- Princess of Greece and Denmark (birth)
- Grand Duchess of Hessen (marriage)
- Death in 1937 place crash
Biography
Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark was born 22 June 1911 in Athens, Attica, Greece to Andrew of Greece and Denmark (1882-1944) and Alice Mountbatten (1885-1969) and died 16 November 1937 Oostende, Oostende, West Flanders, Belgium of unspecified causes. He married Georg Donatus von Hesse-Darmstadt (1906-1937) 2 February 1931 in Darmstaadt, Hesse, Germany.
Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark (Template:Langx; 22 June 1911 – 16 November 1937) was by birth a Greek and Danish princess who became titular Hereditary Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine through her marriage to Prince Georg Donatus, pretender to the throne of the Grand Duchy of Hesse. She was also the third-eldest sister to Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark (later Duke of Edinburgh).
The third of five children, she had a happy childhood in pre-war Greece, but then the tragedy of the Balkan Wars forced her family into a long exile in Switzerland.
The year 1929 was a turning point in Cecilie's life. She formed a relationship with her maternal cousin, Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse. Around the same time, her mother was struck by a mental health crisis which led to her confinement in a Swiss psychiatric hospital until 1933. After marrying Georg Donatus in 1931, Cecilie moved to Darmstadt. There she gave birth to their three children, Ludwig (1931–1937), Alexander (1933–1937) and Johanna (1936–1939), before becoming pregnant with her fourth child in 1937. Initially distant from the Nazi movement, she joined the Nazi Party at the same time as her husband in May 1937.
Death
In October 1937, Georg Donatus' father, Grand Duke Ernest Louis of Hesse, died. A few weeks after the funeral, his younger brother, Prince Louis, was due to be married to the Hon. Margaret Geddes, daughter of Lord Geddes. On 16 November 1937, Georg Donatus, Cecilie, their two young sons, Georg's mother Grand Duchess Eleonore, the children's nurse, a family friend, a pilot and two crewmen, flew from Darmstadt bound for the United Kingdom, where Prince Louis was due to be married. The Junkers Ju 52 aeroplane hit a factory chimney near Ostend and crashed into flames, killing all those on board. Cecilie was heavily pregnant with her fourth child at the time of the crash, and the remains of the newborn baby were found in the wreckage, indicating that Cecilie had gone into labour during the flight; the Belgian inquiry into the crash suggested that the pilot was attempting to land in Ostend despite the poor weather conditions because of the birth.[1]
Children
Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
Ludwig Ernst Andreas of Hesse and by Rhine (1931-1937) | |||
Alexander Georg Karl Heinrich of Hesse and by Rhine (1933-1937) | |||
Johanna Marina Eleonore of Hesse and by Rhine | |||
Unnamed Son of Hesse and by Rhine (1937-1937) |
Siblings
Residences
Notable Ancestors
- Descendants of Christian IX of Denmark
See Also
- Cecilie Oldenburg
- Oldenburg Family
- Oldenburg in Greece
- wikipedia:en:Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark
- Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark at thePeerage
- Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark, Geni.com, https://www.geni.com/people/Princess-Cecilie-of-Greece-and-Denmark/6000000001185730451, retrieved 01 Dec 2024
- Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark, FindAGrave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/44541048/cecilie_von_hesse-darmstadt, retrieved 01 Dec 2024
- Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark, FamilySearch.org, https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/about/LYPX-JBL, retrieved 01 Dec 2024
References
- ^ "Birth of Royal Infant seen as Cause of Crash". The Evening Independent. 23 November 1937. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19371123&id=0MwLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NlUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4248,1220727.