Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark

• Issue — * Olga, Princess Paul of Yugoslavia • Princess Elizabeth, Countess of Toerring-Jettenbach • Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent • Father — George I of Greece • House — Glücksburg • Mother — Olga Constantinovna of Russia • Born — 22 January 1872 • Birthplace — Athens, Greece • Died — 8 February 1938 • Place of death — Athens, Greece • Burial Place — Royal Cemetery, Tatoi Palace, Greece

He married Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia (1882–1957), daughter of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia and Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the only sister of the future Russian imperial pretender, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, and his second cousin through his mother Olga Constantinovna of Russia and her father Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, on 29 August 1902 in Tsarskoye Selo, Russia.[1] They had three daughters: • Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark (1903–1997); married Prince Paul of Yugoslavia. Olga was the maternal grandmother of actress Catherine Oxenberg and author Christina Oxenberg. • Princess Elizabeth of Greece and Denmark (1904–1955); married Count Carl Theodor of Toerring-Jettenbach. • Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark (1906–1968); married Prince George, Duke of Kent. Marina 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".[2]

• Illustration — The Nicholas Palace in Athens (now the Embassy of Italy) Nicholas' marriage significantly improved his own financial position; his wife Elena received the customary imperial dowry of a Russian Grand Duchess, amounting to 1,000,000 roubles. This amount was then equivalent to approximately US $500,000[3][4]. The dowry capital was held in Russia, from which Elena was paid an annual income of 50,000 roubles.[5][6] After their marriage the couple resided in Athens; in late 1902 they purchased a large house near the city centre, which was thereafter known as the Nicholas Palace. The building is a neoclassical residence on Vasilissis Sofias Avenue, which was designed by Ernst Ziller for banker Stefanos Psycha during the 1880s.[7] They commissioned the royal architect Anastasios Metaxas to enlarge it with a Ziller-inspired second block, linked by a glazed atrium that illuminated the mansion’s core works. Prince and Princess Nicholas took up residence at the newly-renovated Nicholas Palace in 1904.[8] The advent of the Russian Revolution in 1917 and the exile of the Greek Royal Family in 1923 had a significant impact on the couple's income, and as a result the Nicholas Palace was leased to the Hotel Grande Bretagne during the 1920s, who used the building as a 60-bed luxury annex known as the “Petit Palais”. The House was later rented by the Norwegian Embassy in 1930 and, by 1933, the Italian Embassy. The Italian Government later purchased the Nicholas Palace from the widowed Princess Nicholas in 1955; the site has subsequently remained the home of the Italian Embassy in Athens ever since.[9][10]

Along with his elder brothers Constantine and George, Nicholas helped to organize the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, the first to be held since 393. Nicholas served as president of the Sub-Committee for Shooting. His father bequeathed him the Royal Theater of Greece which Nicholas, in turn, transferred to the Greek state in 1935. He was friends with George Simitis and was godfather to his son, future socialist Prime Minister Kostas Simitis.[11]

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

His recorded language was Modern Greek. His recorded confession was Greek Orthodoxy. He was the child of George I of Greece and Olga Constantinovna of Russia. He married Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia. 3 children are recorded: Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark, Princess Elizabeth of Greece and Denmark and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark.