View source for Princess Irene, Duchess of Aosta

{{Expand French|topic=bio|Irène de Grèce (1904-1974)|date=March 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date= June 2021}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Princess Irene
| title        = [[Duchess of Aosta]]
| image        = Princess Irene, Duchess of Aosta.jpg
| caption      =
| consort      = yes
| succession   = Queen consort of Croatia <small></small>
| reign        = 18 May 1941 – 31 July 1943
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1904|2|13|df=yes}}
| birth_place  = [[Athens]], [[Kingdom of Greece|Greece]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1974|4|15|1904|2|13|df=yes}}
| death_place  = [[Fiesole]], Italy
| burial_date  = 20 April 1974
| burial_place = [[Il Borro]], then [[Basilica of Superga]]
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta]]|1939|1948|end=d}}
| issue        = [[Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta (1943–2021)|Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta]]
| house        = [[House of Glücksburg|Glücksburg]] ([[House of Oldenburg|Oldenburg]])
| father       = [[Constantine I of Greece]]
| mother       = [[Sophia of Prussia]]
}}
'''Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: Πριγκίπισσα Ειρήνη της Ελλάδας και Δανίας; 13 February 1904 &ndash; 15 April 1974) was the fifth child and second daughter of [[Constantine I of Greece]] and his wife, the former [[Sophia of Prussia|Princess Sophie of Prussia]]. She was a member of the royal families of Greece and Italy. From 1941 to 1943, she was also officially Queen Consort of Croatia.
==Family and early life==
Irene was born on 13 February 1904 in Athens. She had three elder brothers, [[Alexander of Greece|Alexander (1893)]] [[George II of the Hellenes|George (1890)]], and [[Paul I of the Hellenes|Paul (1901)]], and one elder sister, [[Helen of Greece and Denmark|Helen (1896)]]. Another sister, [[Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark|Katherine]] was born in 1913. In 1927, her brother, [[George II of the Hellenes|George]], announced her engagement to [[Prince Christian of Schaumburg-Lippe]], a nephew of [[Christian X of Denmark]],<ref name=nyt2>{{Citation|title=Princess Irene Tells Engagement To Prince Christian of Schaumburg-Lippe|newspaper=The New York Times|location=Vienna|date=13 October 1927}}</ref> but no marriage occurred.
Irene’s paternal grandparents were [[George I of Greece]] and [[Olga Konstantinovna of Russia]]. Her maternal grandparents were [[Friedrich III, German Emperor]], and his [[Empress consort]] [[Victoria, Princess Royal and Empress Frederick|Victoria]]. Victoria was a daughter of [[Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]] and Queen [[Victoria of the United Kingdom]].
==Marriage==
On 1 July 1939, Irene married [[Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta|Prince Aimone, 4th Duke of Aosta]] (9 March 1900 – 29 January 1948). They had one child:
* [[Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta (1943–2021)|Prince Amedeo, 5th Duke of Aosta]] (27 September 1943 – 1 June 2021)
In March 1942, Irene, who was a trained nurse, headed a [[Red Cross]] hospital train going to Russia to repatriate wounded Italian soldiers.  After a difficult journey, she returned to Florence the following month.<ref>Hanson, The Wandering Princess, 348.</ref> Prince Aimone became the 4th [[Duke of Aosta]] on 3 March 1942, following the death of his elder brother, [[Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta|Amedeo]]. On 18 May 1941, taking the name [[Tomislav II]], he was proclaimed King of the [[Independent State of Croatia]], a [[puppet state]] of fascist Germany and Italy, but he never set foot on the territory of the state and abdicated in 1943.
After the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] armistice with the [[Armistice with Italy|Kingdom of Italy]], Irene was interned by the Germans at the Hotel Ifen in Hirschegg, Austria, July 1944, along with her infant son, her sister-in-law and two nieces. They were released by the French in May 1945.<ref>Hanson, The Wandering Princess, 362-366</ref>
After the war and the 1946 plebiscite which ended the monarchy in Italy, the family went into exile.  Prince Aimone died on 29 January 1948 in Buenos Aires. Upon his death, his son [[Amedeo, 5th Duke of Aosta|Amedeo]] succeeded him as the 5th [[Duke of Aosta]].  In June 1948, the family was allowed to return to Italy, and Irene spent the rest of her life living outside of Florence where she became a member of the [[Third Order of Saint Dominic|Dominican Third Order]] and continued her social work.<ref>Hanson, The Wandering Princess, 375</ref>
Irene died on 15 April 1974 in [[Fiesole]], Italy, after fighting a long illness.<ref name=nyt1>{{Citation|title=Duchess of Aosta dies|newspaper=The New York Times|location=Berlin, West Germany|date=15 April 1974}}</ref>
==Ancestry==
{{See also|Descendants of Christian IX of Denmark}}
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
|1= 1. '''Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark'''
|2= 2. [[Constantine I of Greece]]
|3= 3. [[Sophia of Prussia|Princess Sophia of Prussia]]
|4= 4. [[George I of Greece]]<ref name="EB1911-George I">{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=George I., King of the Hellenes |volume=11}}</ref>
|5= 5. [[Olga Constantinovna of Russia|Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia]]<ref name="EB1911-George I"/>
|6= 6. [[Frederick III, German Emperor]]<ref name="NDB-Friedrich III">{{NDB|5|487|489|Friedrich III|Meisner, Heinrich Otto|118535668}}</ref>
|7= 7. [[Victoria, Princess Royal]]<ref name="NDB-Friedrich III"/>
|8= 8. [[Christian IX of Denmark]]<ref name="DBL-Georg">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://runeberg.org/dbl/5/0595.html |title=Louise |encyclopedia=[[Dansk Biografisk Leksikon]] |editor-first=Carl Frederik |editor-last=Bricka |volume=5 |page=593}}</ref>
|9= 9. [[Louise of Hesse-Kassel|Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel]]<ref name="DBL-Georg"/>
|10= 10. [[Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia]]<ref name="WIWH-Olga">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/olga-constantinovna-1851-1926 |title=Olga Constantinovna (1851–1926) |encyclopedia=Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia |publisher=Gale Research |year=2002}}</ref>
|11= 11. [[Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg]]<ref name="WIWH-Olga"/>
|12= 12. [[William I, German Emperor]]<ref name="NDB-Friedrich III"/>
|13= 13. [[Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach|Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]]<ref name="NDB-Friedrich III"/>
|14= 14. [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]]<ref name="louda">{{citation| last = Louda| first = Jiří|author1-link=Jiří Louda|last2=Maclagan |first2=Michael|author2-link=Michael Maclagan| title = Lines of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe| year = 1999| publisher = Little, Brown| location = London| isbn = 978-1-85605-469-0| page = 34 }}</ref>
|15= 15. [[Queen Victoria|Victoria of the United Kingdom]]<ref name="louda"/>
}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}Edward Hanson, The Wandering Princess: Princess Helene of France, Duchess of Aosta (1871-1951) [Fonthill, 2017].
{{Greek princesses}}
{{Danish princesses}}
{{Princesses of Savoy by marriage}}
{{Duchesses of Aosta}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aosta, Princess Irene, Duchess of}}
[[Category:1904 births]]
[[Category:1974 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Greek people]]
[[Category:20th-century Greek women]]
[[Category:Nobility from Athens]]
[[Category:House of Glücksburg (Greece)|Irene]]
[[Category:Duchesses of Aosta|Irene]]
[[Category:Princesses of Greece]]
[[Category:Princesses of Denmark]]
[[Category:Princesses in Italy]]
[[Category:Italian people of Greek descent]]
[[Category:Italian people of Danish descent]]
[[Category:Italian people of German descent]]
[[Category:Princesses della Cisterna]]
[[Category:Burials at the Basilica of Superga]]
[[Category:Daughters of kings]]
[[Category:Exiled royalty]]
[[Category:Children of Constantine I of Greece]]
[[Category:Lay Dominicans]]