Prince Nicholas Of Greece And Denmark

Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark (Greek: Νικόλαος, romanized: Nikólaos) was born on 22 January 1872 and died on 8 February 1938. He was the fourth child and third son of King George I of Greece and Queen Olga. Known within his family as "Greek Nicky" to distinguish him from his cousin Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, he was related to the Russian imperial family on both paternal and maternal sides.

Prince Nicholas was a talented painter, signing his works as "Nicolas Leprince."

He married Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia on 29 August 1902 at Tsarskoye Selo, Russia. Elena was born in 1882 and died in 1957. She was the daughter of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia and Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Her paternal uncle was Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, an imperial pretender, making her and Nicholas second cousins through his mother, Queen Olga of Greece, and her father.

The marriage produced three daughters:

- Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark (1903–1997), who married Prince Paul of Yugoslavia. She was the maternal grandmother of actress Catherine Oxenberg and author Christina Oxenberg.

- Princess Elizabeth of Greece and Denmark (1904–1955), who married Count Carl Theodor of Toerring-Jettenbach.

- Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark (1906–1968), who married Prince George, Duke of Kent. She was the mother of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent; Princess Alexandra, the Honourable Lady Ogilvy; and Prince Michael of Kent.

The princesses were raised with an English nanny, Kate Fox, known as "Nurnie."

Following his marriage, Prince Nicholas's financial position improved significantly due to his wife’s dowry of 1,000,000 Russian roubles, a sum equivalent to approximately US $500,000 at the time (about $18 million in 2024 dollars). The dowry was held in Russia, and Elena received an annual income of 50,000 roubles.

The couple resided in Athens after their marriage. In late 1902, they purchased a large neoclassical house near the city center, known as the Nicholas Palace. The palace is situated on Vasilissis Sofias Avenue and was originally designed by Ernst Ziller for banker Stefanos Psycha during the 1880s. It was later enlarged under the direction of architect Anastasios Metaxas with a Ziller-inspired second block connected by a glazed atrium. The Prince and Princess moved into the renovated Nicholas Palace in 1904.

The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the exile of the Greek Royal Family in 1923 affected the couple's income. During the 1920s, the Nicholas Palace was leased to the Hotel Grande Bretagne, functioning as a luxury annex called the “Petit Palais.” Later, it was rented by the Norwegian Embassy in 1930 and subsequently by the Italian Embassy in 1933. In 1955, the Italian government purchased the property, which has since served as the Italian Embassy in Athens.

In addition to his artistic pursuits, Prince Nicholas helped organize the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, serving as president of the Sub-Committee for Shooting. His father bequeathed him the Royal Theater of Greece, which Nicholas transferred to the Greek state in 1935. He was known to have been friends with George Simitis and served as godfather to his son, Kostas Simitis, who later became a socialist Prime Minister of Greece.

Prince Nicholas died in Athens on 8 February 1938 and was buried in the royal tomb at the Palace of Tatoi.

His honors included various orders from Denmark, Spain, the United Kingdom, the Grand Duchy of Hesse, and the Kingdom of Italy, such as:

- Knight of the Elephant (Denmark, 1890)

- Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III (Spain, 1902)

- Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (UK, 1901)

- Grand Cross of the Ludwig Order (Grand Duchy of Hesse, 1904)

- Knight of the Annunciation (Italy, 1907).