Why did Elizabeth II at all times refuse to go to Greece?

Revealed on September 15, 2022 at 11:59 am

Iceland, Jamaica, Russia, Nigeria, Saint Lucia, Nepal, Tanzania, Uganda, Thailand, Mexico, Morocco, Chile, Kuwait, Kenya, Italy and on overlook it. Throughout her seventy-year-long reign, the Queen of England visited round 120 international locations. Amongst these journeys, there are official journeys, state visits, particularly to international locations of which she was queen, similar to Canada and Australia, in addition to the international locations of the Commonwealth. Others, like Malta, have been favored locations for Elizabeth II, who had lived there with Prince Philip earlier than her coronation. And naturally, France. Of all of the international locations she visited, the Queen of England, Francophone and Francophile, most frequently went to France. She met all of the presidents there, from René Coty to Emmanuel Macron. However for private causes, the queen has at all times refused to go to Greece.

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“I’m Greek, however…”

To know why the Queen of England by no means set foot in Greece, you must return to the historical past of her husband, Prince Philip, who died final 12 months. Prince Philip’s father was Prince Andrew of Greece, previously Prince of Denmark. In 1922, his brother, King Constantine I, was defeated by the army junta and needed to abdicate, forcing the royal household into exile. Philip was then one 12 months outdated and needed to flee his nation together with his mother and father and 4 sisters. They go to France, to Saint-Cloud. From then on, Prince Philip had a sophisticated relationship with the nation the place he was born, declaring in an interview: “I’m Greek, however…”, with out having the ability to end his sentence. Nonetheless, the couple traveled to Greece anyway, on a non-public go to in 1950 on the invitation of King Paul and Frederica of Hanover, Queen Consort of Greece. However the Queen and her husband by no means made an official journey there out of respect for the non-public historical past of Prince Philip, a number of of whose relations have been murdered there.