Prince Michael was born in Rome on Christmas Day in 1938/1939 (January 7, 1939). His father was Prince Christopher (1888-1940), the son of King George I of Greece (1845-1913) and Queen Olga (née Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia) (1851-1926), and his mother was Princess Françoise (1902-1953), the daughter of the Head of the Head of the Royal House of France, Prince Jean, Duke of Guise (1874-1940) and Princess Isabelle of Guise (1878-1961). Through his father, Prince Michael is the great-great-grandson of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia (1796-1855). His aunt was Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark (1870-1891), who, in 1889, married Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich (1860-1919), martyred by the Bolsheviks in the Sts. Peter and Paul Fortress and canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad as a Royal Martyr and New Confessor of Russia in 1981. Prince Michael was therefore the first cousin of Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich (1891-1942) and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna the Younger (1890-1958) and the second cousin of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearer Tsesarevich Aleksei Nikolaevich (1904-1918). He was a third cousin of the former Head of the Imperial House of Russia, Grand Duke Wladimir Kirillovich (1917-1992).
- Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark
- The Head of the House of Romanoff, H.I.H. The Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, and Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark The Head of the House of Romanoff, H.I.H. The Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, and Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark
https://imperialhouse.ru/en/allnews-en/news/2024-08-01-the-members-of-the-house-of-romanoff-mourn-the-passing-of-prince-michael-of-greece-and-denmark-1939-2024.html#sigProId5b29f720c9
Prince Michael’s father, Prince Christopher, was raised by his mother, Queen Olga, with a love for Russia and Russian culture, and he spoke Russian fluently. Unfortunately, Prince Christopher died unexpectedly after a brief illness on January 21, 1940, and therefore played no role in the raising of his son.
Prince Michael spent his childhood in Spanish Morocco, Spain, and France. In 1953, his mother, Princess Isabelle, passed away, and his uncle, Prince Henri of Orléans, Count of Paris and Head of the Royal House of France, took on himself the responsibility for raising him.
Prince Michael was educated in Paris, and in the early 1960s he served in the Greek army. In 1965, he married Ms. Marina Karella (b. 1940), who did not receive a title upon marriage. The two daughters from the marriage are Princesses of Greece. The younger daughter of Prince Michael and Ms. Marina Karella, Princess Olga of Greece (b. 1971) married Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta, of the House of Savoy (b. 1967). Princess Olga is the godmother of Prince Alexander Georgievich, the son of Grand Duke George of Russia, the Heir of the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duchess Maria of Russia.
After the abolition of the monarchy in Greece, Prince Michael did not go into exile and his Greek citizenship was never revoked.
Prince Michael was well-known as an author of numerous books on art and history, works of historical fiction, and collections of historical photos.
The funeral of H.R.H. Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark took place on August 1, 2024, in the Church of St. Theodore at the First Cemetery of Athens. He was buried at the Royal Cemetery at the Tatoi Palace. Attending the funeral were the Head of the Royal House of Greece, Prince Pavlos (de jure King of Greece) and his wife Princess Marie-Chantal, Queen Ann-Marie of Greece and other members of the royal family of Greece, Queen Sophia of Spain (née a Princess of Greece and Denmark), and Prince Michael’s son-in-law, Prince Aimone of Savoy-Aosta.
The Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. The Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, her son and heir, H.I.H. The Tsesarevich and Grand Duke George of Russia, and his spouse, Her Serene Highness Princess Victoria Romanovna, grieve for Prince Michael and extend their deepest condolences to his widow, daughters, and grandchildren, as well as to Prince Pavlos and the entire Royal House of Greece.
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Grant, O Lord, eternal rest to Thy newly-reposed servant Prince Michael, and make his memory be eternal!