Paul of Greece

Paul (Greek: Παύλος, romanized: Pavlos; 14 December 1901 – 6 March 1964) was King of Greece from 1 April 1947 until his death on 6 March 1964.

Paul was born at Tatoi Palace as the third son of Crown Prince Constantine and Crown Princess Sophia of Greece. In 1912, the year before his father ascended the throne, Paul joined the Royal Hellenic Navy at eleven years old, becoming the youngest cadet at the time. After the National Schism during World War I, Constantine's abdication was forced and Paul and his family went into exile in Switzerland. Paul's brother, Alexander, became the Greek sovereign in 1917 when Constantine and Paul were exiled, however, Alexander's death in 1920 led to Constantine's restoration. In 1922, Paul's other brother, George, became the monarch. However, a referendum in 1924 two years later saw the abolition of the Greek monarchy. Paul moved to Italy with his family and then to London.

In London, Paul had an affair with his first cousin and his first love, Princess Nina Georgievna of Russia, who would eventually reject his marriage proposal. The monarchy and George's position as king were restored after another referendum in 1935. George was childless, which made Paul the heir presumptive and gave him the responsibility of finding a spouse and having children. At the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Paul successfully proposed to Frederica of Hanover, whom he had been seeing regularly for the past year. However, Paul's engagement to a German princess received a mixed reaction in Greece, especially since Adolf Hitler attempted to include Nazi swastika flags at their wedding ceremony. Paul was forced out of Greece with his family during World War II when Greece fell to the Axis Powers. Paul moved to Egypt and then South Africa, where he left his wife and three young children and moved to London with his brother for the remainder of the war.