THE PIANO PLAYING PHILANTHROPIC PRINCESS
Born in Cape Town in South Africa, Irene was the youngest child of Crown Prince Paul of Greece and his wife, Frederica of Denmark. Her siblings were Prince Constantine and Princess Sofia.
The royal family had been forced into exile when the Nazis invaded Greece during the Second World War. Irene was the only one of the family born outside Greece.
Through their mother, all three children became Princes or Princesses of Denmark, although Irene had very little connection with the Scandinavian country throughout her life.
Irene was named after her paternal aunt, Princess Irene of Aosta, and had ten godparents including her uncle, King George of Greece, the South African politician, Jan Smuts, and Queen Mary of England.
In 1944, the family moved to Egypt.
After the war, Greece had a referendum on whether to restore the monarchy. The vote said ‘yes’, so the royals returned to Greece. Irene’s family had moved residence twenty-two times in just five years. Her older siblings remembered their exile as, “A time of happiness and freedom”, not realizing that for their parents it was a time of great uncertainty.
Uncle George became King again (George the Second), but died shortly afterwards, meaning her father became King Paul. Irene was four years old at this point.
All three siblings were close, but Sofie and Irene were almost inseparable. Irene wanted to do everything her older sister did, earning her the family nickname, ‘Copy Cat’.
The children had a Scottish governess called Sheila MacNair. They called her ‘Nursie’. She left when Irene was eight to get married, and the child was distraught.
Irene was sent to school. She was educated initially in Greece before going on to a finishing school in Germany. There, she became an accomplished horse rider.
She became fluent in German.
Irene took up the piano – and showed a real talent for it.
Concert pianist, Gina Bachauer, was hired to be her tutor.
In 1962, Irene was bridesmaid when her sister, Sofia, married Prince Juan Carlos of Spain. She was one of eight bridesmaids.
Irene admitted she enjoyed the wedding of her brother, Constantine (to Danish princess, Anne-Marie), much more, as she had no responsibilities.
Irene herself dated Prince Michel, the Count of Evreux, but he left her to marry a French noblewoman.
She was also considered to be a prospective bride for Prince Harald of Norway (later King Harald 5th). It is believed Irene learned Norwegian to prepare for this – but he also married somebody else.
Irene’s father died in 1964, and her brother became King Constantine.
Following her father’s death, Irene announced she had become a vegetarian.
For a year, Irene was heir to the Greek throne, until her niece, Princess Alexia, was born in 1965.
Two years later, Irene went on a music tour of the USA with her mentor, Gina Bachauer.
That same year, there was a military coup in Greece led by the Colonels. Constantine was deposed and the royal family were forced to flee to Italy.
“I was so scared that I didn’t think about what would come next.”
King Constantine and his family were granted permission to live in England. Queen Elizabeth’s husband, Prince Philip, was a member of the Greek royal family.
Irene stayed in Italy, living with her mother, Frederica, in Rome.
Two years later, Irene played a concert with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall. Prince Charles, Princess Anne and her brother, King Constantine, were in attendance. A newspaper reported, “Princess or not, she’s more than an adequate player.”
Irene also performed in a concert in Madrid.
Shortly afterwards, Irene retired from playing the piano professionally, although it remained a private passion.
After a spell in Italy, Irene and Frederica moved to India.
There, Irene became fascinated by Hindu philosophy.
She enrolled at Madras University to study philosophy. Her tutor was T.M.P. (Teva) Mahadevan. In later years, he dedicated his memoirs to Irene. She always felt very comfortable with the Indian way of life, especially their culture and spiritualism. Irene converted to Hinduism.
Two years later, Irene’s mother, Frederica, died. Irene moved to Spain to be with her sister, who was now Queen Sofia. “I came to Madrid for five days and stayed for five years.”
The reality was, Irene remained in Spain for the rest of her life. “As time went by, I understood that my place was by Sofia’s side.”
Once again, the sisters became inseparable.
Irene moved into an apartment in the Palace of Zarzuela in Madrid.
Irene accompanied Sofia on all of her royal engagements. She was extremely discreet and stayed in the background.
Irene was absolutely devoted to all her nieces and nephews. They affectionally called her, Aunt Pecu (short for ‘peculiar’). She said, “I am the eccentric one of the family.”
The children called Irene their, “Second Mother.”
The sisters were both passionate about archaeology and went on a dig in Greece together. It was at Decelea, very close to the Tatoi Estate, their former royal residence.
Afterwards they jointly wrote a book about their findings.
Sofia and Irene were in their palace in Madrid in 1981 when there was an attempted military coup. Although it was unsuccessful, both of them were terrified as it brought back bad memories of the Greek coup of 1967.
Irene increasingly devoted her time to charity work.
In the mid-1980s, during the BSE crisis, she rescued thousands of perfectly healthy cows that were destined for slaughter and had them shipped to India. There, they provided milk for malnourished children.
Irene also created her own charity – Mundo et Armonia (World in Harmony Foundation). She donated the whole of her personal fortune to it. “The goal is not to save the world, but to offer it a bit of hope, a bit of harmony where there is suffering.”
She remained President of the Foundation until 2011.
Despite the fact she lived in a royal palace, Irene lived frugally. She liked fashionable clothes but refused point-blank to wear any jewellery.
Irene never married, although it was rumoured she had a long relationship with a married Greek man.
Her devotion to the family continued as a new generation (Sofia’s grandchildren) arrived.
Her interests remained Hindu culture and spirituality as well as archaeology and the piano. She was fascinated by the paranormal and had a passion for Ufology (the study of UFOs).
Irene also translated English philosophical texts into both Greek and Spanish.
In 2002, Irene overcame breast cancer after chemotherapy.
That same year she was awarded half a million euros by the European Court of Human Rights, to compensate for the loss of her family’s properties in Greece. She promptly gave all the money to charity.
In 2018, Irene renounced her Greek nationality and was declared Spanish. There was a fast-track system to do this for royals and nobility, but Irene refused to do this, applying for nationality in the way any common person would do.
Irene’s health deteriorated – not helped by the death of her brother, King Constantine, in 2023.
She made her last public appearance in February 2025, in Athens, at the wedding of her Godson, Prince Nikolaos. By now, she was in a wheelchair.
From then on, Irene was extremely ill. Her sister, Sofia, gave up her royal duties to tend to her.
Irene died in the royal palace in Madrid.
She was laid in state in the Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Madrid, before a service. Then her body was flown to Greece.
Another memorial service took place in Athens Metropolitan Cathedral before Irene was laid to rest alongside her parents and her brother.
RIP – Royal Inspired Piano
