King Alexander is not on this page because he died of sepsis; he's on it because of the way the sepsis was contracted.
Alexander was the second son of King Constantine I; he succeeded his father in 1917 after Constantine and his eldest son, Crown Prince George, were forced into exile by the Entente Powers (Russia, France and the United Kingdom) and followers of Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos. Alexander was a puppet king, effectively imprisoned in his own palace while Venizelos effectively ruled with the support of the Entente.
In 1919, Alexander controversially married the commoner Aspasia Manos, provoking a major scandal that forced the couple to leave Greece for several months. On 2 October 1920, soon after their return to Greece, the 27–year–old king was walking in the grounds of the Tatoi Palace (the summer palace of the Greek royal family), when his German shepherd dog Fritz attacked, or was attacked by, a domestic Barbary macaque belonging to the steward of the palace's grapevines. Alexander attempted to separate the two animals. As he did so, another monkey attacked him, biting him deeply on the leg and torso. Eventually servants arrived and chased away the monkeys, and the king's wounds were promptly cleaned and dressed; but they were not cauterized. He didn't consider the incident serious, and asked that it should not be publicised.
That evening, his wounds became infected. He suffered a strong fever, and septicemia set in. His doctors considered amputating his leg, but none wished to take responsibility for such a drastic act. On 19 October, he became delirious and called out for his mother, but the Greek government refused to allow her to re–enter the country from exile in Switzerland, despite her own protestations. Finally the queen dowager, Olga, widow of King George I and Alexander's grandmother, was allowed to return alone to Athens to tend to the king. She was delayed by rough waters, however, and Alexander died of sepsis twelve hours before her arrival at a little after 4 p.m. on 25 October 1920. The other members of the royal family received the news by telegram that night.
The Greek royals were refused permission to return to Greece for Alexander's funeral on 29 October, and Queen Olga was the only member of the royal family who attended. After the service, Alexander's body was interred at Tatoi.
The Greek royal family never regarded Alexander's reign as fully legitimate. In the royal cemetery, while other monarchs are given the inscription "King of the Hellenes, Prince of Denmark", Alexander's reads "Alexander, son of the King of the Hellenes, Prince of Denmark. He ruled in the place of his father from 14 June 1917 to 25 October 1920." According to Alexander's favorite sister, Queen Helen of Romania, this feeling of illegitimacy was shared by Alexander himself – which helps to explain his mésalliance with Aspasia Manos.
© Haydn Thompson 2017