#House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glückburg

[germanaustriannoblesandroyals]

House of Oldenburg & of Hesse: Princess Cecilie “Cécile” of Greece and Denmark

Cecilie is the third child of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and his wife Princess Alice of Battenberg. She is the younger sister of Princess Margarita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Princess Theodora, Margravine of Baden. Her younger siblings are Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark as well as Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh. Among family and friends, she was known as Cécile.

In December 1922, she fled Greece alongside her family on a British ship. They went into exile in France and lived in a Parisian house which was lent to them Princess Marie Bonaparte, the wife of her uncle Prince George of Greece and Denmark. In private, the family spoke mostly French, German and English and not much of Greek, as reported by Prince Philip. Cecilie’s youth was not easy since her family was now poor and her father left his family for his mistress. Meanwhile, her mother, Princess Alice, opened an art and needlework shop to keep the family afloat. In 1930, Cecilie’s mother was sent to a mental asylum in Switzerland to treat her for schizophrenia.

In 1931, Cecilie married Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, in Darmstadt. He was her first cousin once removed through Princess Alice and the son of Cecilie’s godfather Grand Duke Ernest Louis of Hesse and by Rhine. The mass that wanted to watch the wedding parade was so huge that although the cars were escorted by police the bride, groom, the groom’s brother and father as well the bride’s father had to walk to church. The bridal couple knew each other since childhood because the Battenbergs were a fairly new morganatic cadet branch of the House of Hesse. Battenberg was Cecilie’s mother’s house of birth. Seven months and 23 days after the wedding, Cecilie’s first child Prince Ludwig was born. Prince Alexander and Princess Johanna followed in 1933 and 1936 respectively.

Cecilie’s husband was a reserve officer of the Luftwaffe (German air force). The couple joined the ruling Nazi party on May 1st, 1937. When Cecilie’s father-in-law died the same October, the parade in his honor was taken over by the Nazis.

Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine was due to marry Margaret Campbell Geddes just a few weeks later in London. Georg Donatus and Cecilie, who was afraid of flying, decided to fly to the wedding and take along their two oldest sons. At this time, Cecilie was eight months pregnant with another prince. Unfortunately, the airplane crashed in Belgium near Ostend on November 16th, 1937. Everyone on board died. Later parts of a baby’s body were found which led to the conclusion that Cecilie must have gone into labour during the flight and that an attempted emergency landing had gone wrong due to the bad weather. The only surviving member of the family was Johanna who was adopted by Ludwig and Margaret. Unfortunately, she too died two years later from meningitis.

Cecilie is buried alongside her sons and husband at Rosenhöhe in Darmstadt, the traditional burial place of the House of Hesse. She was the first of her siblings to die.

// Leonie Benech as Princess Cecilie in The Crown