Overview
Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark (; 4 May 1913 – 2 October 2007), styled in the United Kingdom as Lady Katherine Brandram from 1947 until 2007, was the third daughter and youngest child of King Constantine I of Greece and Princess Sophia of Prussia.
Early life
Katherine was born on 4 May 1913 in the Royal Palace in Athens, a few weeks after her paternal grandfather, King George I of Greece, was assassinated in Thessaloniki. She was baptised on 14 June 1913. Her godparents were Olga Constantinovna (the Dowager Queen of Greece, her paternal grandmother), Alexandra (the Dowager Queen of the United Kingdom, her paternal grandfather's sister and her maternal grandmother's sister-in-law), George V (the King of the United Kingdom, her paternal grandfather's nephew and her maternal grandmother's nephew), Wilhelm II, German Emperor (her maternal uncle), The Greek Navy (represented by the Minister of Marine) and The Greek Army (represented by the Minister of War).
Katherine had five siblings – three brothers (George, Alexander and Paul, each of whom would become King of the Hellenes) and two sisters (Princess Helen, who married Crown Prince Carol of Romania, and Princess Irene who married Prince Aimone of Savoy, Duke of Spoleto). When she was christened, the members of the whole Greek Army and Greek Navy became her godparents. At three years of age, she and her mother were trapped in Tatoi Palace, outside Athens, when a fire broke out. The Queen, carrying her, managed to escape in time.
Life in exile
Her father abdicated in 1917, replaced as king by her brother Alexander. She and her parents were exiled to Switzerland. They were reinstated following Alexander's death in 1920, but Constantine abdicated again in 1922. Exiled again, this time to Sicily, her father died in Palermo in 1923. The family moved to Villa Sparta in Florence, where Katherine took up painting. Her second brother George became King George II in 1922, but was deposed in 1924.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).