King George I of the Hellenes

A carte-de-visite portrait of King George I, King of the Hellenes, younger son of King Christian IX of Denmark, and brother of both Alexandra, Princess of Wales, and Dagmar, Empress of Russia.

He ascended the Greek throne in 1863 at the age of seventeen, as the only candidate acceptable to the various powers concerned with the fate of Greece. His tact and restraint enabled him to sustain the role of constitutional monarch through half of century of crises and national humiliations, but he was eventually assassinated in 1913.

Photographed by the Southwell Brothers of Baker Street, London.

On 9 October 1863 The Photographic News reported that ‘The new King of Greece, and the Prince and Princess of Wales, honoured the fine studio of Messrs. Southwell Brothers, with a visit, a few days ago, and sat for portraits, which were very successful.’