal descendant of Princess Feodora of Leiningen, maternal half-sister of Victoria of the United Kingdom, she is a members of mitochondrial haplogroup H.


Styles of
Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark
Reference style Her Royal Highness
Spoken style Your Royal Highness
Alternative style Ma'am


Preceded by:
Constantine II of Greece
Line of succession to the British throne Succeeded by:
Prince Alfred of Prussia

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