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Greek kings received spirit messages from famous medium
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  GREECE and LONDON. A huge collection of
valuable items once owned by King George I of the Hellenes, which went
under the hammer at Christie’s London auction room (24-25 January
2007), realising six times pre-sale estimates, are a timely reminder of Greek Royalty’s close associations with
Spiritualism.
Three of King George I’s grandchildren – two of whom also became Kings of Greece – often received spirit messages from famous British medium Estelle Roberts (right) and her spirit guide Red Cloud (left) while they were in exile in London.
The Collection of King George I (1845-1913) comprised over 850 lots including an outstanding selection of silver and Fabergé ( right) together with furniture, works of art, Chinese jade and porcelain, and paintings. All were sold, raising £9.35 million.
The top lot of the sale was King Christian IX of Denmark’s silver wedding-gift from his children and son-in-law, a pair of Victorian massive silver pilgrim flasks, by The Crown Jeweller, Robert Garrard, London, 1866, which realised £579,200, while King George I’s silver wedding present from his parents and siblings, a pair of important Danish silver soup-tureens, liners, covers and stands by Michelsen, Copenhagen, 1892, achieved £232,000 against a pre-sale estimate of £30,000 to £50,000.
 The Russian Imperial Family to whom King George I was related through his wife, Queen Olga, was very much in the bidders minds as they competed for the Fabergé pieces which included a Russian silver gilt and nephrite perpetual desk calendar, circa 1890, and a Russian guilloché enamelled gold egg compact, by Fabergé, 1908-1917. They both realised £276,800, having been estimated at £10,000 to £15,000 and £12,000 to £18,000 respectively. While the Russian two-colour gold-mounted clock, by Fabergé, 1908-1917, achieved £232,000.
King George I of the Hellenes was related to many of the Crown Heads of Europe. He was brother to Queen Alexandra, wife of King Edward VII of Great Britain, and Tsarina Maria Feodorovna, wife of Tsar Alexander III of Russia, while his elder brother was King Frederik VIII of Denmark.
He was elected King by the National Assembly of Greece in 1863. In 1867 he married Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinova of Russia (1851-1926), niece of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, and together they had eight children, the eldest of whom became King Constantine I of Greece when his father was assassinated in March 1913.
Constantine I produced three Greek kings, the first of whom – Alexander I – reigned for only three years from 1917 after his father was deposed (because of his pro-German sentiments). When Alexander died in 1920 from blood poisoning caused by a bite from a pet monkey,
Constantine I returned to the throne, only to abdicate in favour of his eldest son, George II, in 1922 following the country’s military defeats. Constantine died in the same year and, after a very short reign, King George II and other members of the Greek Royal Family went into exile, in 1923 – though he was not officially deposed until a 1924 plebiscite ended the monarchy.
 After 11 years, however, another Greek plebiscite restored the monarchy and King George II (left) returned to rule in 1935, remaining on the throne until 1947. During his reign, however, he had to take his government into exile, in 1941, following brutal Nazi attacks, and was restored again to the Greek throne in 1946 at the people’s request.
It was during these periods of exile that the Greek king and his younger brother, Prince Paul, became staunch supporters of England’s top medium, the extraordinary Estelle Roberts who was famous not only as a platform medium whose clairvoyance attracted huge audiences, but also as a physical medium, producing remarkable evidence through direct voice (in which a spirit is heard speaking in a recognisable voice through a levitated trumpet in a darkened séance room), and also as a healer.
King George and Prince Paul, along with their sister, Helen (who became Queen of Rumania), attended many of her private séances as well as public meetings, embracing Spiritualist philosophy and following the guidance of Estelle Roberts’ spirit guide, Red Cloud.
At the time, though they made no attempts to hide their identities, the medium and her family always referred to the royal brothers as “Mr Roy” (George) and “Mr Constantine” (Paul) – the names they used when travelling incognito.
In her autobiography, Fifty Years a Medium, Estelle Roberts revealed:
“King George was the most frequent visitor. He loved Red Cloud, and liked to discuss all manner of subjects with him. Greece was in a troubled ferment at this time. The King, exiled in England, came many times to discuss his country’s affairs with Red Cloud.
“When eventually he was invited to return to the throne of Greece, as the guide had foretold, he wrote often, sending questions for Red Cloud to answer. I still have his letters covering the years from 1933 to 1940. They are, of course, entirely private, and will never be allowed to pass out of my hands.”
King George II attended the opening of the House of Red Cloud in Wimbledon, in October 1934, when it was dedicated to healing the sick and for demonstrations of Estelle Roberts’ psychic gifts.
 On his death in 1947, King George II’s brother Paul (right), who had shared his keen interest in Spiritualism, became King of Greece, reigning until his own death in 1964, at which point King Constantine II (now living in exile in London) became monarch. Constantine reigned until Greece abolished the monarchy in 1974. One of King Paul I’s two daughters, Sophia, is now Queen of Spain, having married King Juan Carlos I.
The King George I collection now being auctioned has been in storage for many years and a decision has been taken to sell this property at auction “thereby enabling a new generation to enjoy these works”.
 There has been much speculation that King Constantine II (left) – who was paid just £7 million compensation in 2002 for the seizure by the Greek government of three homes valued at £300 million – has put his great-grandfather’s collection up for sale to raise additional funds. But he denies that he is the vendor or will benefit financially from the sale.
Christie’s have not identified the vendor.
A pity Estelle Roberts and Red Cloud are not around any more to tell us. Can any other mediums shed light on the auction mystery?
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Posted on Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Category: Spiritualism
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