Cruise of the Kings

The Cruise of the Kings (Η κρουαζιέρα των γαλαζοαίματων) was a royal cruise around the Mediterranean Sea in the summer of 1954, organised by King Paul and Queen Frederica of Greece.

The cruise aimed to promote tourism in Greece and was drafted by Frederica. It occurred from 23 August to 3 September 1954 on the royal yacht Agamemnon. Royals from over 25 reigning and formerly reigning royal families were in attendance. A second cruise was scheduled for August 1956, but the nationalisation of the Suez Canal and its closure by the British government, as well as growing violence in the Levant, prevented the cruise from playing out smoothly. The cruise was transformed into a shorter stay in Mon Repos, Corfu.

Conception
The cruise was drafted by Frederica of Hanover, the queen consort of Greece as the wife of Paul of Greece and a granddaughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II, to promote and "open the doors" to tourism in Greece, specifically in the Greek islands. The growth of tourism was hoped for as it would assist in economic recovery following World War II and the Greek Civil War. Another aim of the cruise was to rebuild ties between European royal families following World War I and World War II.

According to Frederica's memoir, she was approached in 1954 by Eugenides, a Greek shipowner, who asked her to visit one of his transatlantic liners and give it her name. When this is done, the shipowner typically gives a brooch. However, Frederica requested that Eugenides instead assist her in organising a cruise for the royal families in Europe.

The Greek Consul in Naples of the time, M. Tylpados also revealed to the French news outlet Combat that "several engagements" were hoped to be announced by the end of the cruise. Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark claimed in 2003 that "some marriages or engagements" amongst royals was one of the aims the cruise. The only marriage that was reached was that of Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia and Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Parma. However, King Paul's oldest daughter Princess Sophia and Prince Juan Carlos of Spain first met on the cruise and they would marry eight years later.

1954 edition
Eugenides' Agamemnon first departed on 23 August 1954 from a port in Marseille, a city of France, where Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and her family boarded the yacht as the first royals to step foot on the cruise. At around 11:00 a.m., the Agamemnon stopped in Naples, where the majority of royal guests, including Paul, Frederica, and the Greek royal family, were picked up. The Greek royals had arrived in Naples at around 8:20 am that same day, having taken the yacht Navarino from Greece. It took almost three hours for all the guests to board the ship in Naples. At around 1:45 pm, the Agamemnon departed Naples with its guests and sailed towards the Ionian islands.

On board the yacht and at any locations where it stopped, it was agreed that royal protocol be abolished, which freed guests from any royal order of precedence, allowing them to "mingle more" in a less formal environment, according to historian Julián Cortes Cavanillas. More informal standards, Frederica hoped, would help rebuild familial ties between the guests.

The cruise's first stop was Corfu, where the final guests, Umberto II of Italy and his family, were picked up. The Italian royal family was banned from staying in Italy due to the 1946 Italian institutional referendum and the proclamation of the Italian Republic, so they were unable to be picked up from Naples. After they had boarded, the Agamemnon made numerous stops, including in Olympia, Heraklion, Rhodes, Santorini, Mykonos, Skiathos, Sounion and then Athens, via the port of Phalerum. On 31 August, the cruise's royal guests toured Epidaurus and viewed a performance of Euripides' Hippolytus.

The following day, the Greek royal family departed the Agamemnon and returned to Tatoi Palace. Over the next two days, the yacht first stopped in Corfu, where the Italian royals departed, and then in Naples, where the rest of the guests left to return to their home countries. Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark described the cruise as "great fun" and a "beautiful event". The cruise was seen as successful and attracted a lot of media attention. Many shipping companies soon organised cruises that followed the same route as the Agamemnon. In her memoir, Frederica noted that the growth in cruises around Greece led to "hotels and other land-based services and facilities" growing in revenue and generating more tourist money for the country.

1956 edition
Following the first edition of the cruise in 1954, which Frederica described as "a great success", she wished to reboot the event two years later. There were plans for the cruise to be on the yacht Achilles. However, a few days before the cruise was scheduled to begin, the Suez Crisis became apparent as the President of Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser, attempted to nationalise the canal, resulting in its closure by the British government. In addition, there was growing violence in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. As a result, Frederica and Paul decided to alter the event from a cruise to a stay in Mon Repos, the royal residence in Corfu. The guest list thus had to be shortened significantly.

Dignitaries
In the 1954 cruise, 110 royal dignitaries of twenty nationalities were in attendance. Additionally, over fifteen different languages were spoken. Frederica recorded that despite language barriers, there "was not the slightest difficulty during the ten days that the cruise lasted".

Greece

 * The King and Queen of the Hellenes
 * Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark
 * The Crown Prince of Greece
 * Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark
 * Prince and Princess George of Greece and Denmark
 * Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark

Austria

 * Marie-Ileana of Habsburg-Tuscany

Bulgaria

 * Simeon II of Bulgaria
 * Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria

Denmark

 * 🇩🇰 Prince Axel of Denmark
 * 🇩🇰 Count and Countess Flemming of Rosenborg
 * 🇩🇰 Prince Viggo, Count of Rosenborg, and Princess Viggo, Countess of Rosenborg

France

 * Henri, Count of Paris, and Isabelle, Countess of Paris
 * Princess Isabelle d'Orléans
 * Prince Henri d'Orléans
 * Prince François d'Orléans
 * Princess Anne d'Orléans
 * Princess Diane d'Orléans
 * Princess Hélène of Orléans

Baden

 * Princess Margarita of Baden
 * Prince Ludwig of Baden

Bavaria

 * Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria
 * Princess Marie Gabrielle of Bavaria
 * Franz von Bayern

Hanover

 * Ernest Augustus, Prince of Hanover, and Princess Ortrud of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
 * Prince George William of Hanover and Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark
 * Prince Christian Oscar of Hanover
 * Prince Welf Henry of Hanover

Hesse

 * Moritz, Hereditary Landgrave of Hesse
 * Prince Heinrich of Hesse-Kassel
 * Prince Otto of Hesse-Kassel
 * Princess Dorothea of Hesse-Kassel
 * Prince Rainer of Hesse-Kassel

Hohenlohe

 * Gottfried, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, and Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark
 * Kraft, Hereditary Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
 * Princess Beatrix of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
 * Prince George Andreas of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

Mecklenburg

 * Duke Christian Louis of Mecklenburg
 * Duchess Thyra of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Schaumburg-Lippe

 * Prince Christian of Schaumburg-Lippe and Princess Feodora of Denmark

Schleswig-Holstein

 * Peter, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, and Princess Marie Alix of Schaumburg-Lippe
 * Prince Frederick Ferdinand of Schleswig-Holstein, grandson of Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

Thurn und Taxis and Radziwiłł families

 * Raimundo, 2nd Duke of Castel Duino, and Princess Eugénie of Greece and Denmark
 * Tatiana Radziwiłł

Törring-Jettenbach

 * Carl Theodor, Count of Törring-Jettenbach
 * Hans Veit, Count of Törring-Jettenbach
 * Countess Helene of Törring-Jettenbach

Württemberg

 * Philipp Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg, and Archduchess Rosa of Austria
 * Duke Ludwig of Württemberg
 * Duchess Elisabeth of Württemberg

Bourbon-Parma

 * Prince René of Bourbon-Parma and Princess Margaret of Denmark
 * Prince Jacques of Bourbon-Parma
 * Prince André of Bourbon-Parma

Bourbon-Two Sicilies

 * Prince Antoine of Bourbon-Two Sicilies

Savoy

 * Umberto II of Italy and Marie-José of Belgium
 * Princess Maria Pia of Savoy
 * Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples
 * Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy
 * Princess Maria Beatrice of Savoy
 * Princess Maria Cristina of Savoy-Aosta

Luxembourg

 * 🇱🇺 The Grand Duchess and Prince of Luxembourg
 * 🇱🇺 The Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
 * 🇱🇺 Princess Elisabeth of Luxembourg

Netherlands

 * 🇳🇱 The Queen and Prince of the Netherlands
 * 🇳🇱 Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands
 * 🇳🇱 Princess Irene of the Netherlands

Norway

 * 🇳🇴 Princess Astrid of Norway

Romania

 * Michael I of Romania and Anne of Romania

Russia

 * Prince Dimitri Romanov

Spain

 * Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, and Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
 * Infanta Pilar, Duchess of Badajoz
 * Infante Juan Carlos of Spain

Sweden

 * 🇸🇪 Princess Margaretha of Sweden

Yugoslavia

 * Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia
 * Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia