George I of Greece

Nicholas II (1868 to 1918) was the last Emperor of Russia, reigning from 1894 until his abdication in March 1917. He was the eldest son of Alexander III and of Maria Feodorovna, the Danish-born daughter of Christian IX, which made him a grandson of the founder of the House of Glücksburg and a first cousin of both George V of the United Kingdom and Christian X of Denmark, whom he closely resembled. His reign saw rapid industrial growth alongside the defeat of the Russo-Japanese War, the revolution of 1905 and the creation of the Duma, and finally the strains of the First World War, which brought the three-century Romanov monarchy to an end. He died in 1918.

Maud of Wales (1869 to 1938) was the first queen of independent Norway, wife of Haakon VII. The youngest daughter of Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark, she was also a granddaughter of Christian IX, which means both she and her husband descended from the founder of the House of Glücksburg. She married her first cousin Prince Carl of Denmark in 1896 and moved to Norway when he accepted the throne in 1905. Keenly interested in winter sports, music and fashion, she kept close ties to Britain while supporting Norwegian charities and the arts, and her wardrobe is now a studied collection at the National Museum in Oslo. She was the mother of Olav V.

Christian X (1870 to 1947) was King of Denmark from 1912 to 1947 and King of Iceland from 1918 to 1944, the eldest son of Frederik VIII and Louise of Sweden. His reign opened with constitutional conflict, including the Easter Crisis of 1920 in which his dismissal of the elected government nearly cost the monarchy its position, and closed with the German occupation of Denmark from 1940 to 1945, during which his daily rides through Copenhagen on horseback became a symbol of national endurance. He married Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1898 and was the father of Frederik IX of Denmark. His brother reigned in Norway as Haakon VII.

Frederik IX (1899 to 1972) was King of Denmark from 1947 until his death, the elder son of Christian X and Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. A career naval officer before his accession, he was an enthusiastic sailor and an accomplished amateur conductor, and he cultivated a relaxed, approachable style that suited post-war Denmark. The defining act of his reign was the constitutional change of 1953, which allowed female succession and so made his eldest daughter his heir. He married Ingrid of Sweden in 1935, and their three daughters were Margrethe II of Denmark, Benedikte, and Anne-Marie, who became Queen of the Hellenes.

Queen Sofía of Spain (born 1938) was Queen consort of Spain from 1975 to 2014 and is the eldest child of Paul of Greece and Frederica of Hanover. Born in Athens as a princess of Greece and Denmark, she was educated in Germany and Greece, trained as a paediatric nurse, and took part in the Greek sailing team's preparations for the 1960 Olympics alongside her brother Constantine II. She married Juan Carlos of Spain in Athens in 1962, converting from Orthodoxy to Catholicism, and became queen when he acceded on the death of Franco in 1975. Widely respected for her work on disability, music education and social welfare, she is the mother of King Felipe VI of Spain.

Constantine II (1940 to 2023) was the last King of the Hellenes, reigning from 1964 to 1973. The only son of Paul and Frederica of Hanover, he spent his early childhood in wartime exile and won an Olympic gold medal for Greece in Dragon class sailing at the Rome Games in 1960. He came to the throne at twenty-three; within three years the colonels' coup of April 1967 had stripped him of power, and after a failed counter-move that December he left the country. The junta abolished the monarchy, and a referendum in 1974 confirmed the republic. He lived mainly in London for decades before settling again in Greece, and remained a member of the International Olympic Committee. He married Anne-Marie of Denmark in 1964.

Margrethe II (born 1940) reigned as Queen of Denmark from 1972 until her abdication on 14 January 2024, becoming Europe's longest-serving head of state before she stood down. The eldest daughter of Frederik IX and Ingrid of Sweden, she became heir only because the constitution was changed in 1953 to allow female succession. She trained as an archaeologist, taking part in excavations in Egypt and Italy, and built a parallel career as an artist: she designed stage sets and costumes, and illustrated the Danish edition of The Lord of the Rings under the name Ingahild Grathmer. She married Henri de Laborde de Monpezat in 1967 and is the mother of King Frederik X and Prince Joachim.

Princess Benedikte of Denmark (born 1944) is the second daughter of Frederik IX and Ingrid of Sweden and the younger sister of Queen Margrethe II. In 1968 she married Richard, Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, and for many years divided her life between Germany and Denmark, retaining her Danish royal duties on the condition that her children were raised in Denmark for part of the year. She has carried out an unusually long record of official engagements for the Danish crown and is best known publicly for her lifelong involvement with equestrian sport, serving in senior roles in Danish and international riding organisations, as well as with the Danish Girl Guides and a wide range of charities.

Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark (born 1965) is the eldest child of Constantine II and Anne-Marie of Denmark. Born at Mon Repos on Corfu, the same house as her kinsman Prince Philip, she was two when her family left Greece, and she grew up in Rome and London. She studied art history and later trained to work with children with special educational needs, teaching in that field. In 1999 she married Carlos Morales Quintana, an architect, and the couple lived for many years in Lanzarote in the Canary Islands and later in London. She is the sister of Crown Prince Pavlos, Nikolaos, Theodora and Philippos.

Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece (born 1967), is the eldest son of Constantine II and Anne-Marie of Denmark and, since his father's death in 2023, head of the former Greek royal house. He was born in Athens shortly before the family left Greece and was raised in Rome and England, attending Sandhurst and serving briefly in the British Army before studying international relations at Georgetown University. He has worked in finance and investment in New York and London. He married Marie-Chantal Miller in London in 1995, and the couple have five children. He has in recent years taken part in public and charitable life in Greece, including his father's funeral arrangements and family foundations.

Frederik X (born 1968) has been King of Denmark since 14 January 2024, when his mother Queen Margrethe II abdicated in his favour. The elder son of Margrethe II and Prince Henrik, he studied political science at Aarhus University and Harvard, served in all three branches of the Danish armed forces, and completed the selection course for the Frogman Corps, the navy's special forces unit, an experience he has often cited as formative. He took part in a long sledge expedition across northern Greenland in 2000. A member of the International Olympic Committee for many years, he married the Australian-born Mary Donaldson in 2004; their children are Crown Prince Christian, Princess Isabella, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine.