Bavaria witnessed this, after King Otto (the sole sovereign of the same Greece in the house of Wittelsbach) got deposed, 1862: he and his queen, Amelia, set up a foreign royal court in his native country. It has been said that the couple spoke only Greek at certain hours of his day; and his last words, while on his deathbed, were in that language.
In the 20th century, Prince Ferdinando Pio, Duke of Calabria -- the last undisputed head of the royal house of Bourbon-Two Sicilies -- operated a quasi royal court in his wife's native land of Bavaria. He was to serve as its head (the titular King Ferdinando III) for a quarter of a century, after the death in 1934 of his father, Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta -- who had operated as head of the house in Cannes, France.
What are some other notable examples, in recent centuries, of seats of foreign royal courts, where heads of deposed dynasties functioned like sovereigns in exile?
Message Thread
« Back to index