Upon the deposition of the first monarch to rule Greece post-independence, the childless Otto of Bavaria, the Great Powers were divided as to who should rule Greece. Many Greeks themselves apparently wanted Prince Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. However, Victoria opposed this option, and an understanding among the powers prohibited any of their ruling dynasties from occupying the Greek throne. For what it's worth, the Greeks themselves held a referendum on the matter and Prince Alfred led the way. In second place however, was the Duke of Leuchtenberg, Nicholas de Beauharnais, yes that family. The choice would have made sense in some ways. Nicholas was young. His family was prestigious but not reigning, and he had familial and other links to both France and Russia, as well as Bavaria. What he had been made King of Greece/the Hellenes? Who might he be compelled to marry?
WI: Leuchtenberg Greece?
- Thread starter Wendell
- Start date
Well, he's the right age of any number of princesses born in the 1840s. The two middle daughters of Queen Victoria are the first who come to mind but I'm not sure that she could be convinced to either of them go all the way to Greece.
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It might. OTL's was sort of bad luck plus bad timing. And since Nikolai Maximilianovich already has ties to Russia, he can marry somewhere else (don't ask where, though) and perhaps the Greek royal family would have more diverse ties than OTL (after all, Georgios I had three kids married to Russians, one married to a next to useless Battenberg match and a Bonaparte and a morganatic for another two. The only marriage that was worth much was a Prussian match, and that turned to be a poisoned chalice all its own).
More than that, the military background of the dynasty compared to the Danes or to Otto I think might help too.
And the fact that they apparently considered Napoléon fanboy, Pedro I for king back in 1830. The Beauharnais had Napoleonic roots, might also assist
You'd also have the dynastic links to the Third French Empire, and, if I recall Correctly, Romania too, assuming this does not butterfly the Hohenzollern Sigmaringen there.