Royal Guests and Relatives joined the Greek Royal Family for a spectacular Gala Performance at the Royal Theatre in Athens on this day in 1938, on the eve of the Wedding of Crown Prince Paul of Greece and Princess Frederica of Hanover, which followed a Gala Dinner at the Royal Palace of Athens as well as a Banquet held the previous evening.
The Greek Royal Family were led by King George II along with Crown Prince Paul and Princess Frederica (in Queen Sophie’s Diamond Tiara), as well as Queen Helen of Romania (wearing her Greek Key Tiara) with Crown Prince (later King) Michael, Princess Irene (in her Diamond Tiara), and Princess Katherine, as well as their niece, Princess Alexandra, later Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia, and also Prince Phillip of Greece, later the Duke of Edinburgh.
The Foreign Royals were headed by Prince Ernst August of Hanoverthe Duke of Brunswick and Princess Victoria Louise, Duchess of Brunswick (in the Brunswick Tiara), along with Princess Alexandra of Hanover, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (wearing the Mecklenburg-Schwerin Fabergé Aquamarine Tiara) and the Dowager Margravine of Baden, as well as Prince Knud and Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark (wearing Queen Alexandrine’s Russian Sapphire Tiara), Prince Axel and Princess Margaretha of Sweden and Denmark (in her Floral Tiara), and Princess Anne, Duchess of Aosta (wearing a Diamond Tiara).
The uncles and aunts of the bride and groom included Prince George and Princess Marie of Greece (in the Cartier Olive Wreath Tiara and her Diamond Stars), Prince Nicholas and Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna, Princess Nicholas of Greece (wearing the Greek Ruby Parure), and Prince Christopher and Princess Françoise of Greece and Orléans (in the Savoy-Aosta Tiara).
The Royal Cousins in attendance included Prince George, Duke of Kent and Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (wearing her City of London Fringe Tiara, Diamond Girandole Earrings, and Bow Brooch), Prince Paul and Princess Olga of Yugoslavia (in her Diamond Kokoshnik Tiara), Princess Margarita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (wearing a Tiara), the Margrave and Princess Theodora, Margravine of Baden (in the Baden Sunburst Tiara), Princess Sophie of Greece and Hesse (wearing a Hesse Tiara), Princess Eugenie of Greece (in a Cartier Tiara), and Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia among hundreds of Royal and Noble Guests from around Europe.
A great post (as always I may add) and I was not aware of the glittering celebrations previous to the wedding of King Paul and Queen Frederika. Though it should not surprise me, as the Greek monarchy seemed to be a rather splendid one when it came to important celebrations (a bit like the Danish still do).
I would be interested to learn where you managed to find this information – as I had previously not seen any of the fantastic photos you posted here. Are these from Greek sources perhaps? It would also be wonderful to know more about the banquets you mentioned in your post. You said there were two; does that mean two more glittering events in addition to the gala performance or was one of the banquets held on the same day as the gala performance?
I would also like to take this opportunity to wish you a very happy and splendid new year! I look forward to reading your posts on all the glittering events we will have this year – and on those magnificent events in the past!