The first Greek King was a Bavarian Catholic, and his successors were Danes. Did the "Kings of the Hellenes" and the Royal Family, at least by the 20th Century, become Hellenized enough to be native Greek-speaking Orthodox Christians?
How Hellenized Were the Greek Royal Family?
- Thread starter frustrated progressive
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The former Bavarian Wittelsbach King Otto of Greece and his wife continued to communicate in Greek with each other back in Bavaria, routinely. They missed and loved Greece, despite being displaced. So I don´t know if this count as being Hellenized but at leat they had affections and practized the language.
Thanks, Byzantion! Do you know how Hellenized Otto's Danish supplanters were?
King George's children were raised Orthodox and usually talked among themselves in Greek. So the dynasty clearly Hellenized itself over time. That said, I'm not sure the dynasty was ever fully Hellenized, keeping in mind the constant on-again, off-again exiles from Greece in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.
As in, Prince Phillip isn't thought of as 'Greek', for instance, but rather 'European royal from the Greek royal family'.
I know very little about Greek history. Did Greece ever have a royal family that was ethnic Greek? Not in Pericles time, since Athens was a democracy then. Alexander doesn't count, since he was Macedonian. Was there a historic royal family from Myceniean times? Discounting the story of the Trojan wars. Or at any other time in Greek history?
I'd assume that the former King Constantine views himself as Greek, he moved back to Greece a few years ago, and lives there now IIRC.
I imagine if a Greek identity had/has formed amongst them, it'll have been the last lot, due to the instability of the position, seems like every one of the Kings was kicked out at least once.
Prince Philip sees himself as being from a Scandinavian royal family from what I've read though, don't think he has any major sentimental ties to Greece despite being born there.
I imagine if a Greek identity had/has formed amongst them, it'll have been the last lot, due to the instability of the position, seems like every one of the Kings was kicked out at least once.
Prince Philip sees himself as being from a Scandinavian royal family from what I've read though, don't think he has any major sentimental ties to Greece despite being born there.