Royals News

Royal Cruise on Agamemnon, 1954 – The Royal Watcher

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Four Kings and Five Queens led 104 Royals from around Europe for the Greek Royal Family’s legendary ‘Cruise of Kings’ of the Mediterranean, Aegean, and the Ionian Seas on ‘Agamemnon’ on this day in 1954, 70 years ago.

Starting off in Marseille with members of the Luxembourg and Orleans Royal Family on board, the Dutch, Spanish, Romanian, Bulgarian and several German Royal Families joined the Greek Royal Family gathered in Naples to board the Agamemnon, ‘the Cruise of Kings’, on a cruise of the Mediterranean, Aegean, and the Ionian Seas, while the Italian Royal Family boarded in Corfu.

The route Agamemnon would follow was planned by King Paul himself and was: Neapolis (Italy), Corfu, Katakolo (visit to Olympia), Crete – Heraklion (visit to Knossos), Rhodes, Santorini, Delos, Mykonos, Skiathos, Sounio- Athens (and visit to Tatoi), Mycenae- Epidaurus, Itea (visit to Delphi), Corfu, Neapolis.

The trip was financed by the Greek Government to boost for tourism in the Greek Isles, as well as create matches among the Royal Guests.

King Paul and Queen Frederica of Greece with Crown Prince Constantine, Princess Sofia, Princess Irene, Prince George and Princess Marie of Greece, Prince Michael of Greece, Prince Raymond of Thurn und Taxis, Duke of Castel Duino with Princess Eugenie of Greece and Princess Tatiana Radziwiłł

Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands with Princess Beatrix and Princess Irene
Grand Duchess Charlotte and Prince Felix of Luxembourg with Hereditary Grand Duke Jean and Hereditary Grand Duchess Joséphine Charlotte as well as Princess Elisabeth of Luxembourg
King Umberto II and Queen Marie José of Italy with the Prince of Naples, Princess Maria Pia, and Princess Maria Gabriella

Tsar Simeon II of Bulgaria and Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria
King Michael and Queen Anne of Romania
The Count and Countess of Barcelona with Prince Juan Carlos and Infanta Pilar of Spain

The Count and Countess of Paris with Prince Henri, Count of Clermont, Princess Isabelle, Princess Hélène, Princess Anne, and Princess Diane of Orléans.
Princess Astrid of Norway
Princess Margaretha of Sweden

Princess Olga of Yugoslavia with Prince Alexander and Princess Elisabeth of Yugoslavia
Prince René of Bourbon-Parma and Princess Margaret of Denmark and Bourbon-Parma with Prince Jacques and Prince André of Bourbon-Parma
Prince Antoine of Bourbon-Two Sicilies

The Duke of Württemberg and Archduchess Rosa of Austria-Tuscany, with Duke Ludwig Albrecht and Duchess Elisabeth of Württemberg
Archduchess Maria Ileana of Austria
Prince Ludwig and Princess Margarita of Baden

Duke Albert of Bavaria with Duke Franz and Princess Marie-Gabrielle of Bavaria
Count Charles-Theodore of Toerring-Jettenbach with Hans Veit of Toerring-Jettenbach and Countess Helen of Toerring-Jettenbach
The Prince and Princess of Hanover with Prince George William and Princess Sophie of Greece and Hanover, Prince Welf Henry and Prince Christian of Hanover

Prince Moritz of Hesse-Cassel with Prince Henry, Prince Otto, Prince Carl, and Prince Rainier of Hesse-Cassel with Princess Dorothea of Hesse-Cassel
The Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg with Princess Sophie of Greece and Hanover, Prince Kraft, Prince George, and Princess Beatrice of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
The Prince of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Princess Thyra of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

The Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe and Princess Feodora
The Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, Princess Marie Alix of Schaumburg-Lippe, Prince Ferdinand of Schleswig-Holstein

August 24: The first stop was Corfu, Greece, the traditional summer residence of the Greek royal family. It was at Corfu that the cruise-goers were treated to a Greek din-ner. Earlier that day, fifteen spit-roasted suckling pigs were taken aboard the Agamemnon to feed the royal guests. It was at Corfu that Umberto Il and his family joined the royal party via plane from Athens. Umberto could not leave from Italy as he was barred from setting foot in the country.

August 25: The second stop of the trip was at Katakolo-Olympia, in the municipality of Elis on the western coast of Greece. It was here that the passengers toured ancient Olympia, the historic site of the first Olympic Games. King Paul served as a guide at the site.

August 26: Heraklion, Crete was the fourth stop of the cruise. At Heraklion, guests visited the famous archeological museum housing artifacts from prehistoric times through the Roman period. The group visited the ruins Knossos, believed to be the oldest city in Europe.

August 27: The fourth day took the cruise-goers to Rhodes, an island in the Aegean Sea in far eastern Greece near Turkey. Guests toured several sites on Rhodes, including the ruins of the Apollo Temple at the Acropolis of Rhodes, the ruins of Kameiros, and medieval Old Town.

August 28: The fifth stop of the cruise was at Santorini, also known as Thera. At Santorini, passengers toured the cities of Fira and Oia set atop the high cliffs. There was also a tour of the part of the island by burro.

August 29: The island of Mykonos was the sixth stop on the voyage. The royal cruise goers toured several of the Mykonos villages and took in the island’s famous wind-mills. Several guests also enjoyed time at the beach.

August 30: Royal passengers spent the seventh day of the cruise at Skiathos, an island on the western Aegean Sea near the Greek mainland. Stops on the island included several churches and monasteries dating from the Byzantine and medieval era.

August 31: The eighth stop of the cruise was Cape Sounion, where guests toured the Temple of Poseidon and witnessed the sunset at the cape, a popular tourist’s experience.

September 1: The royal cruise goers spent the ninth day of the tour at Athens, a short distance from Cape Sounion. Guests toured the Acropolis, visited several archeological museums, and enjoyed a shopping excursion.

September 2: On the tenth day of the cruise, the royal guests visited the ancient theatre at Epidaurus, a short trip from Athens. The original theatre dates from the 4th century BCE and is known for its vast size and near-perfect acoustics.

September 3: The eleventh and final stop of the trip was at the ruined city of Delphi. The visitors toured the archeological site that houses ruins of a theatre, a stadium, a hip-podrome, several temples, and numerous smaller buildings.