King George I & Queen Olga (nee Romanov) of Greece, Part II

[Eric_Lowe]

Olga's features did not change much...she just aged. She did have the face of a madonna.

[Clemence]

do we know what the title of Queen Olga became after the death of her husband?

[Eric_Lowe]

Most like Dowager Queen of Greece.

[Clemence]

thank you eric, I do not know if this title was ever used in greece/greek though ...

[Eric_Lowe]

That was the correct use of her title, although people continue to call her "Queen Olga". Poor Sophie was never Queen Sophie, but the Queen of Greece.

[Robert_Hall]

There were no kings or queens of  Greece. The title was "of the Hellenes"

[Alixz]

Why was Sophie never called "Queen Sophie" as Olga was called Queen Olga?

[Clemence]

ok, maybe someone who knows a bit more could explain?

[Eric_Lowe]

"Queen Olga" was well beloved in Greece, while Queen Sophie was not as well known and suffered from the German connection.

[Alixz]

So it truly wasn't that she wasn't a "Queen of Greece" but that the citizens did not hold her in the same esteem and therefore did not call her Queen?

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi,

My take on this is that her husband was bounced on & off the throne so many times that perhaps Sophie never had the opportunity to establish herself as "Queen"...
This never happened to Olga;  she was seen & revered as "Queen" for 50 years, and was very well established as 'head of the family (rightly or wrongly) even after she was 'Queen Mother'.......

It seems to me that even today Olga is viewed as a queen and Sophie, Elizabeth, Fredericka and even Anne Marie are overlooked!

Larry

[Eric_Lowe]

Queen Olga was beloved as the mother of her people, her reputation was spotless in Greece unlike those who came after her.

[grandduchessella]

Plus, she was consort longer than all her successors combined. Much like Queen Mary had to shake off people thinking of Alexandra being Princess of Wales since she'd held the title for almost 50 years, Olga had been their Queen longer than most people could remember.

[Clemence]

Queen Olga was beloved as the mother of her people, her reputation was spotless in Greece unlike those who came after her.

well, both George I and his son came in contrast with the greek parliament the way they decided on their future brides and announced the engagements and both Olga and Sophia were initially hated because they were thought to promote Olga panslavism and Sophia german views on international politics. if I had to find the difference between them, I'd probably say Olga was lucky because hers were easier times to rule, in greece and in general. I often think of Olga and Maria Feodorovna, Sophia and Alexandra Feodorovna and try to immagine what if they ruled each others' country ...

[Eric_Lowe]

Also Queen Olga was very established when Sophie came along. Empress Frederick tried to ruse her daughter to form a group within her group, but afraid of trampling on the older woman's established groups. This can be seen in her letters to Sophie. To be fair, Sophie's political influence was much less than her cousin Missy of Romania or Alicky in Russia. Sophie was just bad luck to be the Kaiser's sister, with a husband who did not want to war with the Allies.