I get the reasoning behind them not liking his German ancestry, but the series also made a big deal about him being Greek. Why?? What did the Greeks do that English disapproved of?
#SaveAveryFromMichaelsChildhood
nothing, really. The royals, just thought Elizabeth would marry an englishman preferably a duke or count. But she fell in love with a man who in the end would be her life partner. I like that they are showing Phillip being upset, and yes somewhat of a douche, because in reality, any man would be if he was placed in that position. And I do love that he shows that he does love his children and his wife.
Notice how when the Queen as any woman would do question his fidelity he doesnt say anything cause hes repulsed that she would go there, and during the dinner scene he mouths to her " I love you"
The other royals didn't want her to marry an Englishman (there are no "counts" in the UK). Up until Bertie's marriage to Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, it was tradition that royals married other royals. He married beneath him (she may have been the daughter of an earl, but she was still a commoner), and it was not taken very well in certain quarters. His younger brother, George, the Duke of Kent, married a Greek royal, Princess Marina. The youngest (surviving) brother, Prince Henry, also married a commoner. But he was so far removed from the succession that nobody really cared.
That said, when Prince Charles married Lady Di, there was a to-do about how the heir himself was marrying a commoner. And she, like Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, was the daughter of an earl and a (distant) descendant of royalty. There are still some people who don't like it that Prince William married the daughter of an airline pilot and air hostess.
Other members of European royalty have also mixed up the gene pool. Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark married an Australian marketing executive. Now-King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands married an Argentinian woman. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway married a commoner. Now-King Felipe of Spain married a Spanish commoner (in fact, Queen Letizia comes from a family with strong republican leanings). Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden married her personal trainer. Most of these current royals are direct descendants of Queen Victoria and/or King Christian of Denmark.
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Daughters of earls are not 'commoners', they are nobility.
shareActually during World War I, King George V declared that from now on members of the royal family would be permitted to marry members of the British nobility. His proclamation came up at the time when anti German sentiment was at an all time high and he was mindful of his own German roots. And for many generations the members of the British royal family had married members of the German royal houses. The rules were relaxed significantly so his family would have other options than marriage to German princes and princesses'. Also 3 out of his 4 children married members of the British Aristocracy.
sharePrince Philip has no Greek Ancestry whatever.
shareIndeed, he did not!
As his father, he was born in Greece, was baptized in the Orthodox faith. His father was born to a Russian mother and a Danish father, his mother was born in England, to an English/German mother and an Austrian father. Or something of the likes... not an easy thing to figure out from Wikipedia!
The Greece part was just in his title.
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During that time in history, his family lost the monarchy during the Greek-Turkish war. The turks made his father abdicate the throne and their family was forced into exile. So he their family were basically royals without a country. Then there was the issue of his mother diagnosed with schizophrenia, so she was placed in a sanitorium.
Growing up, his uncle Lord Mountbaten who is British took him in his care hence why Philip fought on the side of the British during World War 2. Problem was his 3 elder sisters were married to prominent German Nazis.
So with that family history, it's not really just about the Greek issue it's really his background. As you may well see in the series (and in general history) these old royals are real snobs eventhough Philip was a Navy officer and was on their side in the war. Those things don't count because he's country-less, not rich, and has no powerful alliances in the court besides his uncle. So he's useless to them. That's why they prefer the other guy over him.
But well, Elizabeth chose him. Rest is history.
Oh add the fact that during that time, people are really prejudiced. Philip is a foreigner. I guess they would have preferred their queen married a Brit.
shareNothing apart from the English upper class certainty that they were better than all foreigners, at the time.
sharePrince Philip's connection to Greece is based on the fact that his grandfather, a Danish prince was of the House of Glucksburg, was invited to take the throne of Greece, so he really doesn't have 'Greek heritage' per se. That family must have had something going for it, for around the same time, another prince of Denmark was invited to become King of Norway (King Haakon VII, grandfather of the present king).
Philip's grandfather, the one who became King of Greece, was the brother of Queen Alexandra of great Britain (wife of Edward VII). That's means Alexandra was the Queen's Great-grandmother. By my reckoning that makes Philip and the Queen second cousins once removed (?!?!?)
Philip's his real surname is the same as that of the Danish and Norwegian monarchs - as mentioned in one of the episodes it is Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg (House of Glucksburg). Quite a mouthful and decidedly teutonic sounding.
Not sure when he adopted the name Mountbatten - presumably when he came to Britain for his education in the 1930s? The name 'Mountbatten' is in fact a 20th century invention. It was originally Battenberg, but the part of the family that were based in UK changed the name to 'Mountbatten' during WWI , because of strong anti-German opinion at the time.
As to Philip's perceived 'unsuitability'. I think by this time his side of the family had been deposed from the throne of Greece and were exiles. There's some story of Philip's mother giving birth to him on the kitchen table on some Mediterranean island. So he came from a riyal family that had no throne - or home for that matter. And his grandfather had in any case been a second son (ie minor royal). The fact that all his sisters seem to have married Nazis didn't help his cause in post war Britain. His father had been a famous philanderer, and his mother at various times had mental health problems, and latterly became a nun. Talk about a dysfunctional family. Philip is in fact a triumph of survival against the odds!
As to the difference between 'royals' and 'commoners' - while in common parlance you might not think of somebody with an aristocratic title as 'common', this is exactly how the Royal family think. In other words, to the royals, titled people are still 'commoners' unless they have a 'royal' title. This is why the Duke of Windsor was so incensed that his wife did not get the title of 'Royal Highness' - she was just a plain old ordinary 'common' duchess.
But times have changed. The Crown Princess of Norway was an unmarried mother when Crown Prince Haakon married her - a fact that didn't cause much of a stir at the time.