Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark

Infobox Greek Royalty|highness
name = Princess Katherine
title = Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark
Lady Katherine Brandram
styles = "The Lady" Katherine Brandram
"HRH" Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark
royal house = House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
date of birth = birth date|1913|5|4
place of birth = Athens, Greece
date of death = death date and age|2007|10|2|1913|5|4
place of death = London, England, UK
place of burial = flagicon|Greece Tatoi, Athens
spouse = Richard Brandram
issue = Paul Brandram
father = Constantine I of Greece
mother = Sophia of Prussiainfobox hrhstyles


royal name=Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark (until 1947)
dipstyle=Her Royal Highness
offstyle=Your Royal Highness
altstyle=Ma'am|

Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark (born Princess Ekaterini of Greece and Denmark) (May 4, 1913 – October 2, 2007) was the third daughter and sixth child of King Constantine I of Greece (1868–1923) and Sophie of Prussia (1870–1932).

Early life

Her paternal grandparents were King George I of Greece and Olga Konstantinovna of Russia. Her maternal grandparents were Frederick III, German Emperor, and the Empress Victoria. Victoria was the eldest child of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Katherine was born in the Royal Palace in Athens, a few weeks after her grandfather, King George I of Greece, was assassinated in Salonika. She had five siblings - three brothers (George, Alexander and Paul, each of whom would become King of the Hellenes) and two sisters (Helen, who married Carol II of Romania, and Irene). Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was a first cousin. When she was christened, the members of the whole Greek Army and Greek Navy became her godparents.

Life in exile

Her father abdicated in 1917, replaced as King by her brother Alexander. She and her parents were exiled to Switzerland. They were re-instated following Alexander's death in 1920, but abdicated again in 1922. Exiled again, this time to Sicily, her father died in Palermo in 1923. The family moved to Villa Sparta in Florence, where Katherine took up painting. Her second brother George became King George II of the Hellenes in 1922, but was deposed in 1924.Katherine was educated in England, at a boarding school at Broadstairs and then North Foreland Lodge. Her mother died in January 1932, after which she continued to live at the Villa Sparta with her sister, Helen. She and Queen Elizabeth II were bridesmaids at the wedding of her first cousin, Princess Marina, to the Duke of Kent in 1934. It is interesting to note that through Christian IX of Denmark, Katherine was a first cousin to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a second cousin once removed of Queen Elizabeth II. However, in descent from Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, she was a second cousin once removed to both of them.

Return to Greece and marriage

Her brother, George, was reinstated as King of Greece in 1935, and Katherine returned to Greece with her sister, Irene. She joined the Greek Red Cross when the Second World War broke out in 1939. In 1941, she moved to South Africa with her third brother, Paul, in a Sunderland flying boat, where she continued to work as a nurse in Cape Town. She heard no news of her sister Helen for four years. She returned to England in 1946, sailing the last leg from Egypt to England on the Cunard steamer SS "Ascania". On board, she met Major Richard Brandram MC (5 August, 1911 - 5 April, 1994), an officer in the Royal Artillery. They were engaged three weeks after they arrived in England, and married on April 21 1947 at the Royal Palace in Athens. Her brother, George, died on 1 April, three weeks before the wedding, and was succeeded by her third brother Paul, or Pavlos. Now Paul I of Greece, he acted as best man at the wedding, and reigned until 1964.

She accompanied her new husband to his new British Army posting in Baghdad, but they later settled in England. She received permission to style herself "Lady Katherine Brandram" and King George VI also granted her the status of a duke's daughter in the order of precedence. However, this style was only valid within the United Kingdom, as she remained "Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark." She and her husband lived in Eaton Square in Belgravia, and later moved to Marlow. They had one son: Richard "Paul" George Andrew Brandram, born April 1, 1948.

Since the death of Infanta Beatriz of Spain in 2002, Katherine was the last surviving great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She was also the last surviving niece of William II, German Emperor. Amazingly, she lived for 87 years after the death of her brother, King Alexander I of Greece Her death leaves Count Carl Johan Bernadotte of Sweden (born 31 October 1916) as Queen Victoria's only living great-grandchild.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

*4 May 1913 – 1947: "Her Royal Highness" Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark
*1947 - 2 October 2007: "The Lady" Katherine Brandram

Ancestry

ahnentafel top|Ancestors of Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark|width=100%ahnentafel-compact5
style=font-size: 90%; line-height: 110%;
border=1
boxstyle=padding-top: 0; padding-bottom: 0;
boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
1= 1. Katherine of Greece and Denmark
2= 2. Constantine I, King of the Hellenes
3= 3. Princess Sophia of Prussia
4= 4. George I, King of the Hellenes
5= 5. Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia
6= 6. Frederick III, German Emperor
7= 7. Victoria, Princess Royal
8= 8. Christian IX of Denmark
9= 9. Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel)
10= 10. Grand Duke Konstantine Nicholaievich of Russia
11= 11. Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg
12= 12. William I, German Emperor
13= 13. Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar and Eisenach
14= 14. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
15= 15. Victoria of the United Kingdom
16= 16. Frederick William, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
17= 17. Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel)
18= 18. Prince William of Hesse
19= 19. Princess Louise Charlotte of Denmark
20= 20. Nicholas I of Russia
21= 21. Princess Charlotte of Prussia
22= 22. Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg
23= 23. Amelia of Württemberg
24= 24. Frederick William III of Prussia
25= 25. Duchess Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
26= 26. Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
27= 27. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia
28= 28. Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
29= 29. Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
30= 30. Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn
31= 31. Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeldahnentafel bottom

References

* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/04/db0403.xml Obituary, "The Daily Telegraph", 4 October 2007]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2588075.ece Obituary, "The Times", 4 October 2007]