Queen Elizabeth's one and only visit to Greece

The only time she was in Athens was in 1950, when she was still a princess, that is, two years before she ascended the throne of the United Kingdom.

Why she never came to Greece as a queen

The absence of the queen from Greece in an official capacity- it is unofficially said that - has to do with the bad course and the end of the royal institution in Greece, but also the conviction of her husband's father, Philip, by a Court Martial, after the Asia Minor Disaster .

In 1922, when Prince Philip was one year old, his family was exiled after the Asia Minor Disaster and fled to France, where they changed their surname to Mountbatten.

Historians and those familiar with the issues of the British Royal family, argue that Philip had bad impressions of Greece, from the stories of his relatives, because "they brought his father - Prince Andrew - to trial, and was almost executed by a firing squad ».

The visit in 1950

When she was only 24, Elizabeth visited Greece with her husband, Philip, at the invitation of King Paul, Philip's cousin.

They walked on the Acropolis and of course visited the chapel of St. Philip on the Reservoir Hill in Nicaea, which had been erected in their honor after their engagement.

In Greece, Elizabeth came unofficially, and only visited the Athens area: from the morning of the 6th to the evening of the 11th of December 1950.

The 24-year-old heiress to the British throne came from Malta aboard the warship Surprise, which was accompanied by the frigate Magpie, captained by Philip.

It was sunny. At the small dock of what was then Turkolimano, King Paul and Queen Frederica welcomed them.

The king, next to whom Elizabeth sat, was driving his convertible car himself.

Frederica and Philip sat in the back seat.

The six days of the princess and the reactions of Athenians

The images of that Greek day in the eyes of the princess succeeded one another like lightning:

The Faliron bay where the two warships dropped anchor, Tatoi where she stayed with her husband and in whose royal cemetery her father-in-law is buried.

The palaces and the British embassy, ​​and Syntagma Square – then still surrounded by neoclassical palaces – where the princely couple laid a wreath at the monument to the Unknown Soldier.

The procession through the streets of Athens in open cars, amid a thick cheering crowd – however, there were no shortage of shouts of "Long live the Union!" against the English occupation of Cyprus.

This was followed by the ceremony of declaring Elizabeth an honorary citizen of Athens at the town hall, the ascent to the Acropolis, the meal at Harvati (Pallini), at the mansion of D. Levidis, a famous courtier.

Then, the visit to the chapel of Saints Elizabeth and Philip in Nicaea, built by the local mayor at the time of Elizabeth's marriage to Philip and finally, the return to the coast of Kastella and boarding the warships...

Her personal photo albums, which depict some of Elizabeth's brief and unique visit to Greece, are still in her possession and will not be deposited in the royal photographic archive at Windsor Castle until after her passing. 

Kleisthenis Daskalakos published a photo of Queen Elizabeth during her visit to Athens.

He photographed her himself and wrote in the caption:

Kleisthenis photographs Elizabeth the only time she visited Greece in December 1950 before she became queen.

She is accompanied by Prince Philip. In the still unpublished photo, we see them going to the chapel of Agios Filippos in Nicaea."