Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece
Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece, Duke of Sparta,Prince of Denmark RE; (born 20 May 1967), is the current head of the former Greek royal family as the second child and eldest son of Constantine II, the last King of the Hellenes from 1964 to 1973, and Anne-Marie of Denmark. He became head of the former Greek royal family following the death of his father on 10 January 2023. He was heir apparent to the throne of Greece and was its crown prince from birth, remaining so during his father's reign until the monarchy's abolition. As a male-line descendant of Christian IX of Denmark and grandson of Frederick IX of Denmark, he is a Danish prince, although not in succession to its throne. Margrethe II of Denmark and Queen Sofia of Spain are his aunts, and Felipe VI of Spain is his first cousin.
Early Life
Pavlos was born on 20 May 1967 at the Tatoi Palace north of Athens, used at the time as the secondary residence of the former Greek royal family. He was the second child and first son of Constantine II and Anne-Marie of Greece. Constantine II had ascended the throne on 6 May 1964, aged 23, following the death of his father and predecessor, Paul. In traditional Greek naming practices, first sons are often named after their paternal grandfathers. His mother is the youngest sister of the Danish queen Margrethe II, and his father was the brother of Sofia, the former queen consort of Spain. His maternal grandparents were Frederick IX of Denmark and his queen consort, Ingrid of Sweden.
Pavlos displaced his older sister, Alexia, as heir to the throne due to Greece's order of succession adhering to male-preference primogeniture.
Crown Prince
Pavlos was born into a turbulent era in Greek politics. Pavlos was born barely a month after a coup d'etat which ended democratic rule in Greece over king's objections on 21 April 1967, ushering in a military junta, led by Georgios Papadopoulos. In December of that year, Constantine attempted a counter-coup that failed due to planning mistakes, leaks, and insufficient military support. Pursued by the junta, Constantine fled with his wife, children, mother and sister to Rome. They then went to Copenhagen and lived with Anne-Marie's mother, Queen Ingrid. From 1967 to 1973, Greece officially remained a monarchy, with a regency appointed while the king lived in exile.
Following the discovery and suppression of a "wide-ranging" anti-junta movement, just before its outbreak, among the ranks of the mostly royalist Navy, Papadopoulos, on 1 June 1973, declared Greece a presidential republic with himself as president and proclaimed a referendum for 1 June 1973 on the issue of the monarchy. The referendum was held without opposition and its result confirmed the regime change, with Constantine becoming "officially" deposed. On 17 November 1974, after the fall of the dictatorship, the 1974 Greek legislative election was held, resulting in a victory for Constantine Karamanlis and his New Democracy party. Less than a month later, on 8 December, the Greek plebiscite of 1974 confirmed the referendum of the previous year: the majority voted for a republic (69%) with a minority voting for the restoration of the monarchy (31%).
Constantine announced that he "respect" the decision of the Greek people." He and Anne Marie had been living with their family in London for several years. Pavlos's youngest siblings were born in London, Theodora in 1983 and Philippos in 1986. Pavlos was educated at the Hellenic College of London, founded by his parents in 1980. He attended the Armand Hammer United World College of the American West, Montezuma, New Mexico, in the U.S., from 1984 to 1986. After training at the British Army's Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards in 1987 on a three-year short-service commission. He was promoted to lieutenant in April 1989, and relinquished his commission in April 1990. In 1993,he completed a bachelor's degree at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
On 11 May 1994, the Greek Government under prime-minister Andreas Papandreou renounced the Greek-citizenship status of Pavlos, alongside Constantine, and the rest of the former royal family through law 2215/1994. The law stated that Constantine's Greek-citizenship status, and accordingly his family's could only be restored under specific conditions, including the selection of an explicit surname. The following year, while sharing a house in Washington, DC, he and his cousin, Felipe VI of Spain, then Prince of Asturias, attended Georgetown University, where both obtained a Master of Science in Foreign Service. As an adult, he lives in New York City and London, working as an investment consultant. He is co-founder of Ortelius Advisors, an activist hedge fund.
Title
20 May 1967 His Royal Highness The Crown Prince of Greece, Duke of Sparta
In Denmark: His Highness Prince Pavlos of Denmark
House: Glucksburg
Religion: Greek Orthodox
Honors
Greek Royal Family:
-Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Redeemer (by birth)
-Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Saints George and Constantine
-Grand Cross of the Order of George I
-Grand Cross of Order of the Phoenix
Foreign Honor
Denmark
-Knight of the Order of the Elephant (14 January 1997)
-Recipient of the Commemorative Medal of the Silver Jubilee of Queen Margrethe II (14 January 1997)
