Sophia of Prussia

:"See also Sophia of Prussia (1582-1610)."Infobox Greek Royalty
name =Sophia of Prussia
title =Queen consort of the Hellenes

---

imgw = 200px
caption =
reign =March 18, 1913 – June 11 1917
December 19, 1920 – September 27, 1922
reign-type =Consort
coronation =
spouse =Constantine I
spouse-type =Consort to
issue =George II
Alexander I
Helen, Queen Mother of Romania
Paul
Princess Irene, Duchess of Aosta
Princess Katherine
full name =Sophia Dorothea Ulrike Alice
titles ="HM" Queen Sophie
"HM" The Queen of the Hellenes
"HRH" The Crown-Princess of Greece
"HRH" Princess Sophia of Prussia
royal house =House of Hohenzollern
father =Frederick III, German Emperor
mother =Victoria, Princess Royal
date of birth =birth date|1870|6|14|mf=y
place of birth =flagicon|Prussia|1803 Potsdam
date of christening =
place of christening =
date of death =death date and age|1932|1|13|1870|6|14|mf=y
place of death =flagicon|Germany|Weimar Frankfurt
date of burial =22 November, 1936
place of burial =flagicon|Greece|royalRoyal Cemetery, Tatoi Palace, Greece|

Princess Sophie of Prussia ("Sophie Dorothea Ulrike Alice"; June 14, 1870 – January 13, 1932), was a Queen consort of Greece.

Princess of Prussia

She was born in Potsdam, Prussia, in 1870 to then Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia and Victoria, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom, herself the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince Consort. Sophie, known as "Sossy" during her childhood, (the name was thought to have been picked because it rhymed with "Mossy", the nickname of her younger sister Margarete) was Victoria and Frederick's seventh child and third daughter.

She was a sister to Wilhelm II, German Emperor, Princesses Charlotte, Margrete and Viktoria of Prussia, as well as Princes Heinrich, Waldemar and Sigismund of Prussia. Sigimund died before she was born, and Waldemar when he was 11 and she was 8.

She is the paternal grandmother of her namesake, Queen Sofia of Spain and ex-King Constantine II of the Hellenes. Queen Sofia also has a granddaughter, Infanta Sofia of Spain, who was named in "her" honor; Infanta Sofia's parents are the queen's son, Prince Felipe and his wife, Princess Letizia.

Marriage and Children

On October 27, 1889, she married Crown Prince (later King) Constantine of Greece in Athens, Greece. They were third cousins through descent from Paul I of Russia, and second cousins once removed through Frederick William III of Prussia. This led to in-fighting within her family, particularly with Empress Augusta Viktoria, known within her family as Dona, wife of her brother William. In 1890, when Sophie announced her intention to leave her Lutheran faith for Greek Orthodoxy, Dona summoned her and told her that if she did so, not only would William find it unacceptable, being the Head of the Prussian Protestant church; she would be barred from Germany and her soul would end up in Hell. Sophie replied that it was none of her business whether or not she did. Dona became hysterical and her son, Prince Joachim, was born too early causing her to cling to him for the rest of his life as she believed he was delicate. Evidently, so did William as he wrote to his mother that if the baby died Sophie would have "murdered it." Sophie and Constantine had six children:

Issue

In 1916 as the Queen and King were residing in Tatoi, a mysterious fire broke out, destroying the main residence and much of the forest surrounding it. Queen Sophie grabbed her youngest child (Katherine) and ran a mile and a half with her in her arms. The fire lasted for forty-eight hours and was suspected as deliberate act of arson.

Exiles of Husband

She left Greece on June 11, 1917 with her husband (who abdicated because of his alleged pro-German sentiments) and they went into exile to Switzerland, but were recalled to the throne shortly after their second son Alexander's death from an infected monkey bite. Her husband was forced to abdicate a second time after defeat in a war with Turkey in 1922, and he died early the following year.

WWI Loyalties

During World War I Queen Sophie had been wrongly seen in Greece as very pro-German because her brother was Kaiser Wilhelm II. Like her mother, she was passionately pro-British.

Death and Burial

infobox hrhstyles


royal name=Queen Sophie as consort
dipstyle=Her Majesty
offstyle=Your Majesty
altstyle=Ma'am|In her last years Queen Sophie was diagnosed with cancer and died in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1932. With the restoration of the monarchy in Greece, Queen Sophie's remains were re-buried in 1936 at the Royal Burial Ground at Tatoi alongside her husband King Constantine.

Titles from Birth

* "Her Royal Highness" Princess Sophia of Prussia (1870–1888)
* "Her Royal Highness" The Crown Princess of Greece (1888–1913)
* "Her Majesty" The Queen of Greece (1913–1923)
* "Her Majesty" Dowager Queen Sophie (1923–1932)

Ancestry

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. Sophia of Prussia
2= 2. Frederick III, German Emperor
3= 3. Victoria, Princess Royal
4= 4. William I, German Emperor
5= 5. Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar and Eisenach
6= 6. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
7= 7. Victoria of the United Kingdom
8= 8. Frederick William III of Prussia
9= 9. Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
10= 10. Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
11= 11. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia
12= 12. Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
13= 13. Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
14= 14. Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn
15= 15. Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
16= 16. Frederick William II of Prussia
17= 17. Frederica Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt
18= 18. Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
19= 19. Frederica Caroline Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt
20= 20. Charles Augustus, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
21= 21. Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt
22= 22. Paul I of Russia
23= 23. Princess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg
24= 24. Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
25= 25. Princess Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf
26= 26. Emil, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
27= 27. Louise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
28= 28. George III of the United Kingdom
29= 29. Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
30= 30. Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (= 24)
31= 31. Princess Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf (= 25)