Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece, Prince of Denmark (; born 20 May 1967), is a Greek financier who is the former heir apparent to the defunct throne of Greece, becoming the Head of the Royal House of Greece upon his father's death on 10 January 2023. Pavlos was Crown Prince of Greece and heir apparent to the Greek throne from birth until the monarchy's abolition.
Pavlos was born in Athens as the second child and eldest son of the last King of Greece, Constantine II, and his wife Queen Anne-Marie. Pavlos was born into an unstable era for Greek politics, just shy of turning eight months old when he and his family were sent into exile, after Constantine II staged a failed counter-coup against the military junta, a regime that had taken power about a month before Pavlos's birth. They first lived in Rome, before eventually settling in Copenhagen, where his family lived with Pavlos's maternal grandparents, King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid of Denmark. Although he and his family were in exile since December 1967, his parents continued to officially reign as King and Queen of the Hellenes from 1967 until 1973, when the military junta abolished the Greek monarchy and established the Third Hellenic Republic as its successor state. A democratic referendum following the fall of the military regime had taken place in December 1974, which resulted in the definitive dissolution of the monarchy. Following the abolition of the monarchy, Pavlos and his siblings grew up in London.
On 1 July 1995, Pavlos married Marie-Chantal Miller. They have five children: Maria-Olympia, Constantine-Alexios, Achileas-Andreas, Odysseas-Kimon, and Aristides-Stavros. Pavlos is closely related to many European royals. Queens Margrethe II of Denmark and Sofía of Spain are his aunts, and Kings Felipe VI of Spain and Frederik X of Denmark are his first cousins.
Early life
Pavlos was born on 20 May 1967 at the Tatoi Palace north of Athens, used at the time as the secondary residence of the Greek royal family. He was the second child and first son of King Constantine II of Greece and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece. Constantine II had ascended the throne on 6 March 1964, aged 23, following the death of his father and predecessor, Paul, so Pavlos was crown prince from birth. His mother is the youngest sister of the Danish queen Margrethe II, and his father was the brother of Sofía, the former queen consort of Spain. His maternal grandparents were Frederik IX of Denmark and his queen consort, Ingrid of Sweden.
Pavlos displaced his older sister, Alexia, as heir to the throne due to Greece's order of succession adhering to male-preference primogeniture. From 1967 to 1973, Greece officially remained a monarchy, with a regency appointed while the king lived in exile.
Following the discovery and suppression of a "wide-ranging" anti-junta movement, just before its outbreak, among the ranks of the mostly royalist Navy, Papadopoulos, on 1 June 1973, declared Greece a presidential republic with himself as president and proclaimed a referendum for 29 July 1973 on the issue of the monarchy. The referendum was held without opposition and its result confirmed the regime change, with Constantine becoming "officially" deposed. On 17 November 1974, after the fall of the dictatorship, the 1974 Greek legislative election was held, resulting in a victory for Constantine Karamanlis and his New Democracy party. Less than a month later, on 8 December, the Greek plebiscite of 1974 confirmed the referendum of the previous year: the majority voted for a republic (69%) with a minority voting for the restoration of the monarchy (31%).
thumb|right|Pavlos in 2013
Constantine announced that he "respects" the "decision of the Greek people." Yet, from 1975 until early 1978 he was involved in conspiracies to overthrow the government and the republican constitution via a military coup, which eventually did not materialize. He and Anne-Marie had been living with their family in London for several years. Pavlos's youngest siblings were born in London: Theodora in 1983 and Philippos in 1986. Pavlos was educated at the Hellenic College of London, founded by his parents in 1980. He attended the Armand Hammer United World College of the American West, Montezuma, New Mexico, in the U.S., from 1984 to 1986. After training at the British Army's Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards in 1987 on a three-year short-service commission. He was promoted to lieutenant in April 1989, and relinquished his commission in April 1990. In 1993, he completed a bachelor's degree at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
On 11 May 1994, the Greek Government under prime-minister Andreas Papandreou renounced the Greek-citizenship status of Pavlos, alongside Constantine, and the rest of the former royal family through law 2215/1994. The law stated that Constantine's Greek-citizenship status, and accordingly his family's, could only be restored under specific conditions, including the selection of an explicit surname. The following year, while sharing a house in Washington, DC, he and his cousin, Felipe VI of Spain, then Prince of Asturias, attended Georgetown University, where both obtained a Master of Science in Foreign Service.
Head of the Greek royal family
Following the death of his father on 10 January 2023, Pavlos delivered Constantine's eulogy during the funeral ceremony and carried his coffin with his brothers, sons and nephews at the burial. A rumour circulated that Pavlos intended to permanently relocate to Greece, but this was later denied by the spokesperson of the former Greek royal family, Ivi Macris, as "completely false". On 22 January, Pavlos spoke to French magazine Point de Vue regarding his new role. In the interview, Pavlos thanked the public for their respect towards the Greek royal family and said that those who crowded the funeral, whether they were "monarchists or not", "paid tribute to a historical personality, a part of Greek history." When asked about the role he sees himself upholding in Greek society, Pavlos explained that he would "not take on an official role", but will "uphold the family's exemplary." He added that his eldest son Constantine-Alexios would not take on any official role either, but would "follow his grandfather's example and be a good man." Soon after, as Pavlos was leaving Athens that month, it was revealed that he and his family had been searching for a home in Greece, with Pavlos telling journalists that he had not "found a house yet". Pavlos attended the coronation of Charles III and Camilla in May with his mother and wife.
On 3 July 2023 at 11:45pm, Pavlos and his brother, Nikolaos, appeared in a special edition of 365 Moments, a Greek television series hosted by Sofia Papaioannou. The episode marked the first interview with Pavlos and Nikolaos since their father's death, and it discussed the passing of their father, their stripped Greek citizenship and their surname. Pavlos described his father as "strict but very loving" and said that despite being forced into exile, he still wanted to help his family. Pavlos also announced that he was now living in Greece again, which is what he "always wanted to". He explained that the opportunity to live in Greece occurred as his job allowed for overseas work. When asked whether he accepted the last name "Glücksburg", Pavlos said that he would never see it as his name. He called it, "a family lineage. Denmark's family name is not that. It is one of the castles of the family's origin." Following worry online, Pavlos announced on Instagram that he had undergone a retinal detachment surgery. After thanking people for their support and wishes, Pavlos explained that the surgery was "successful", however he would be unable to travel and therefore have to spend Christmas in London. Between January and February 2024, Pavlos and his family attended three memorial services to mark the one year anniversary of Constantine's death — one in Athens and two in London, including a thanksgiving service. After a memorial service the following day, Pavlos and Nikolaos were interviewed by ANT1 reporter Isaac Karipidis. They both thanked the public for their support. On 28 September 2024, Pavlos served as a groomsman at the wedding of Princess Theodora and Matthew Kumar at the Metropolitan Cathedral.
On 19 December 2024, Pavlos, his five children and his four siblings submitted an application for Greek citizenship, which had been stripped from the family in 1994. Pavlos's mother, Anne-Marie, did not apply, as she was reportedly "not interested". Under law, Pavlos and his family, in order to receive citizenship, must pledge allegiance to the republican constitution and adopt a surname. Ultimately, the surname of "Ντε Γκρες" (transliteration of , meaning "of Greece") was chosen. The following day, Pavlos's citizenship, alongside that of his children and siblings, was reinstated according to the provisions of the 1994 law by order of the Minister of the Interior, Theodoros Livanios. The reinstatement of their citizenship meant that those eligible must complete mandatory military conscription. The Communist Party of Greece and PASOK also criticized the government's decision. Athens University Constitutional Law Emeritus Professor Nikos Alivizatos also criticized the decision of the Minister of the Interior arguing that it did not fulfill the requirements of the 1994 law, because "Ντε Γκρες" was not a "regular surname", but "a declaration of place of origin" and a title of distinction, such as those used by royalty and aristocrats, something that goes against the Greek Constitution. In February 2025, Athens University Administrative Law Professor Panos Lazaratos lodged an objection against the recognition of the surname filed by the members of the former royal family, arguing that it constitutes a form of indirect discrimination against all other citizens, and that it was unlawful to give them Greek citizenship.
Personal life
thumb|upright|Dual [[Royal cypher|Cypher of Pavlos and his wife Marie-Chantal]]
Pavlos married American heiress Marie-Chantal Miller, whom he had met at a party three years earlier in New Orleans, on 1 July 1995. he is also a Prince of Denmark with the style of Highness.
Dynastic orders
- Greek royal family:
- 55px Grand Master of the Royal Order of the Redeemer
- 55px Grand Master of the Royal Family Order of Saints George and Constantine
- 55px Grand Master of the Royal Order of George I
- 55px| Grand Master of the Royal Order of the Phoenix
Foreign honours
- :
- 55px Knight of the Order of the Elephant (14 January 1997)
- 55px Recipient of the Commemorative Medal of the Silver Jubilee of Queen Margrethe II
Ancestry
thumb|205px|right|Pavlos's paternal grandparents, [[Frederica of Hanover (left) and Paul of Greece (right).]]
Pavlos is a direct descendant of three reigning sovereign monarchs at birth. He is the eldest son of the King of Greece, grandson of the King of Denmark and great-grandson of the King of Sweden, all living and enthroned when he was born.