Prince Michael of Greece Dies at Age 85: All About Royal Who Renounced Rights to Throne to Marry a Commoner

Prince Michael was a first cousin to Prince Philip, the husband of the U.K.'s Queen Elizabeth

Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark has died. He was 85.

The royal, who was a first cousin to Prince Philip, died at an Athens hospital, according to The Telegraph citing local outlets. The Independent reported that he will be buried in the Greek city on August 1.

Prince Michael is survived by his wife, Marina Karella, and their two daughters, Princess Alexandra and Princess Olga. He was the last surviving grandson of King George I, who was assassinated in 1913, with a lineage to the House of Bourbon through his mother, Francoise d’Orléans.

He was a writer and historian who worked under the name Michel De Gres. His photo memoir, Crown, Art and Fantasy: A Life in Pictures, was published last year.

Related: Meet the Greek Royals: All About the Modern Princes and Princesses of the Former Monarchy

Prince Michael's father, Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark, died when he was just 1, and his mother died when he was 14.

He told Fox News in 2023, "I have no brothers or sisters. It was very hard for six months. But I think I have a sense of adaptation, which has helped me all through my life. And then, I went to live with an uncle of mine [the Count of Paris], who had 12 children. So, [I went] from being a lonely child to becoming a member of a very large family. It took me six months of perhaps loneliness, sadness or whatever to adapt. Then afterward, I was very happy."

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Prince Michael met artist Marina Karella at a party through mutual friends, and they married at the Royal Palace in Athens in 1965. However, the bride's commoner status meant he had to renounce his claim to the throne.

"Renouncing this title, not being a member of a ruling monarch in official functions and everything, gave me a sense of freedom," he told Fox News. "I could choose my work and my profession, which I discovered was writing and history. It gave me the freedom to choose my way."

Prince Michael's nephew King Constantine II, the last king of Greece who reigned until the abolition of the Greek monarchy in June 1973, recently died in Jan. 2023 at age 82. Despite no longer being legally recognized, members of the Greek royal family continue to stylize their names with royal titles.

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