The Cruise of the Kings (Greek: Η κρουαζιέρα των γαλαζοαίματων, romanized: I krouaziéra ton galazoématon, lit. 'The cruise of the blue-bloods') was a royal cruise around the Mediterranean Sea in the summer of 1954, organised by Queen Frederica and King Paul of Greece.
![](http://up.wiki.x.io/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Paul_and_Frederica_of_Greece.jpg/240px-Paul_and_Frederica_of_Greece.jpg)
The cruise aimed to promote tourism in Greece and was drafted by Frederica. It occurred from 23 August to 3 September 1954 on the royal yacht Agamemnon. Royals from over 25 reigning and formerly reigning royal families were in attendance. A second cruise was scheduled for August 1956, but the nationalisation of the Suez Canal and its closure by the British government, as well as growing violence in the Levant, prevented the cruise from playing out smoothly. The cruise was transformed into a shorter stay in Mon Repos, Corfu.
Conception
editThe cruise was drafted by Frederica of Hanover, the queen consort of Greece as the wife of Paul of Greece and a granddaughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II, to promote and "open the doors" to tourism in Greece, specifically in the Greek islands.[1] The growth of tourism was hoped for as it would assist in economic recovery following World War II and the Greek Civil War. Another aim of the cruise was to rebuild ties between European royal families following World War I and World War II.[1]
According to Frederica's memoir, she was approached in 1954 by Eugenides, a Greek shipowner, who asked her to visit one of his transatlantic liners and give it her name. When this is done, the shipowner typically gives a brooch. However, Frederica requested that Eugenides instead assist her in organising a cruise for the royal families in Europe.[1]
The Greek Consul in Naples of the time, M. Tylpados also revealed to the French news outlet Combat that "several engagements" were hoped to be announced by the end of the cruise.[2] Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark claimed in 2003 that "some marriages or engagements" amongst royals was one of the aims the cruise.[3] The only marriage that was reached was that of Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia and Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Parma.[4] However, King Paul's oldest daughter Princess Sophia and Prince Juan Carlos of Spain first met on the cruise and they would marry eight years later.[5]
Events of the cruise
edit1954 edition
editEugenides' Agamemnon first departed on 23 August 1954 from a port in Marseille, a city of France, where Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and her family boarded the yacht as the first royals to step foot on the cruise. At around 11:00 a.m., the Agamemnon stopped in Naples, where the majority of royal guests, including Paul, Frederica, and the Greek royal family, were picked up. The Greek royals had arrived in Naples at around 8:20 am that same day, having taken the yacht Navarino from Greece. It took almost three hours for all the guests to board the ship in Naples. At around 1:45 pm, the Agamemnon departed Naples with its guests and sailed towards the Ionian islands.[6]
On board the yacht and at any locations where it stopped, it was agreed that royal protocol be abolished, which freed guests from any royal order of precedence, allowing them to "mingle more" in a less formal environment, according to historian Julián Cortes Cavanillas. More informal standards, Frederica hoped, would help rebuild familial ties between the guests.[6]
The cruise's first stop was Corfu, where the final guests, Umberto II of Italy and his family, were picked up. The Italian royal family was banned from staying in Italy due to the 1946 Italian institutional referendum and the proclamation of the Italian Republic, so they were unable to be picked up from Naples. After they had boarded, the Agamemnon made numerous stops, including in Olympia, Heraklion, Rhodes, Santorini, Mykonos, Skiathos, Sounion and then Athens, via the port of Phalerum. On 31 August, the cruise's royal guests toured Epidaurus and viewed a performance of Euripides' Hippolytus.[6]
The following day, the Greek royal family departed the Agamemnon and returned to Tatoi Palace.[6] Over the next two days, the yacht first stopped in Corfu, where the Italian royals departed, and then in Naples, where the rest of the guests left to return to their home countries.[7] Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark described the cruise as "great fun" and a "beautiful event".[3][5] The cruise was seen as successful and attracted a lot of media attention. Many shipping companies soon organised cruises that followed the same route as the Agamemnon. In her memoir, Frederica noted that the growth in cruises around Greece led to "hotels and other land-based services and facilities" growing in revenue and generating more tourist money for the country.[1]
1956 edition
editFollowing the first edition of the cruise in 1954, which Frederica described as "a great success", she wished to reboot the event two years later.[1] There were plans for the cruise to be on the yacht Achilles. However, a few days before the cruise was scheduled to begin, the Suez Crisis became apparent as the President of Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser, attempted to nationalise the canal, resulting in its closure by the British government. In addition, there was growing violence in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. As a result, Frederica and Paul decided to alter the event from a cruise to a stay in Mon Repos, the royal residence in Corfu.[7] The guest list thus had to be shortened significantly.[8]
Dignitaries
editIn the 1954 cruise, 110 royal dignitaries of twenty nationalities were in attendance.[1] Additionally, over fifteen different languages were spoken. Frederica recorded that despite language barriers, there "was not the slightest difficulty during the ten days that the cruise lasted".[1]
Greece
edit- The King and Queen of the Hellenes
- Prince and Princess George of Greece and Denmark
- Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark
Foreign
editAustria
edit- Marie-Ileana of Habsburg-Tuscany
Bulgaria
editDenmark
editFrance
edit- Henri, Count of Paris, and Isabelle, Countess of Paris
- Princess Isabelle d'Orléans
- Prince Henri d'Orléans
- Prince François d'Orléans
- Princess Anne d'Orléans
- Princess Diane d'Orléans
Germany
editBaden
editBavaria
editHanover
edit- Ernest Augustus, Prince of Hanover, and Princess Ortrud of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
- Prince George William of Hanover and Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark
- Prince Christian Oscar of Hanover
- Prince Welf Henry of Hanover
Hesse
edit- Moritz, Hereditary Landgrave of Hesse
- Prince Heinrich of Hesse-Kassel
- Prince Otto of Hesse-Kassel
- Princess Dorothea of Hesse-Kassel
- Prince Rainer of Hesse-Kassel
Hohenlohe
editMecklenburg
editSchaumburg-Lippe
editSchleswig-Holstein
edit- Peter, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, and Princess Marie Alix of Schaumburg-Lippe
- Prince Frederick Ferdinand of Schleswig-Holstein, grandson of Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
Thurn und Taxis and Radziwiłł families
editTörring-Jettenbach
editWürttemberg
editItaly
editBourbon-Parma
editBourbon-Two Sicilies
editSavoy
editLuxembourg
edit- The Grand Duchess and Prince of Luxembourg
Netherlands
edit- The Queen and Prince of the Netherlands
Norway
editRomania
editRussia
editSpain
editSweden
editYugoslavia
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g Frederica of Hanover 1971.
- ^ "Royal cruise of Greek islands: Wedding bells the aim, paper claims". The Courier-Mail: 18. 25 August 1954. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
- ^ a b Constantine II of Greece, Anne-Marie of Greece, Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark, Margrethe II of Denmark, Michael I of Romania (2003). A Royal Family: Shaky Thrones. London. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
- ^ "Betrothal Announced: Italian, Yugoslav Couple Met During Royal Tour". Reading Eagle: 18. 24 September 1954. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
- ^ a b Director: Anna Lerche, Marcus Mandal (2003). "Episode 3: Shaky Thrones". A Royal Family.
- ^ a b c d Cortes Cavanillas 1954, p. 11.
- ^ a b Silva D'Andrea 2011, p. 2-14.
- ^ Mateos Sáinz de Medrano 2004.
Sources
edit- Cortes Cavanillas, Julián (28 August 1954). "The Court Greetings, the Only Protocol Detail of the "Cruise of the Kings"". ABC (Seville) (15917): 11. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
- Frederica of Hanover (1971). A Measure of Understanding. MacMillan. ASIN B000TDQ63S.
In 1954, [shipowner] Eugenides asked me to visit one of his transatlantic liners and give it my name. When this type of request is made, it is customary to offer the godmother a large brilliant brooch. However, on this occasion I had an idea and asked Eugenides if, instead of this traditional gift, he would give me the necessary means to organize a cruise during which I would invite all the royal families of Europe […]. There were different reasons for organizing this cruise. First, Paul and I wanted to open the doors of Greece to tourism. […] But the first thing we needed was to get the world's attention. As the world press was responsible for giving wide publicity to the cruise, everything worked very well. Immediately afterwards, shipping companies began to organize cruises exactly following the program and itinerary of ours, and soon hotels and other land-based services and facilities began to bring tourist money to the country. Another reason was that, since World War I , royal families had not reunited internationally. […] The trip was a great success. We were 110 people, of twenty nationalities and speaking 15 different languages; despite this there was not the slightest difficulty during the ten days that the cruise lasted. […]
- Mateos Sáinz de Medrano, Ricardo (2004). La Familia de la Reina Sofía (in Spanish). Madrid: La Esfera de los Libros. ISBN 84-9734-195-3.
- Silva D'Andrea, Darío (2011). "Introducción". La Tragedia griega de una dinastía extranjera (in Spanish). Narrativa. pp. 2–14.