The Christening of Prince Pavlos of Greece, 1967

The christening of Prince Pavlos of Greece, 1967. How beautiful the Queen Dowager Frederica is; one sees at once whom her daughters take after! Queen Anne-Marie of the Hellenes holds her month-old son Pavlos in her arms. Princess Sophia, who left Athens after her wedding to the Spanish heir Juan Carlos in 1962, is at this point already carrying the present King of Spain, Felipe VI. King Constantine II of Greece, the last reigning Orthodox monarch, stands with his elder daughter, the two-year-old Princess Alexia. In the background is Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, the King's younger sister. On 29 June, when these photographs were taken, a coup had already taken place in Greece, after which power in the country belonged to a group of military men, so it is most likely they who should be regarded as the prince's godparents. A few months later, in December, the royal family would leave Greece. As a result of the referendums of 1973 and 1974 the monarchy in Greece would be abolished, and the royal family would spend many years litigating over its property, most of which was in the end never returned