SOPHIA OF PRUSSIA

'Sophie Dorothea Ulrike Alice of Prussia' (June 14, 1870 – January 13, 1932), was a Queen consort of Greece
She was born in Potsdam, Germany 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 Prince Albert.
She was a sister to William II, German Emperor, Princesses Charlotte, Margrete and Viktoria of Prussia, as well as, Prince Heinrich, Princes Waldemar and Sigismund; the two latter died before she was born.
She is the paternal grandmother of her namesake, Queen Sofia of Spain and ex-King Constantine II of the Hellenes.

Contents

Marriage and Children

Exiles of Husband

WWI Loyalties

Death and Burial

Titles from Birth

Ancestry

Marriage and Children

On October 27, 1889, she married Crown Prince (later king) Constantine of Greece in Athens, Greece. They had six children:

★ George II, King of the Hellenes (1890–1947) who married Princess Elisabeth of Romania

★ Alexander I, King of the Hellenes (1893–1920) who married Aspasia Manos

★ Princess Helen of Greece and Denmark (1896–1982), who married Carol II, King of Romania

★ Paul I, King of the Hellenes (1901–1964)

★ Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark (1904–1974), who married Prince Amadeo of Savoy, 4th Duke of Aosta

★ Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark (born 1913), who married Richard Brandram
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

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