(6 of 8)
An Awful Bore. As the first German Hanover to occupy a throne in more than 80 years. Frederika more than justified her regal forebears. But a Queen, particularly a mere Queen consort, with such outstanding gifts and firm opinions was bound to have an unsettling effect on the delicate balance of Greek politics. Frederika's personal charm and many good works had gone far in Greece to wipe out the stain of her German past and the fact that three of her brothers were officers in Hitler's Wehrmacht. Her Teutonic inclination toward rigid government was not so easy to erase. Like most of her ancestors, Frederika firmly believed that monarchs should rule their countries.
"Of course, we are national symbols," she once told a reporter, "but that doesn't mean we must be figureheads. What an awful bore that would be."
As Queen of Greece. Frederika dabbled firmly and frequently in the political pond, and up to very recently she never hesitated to express her opinion on any and all subjects to whatever newsman might drop by. Her frank description of Farouk's attempted seduction, to a LIFE reporter* three years ago, resulted in the severing of diplomatic relations between Egypt and Greece. Such freewheeling monarchy for a while made her a newsman's dream come true, but it led her inevitably to clash with those more responsible than herself for Greece's welfare.
Two of these were U.S. Ambassador Henry F. Grady and his successor, John E. Peurifoy. the men most responsible for seeing that the U.S. got full value for the billions it gave Greece under the Truman Doctrine. A third was the present Premier. Field Marshal Alexander Papagos, a stern and polished old warrior who had often scolded Paul in his salad days, who had twice risked his career defending Gliicksburg Kings and twice led the Greek army to victory—against the Fascists and against the Communists.
The Marshal was by all odds the most trusted man in Greece. In 1951, after watching 26 corruption-ridden governments come and go in six years with no discernible benefit to their country, the Greeks turned once again to him to get them out of their trouble. In the general election of that year, Greek voters gave Papagos' newly organized Greek Rally by far the biggest number of seats in Parliament. Frederika was more than ever fearful of the man who thus stood as her only rival for the love of the people. At the Queen's urging, King Paul seized on a technicality of the election machinery, passed over the Marshal, and called on a coalition of his leftist opponents to form a government. The following year, when Papagos ran again under a revised electoral system. Frederika devoted herself to preventing his election, despite past warnings by both Grady and Peurifoy against such politicking. The result of her efforts was that Papagos won by a clear majority. one of the greatest within the memory of Greek politics.
Today, after a year of Papagos' government, none of the gallant gentlemen concerned will admit the slightest friction between themselves and Frederika. Peurifoy and Grady have only the highest praise for her. The feud between the Marshal and the Queen, which never got far beyond the cafes of Athens in any case. seems to have been tacitly forgotten by everyone concerned.