Fun fact: Both Prince Philip
and Queen Sofía
were born Prince/Princess of Greece and Denmark. They both come from the Greek branch of the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg dynasty.


Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark was born on 10 June 1921 in Corfu, Greece
His father was Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, the 7th child of King George I of Greece. His mother was Princess Alice of Battenberg.

His father was Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, the 7th child of King George I of Greece. His mother was Princess Alice of Battenberg.
He had to flee Greece along with his family at a young age. The family relocated to France but Philip was sent to the UK in 1928 to attend school there.
He grew up in the UK and eventually served in the British army
He grew up in the UK and eventually served in the British army

His engagement to Princess Elizabeth was announced in July 1947
By March of that year, Philip had renounced his Greek and Danish titles and adopted the surname Mountbatten from his mother’s side of the family (Mountbatten is the anglicized version of Battenberg)

The couple got married at Westminster Abbey on 20 November 1947 
He was made HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, Baron Greenwich by King George VI.
He became Prince Consort when his wife acceded to the throne in 1952


He became Prince Consort when his wife acceded to the throne in 1952

Princess Sofía of Greece and Denmark was born on 2 November 1938 in Athens, Greece
Her father was King Paul of Greece (cousin of Prince Philip) and her mother was Frederica of Hanover. Her brother is the (deposed) King Constantine II of Greece.
PS: Sofía is on the far left.

Her father was King Paul of Greece (cousin of Prince Philip) and her mother was Frederica of Hanover. Her brother is the (deposed) King Constantine II of Greece.
PS: Sofía is on the far left.
She married Spain’s Infante Juan Carlos on 14 May 1962 in Athens 
Before the wedding she converted from Greek Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism and thus relinquished her rights to the Greek throne.


As Spain was a dictatorship at the time, the couple never had the titles of Prince and Princess of Asturias, traditionally given to the heir apparent of the Spanish throne. Instead, Infante Juan Carlos was given the title “Prince of Spain” by the Spanish dictator Franco in 1969.
Juan Carlos acceded to the throne upon Franco’s death in 1975 and the restoration of the Spanish monarchy. Princess Sofía became Queen Sofía of Spain 
Juan Carlos abdicated in favour of his son, the Prince of Asturias and now King Felipe, in 2014.

Juan Carlos abdicated in favour of his son, the Prince of Asturias and now King Felipe, in 2014.