The implication behind her actions is that there was no legal requirement for the religion of the queen consort, in her adopted country. For otherwise, she would have converted before marriage. Of course, she was marrying only a crown prince, not enthroned king. Indeed, even Queen Anne-Marie (born a princess of Denmark) had not yet changed her religion, as of her marriage in 1964 to the newly enthroned King Constantine II (like her predecessor, she was a Lutheran at the time). However, there was an understanding that she would convert to Orthodoxy later.
What exactly did the Greek constitution state, anyway, regarding the religion of the consort? The reason for my asking is that in Russia, the Fundamental Laws made clear that all the dynasts (meaning members of the imperial house) and the empress consort had to be of the Orthodox faith. Those who married Romanovs who were far down in the line of succession to the throne did not have to convert: they had only to consent to have their prospective children raised as members of the national church.
That being said, in order to be eligible to inherit the throne, a dynast had to have two Orthodox parents. The requirement, however, was not necessarily be that he be born to Orthodox parents: the requirement was not retroactive. In fact, this was the whole reason why the Grand Duchess Vladimir (born Princess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin) eventually joined the Russian church. For years, she was highly resistant to abandoning the Lutheran faith she had been brought up in. But seeing the precarious health of the Czarevich Alexis, and the possibility of her family coming close to the throne, she finally made the decision to convert to Orthodoxy. This is one of the loopholes that legal experts cite, to boost the case of the Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna for headship of the Romanov imperial dynasty.
Now, those spouses who married further down in the succession who converted would have done so out of sincere conviction (e.g. Duchess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg, who married the Grand Duke Constantine Nicolayevich of Russia). But when a religious conversion involves somebody who marries a near heir or heir apparent, the sincerity can be called into question ...
That being said, given the timing, I believe that Sophie converted to Greek Orthodoxy out of sincere conviction. And I would like to believe the same of her cousin and daughter-in-law, Princess Friederike of Hanover, who also was raised as a Lutheran.
What exactly did the Greek constitution state? Was it amended, over the years?
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