She became crown princess of Greece when she married George in 1921, but she felt no passion for him and underwent the political turmoil in her adopted country after World War I.

Very close to her brother Carol II of Romania, the former queen amassed an important fortune, partly due to financial advice given by her lover, the banker Alexandru Scanavi.

At the end of World War II, she established close links with the Romanian Communist Party and openly conspired against her nephew, the young King Michael I, earning the nickname of "Red Aunt" of the sovereign.

[6] After the Balkan Wars, during which Greece and Romania were allied, the Greek prince asked for the hand of Elisabeth, but, advised by her great-aunt, she declined the offer, saying that her suitor was too small and too English in his manners.

On the way back, they made a brief stop in Switzerland, where they found the Greek royal family, who lived in exile since the deposition of King Constantine I during the Great War.

However, at that time the future of the Diadochos was far from certain: displaced from the throne with his father and replaced by his younger brother, now King Alexander I, George was forbidden to stay in his country, penniless and without any prospects.

Delighted to have finally found a husband for her eldest daughter, the Queen of Romania soon invited the prince to travel to Bucharest in order to publicly announce the engagement.

[11] George agreed but soon after his arrival in the country of his fiancée, he learned of the accidental death of Alexander I and the ensuing political turmoil that erupted in Greece.

[17] Shortly after on March 10, Crown Prince Carol of Romania, Elisabeth's elder brother, married George's younger sister, Princess Helen of Greece.

[2][19] From an introverted temperament that could be mistaken as arrogance,[20][21] Elisabeth felt displaced by her in-laws, who regularly spoke in Greek in her presence, because she had not yet mastered the language.

In addition, her family delayed in paying her dowry[23] and the savings that she left in Romania were soon lost because of the poor investments made by the manager of her fortune.

[25] Facing a very difficult political situation, due to the Greco-Turkish War, Elisabeth quickly understood that her space to maneuver was limited in her new country.

[25] Disappointed by the mediocrity of her daily routine, Elisabeth began to nourish jealousy for her sister Maria, married to King Alexander I of Yugoslavia, and her sister-in-law Helen of Greece, wife of her brother Crown Prince Carol of Romania.

[23][28] With the war and the revolution, the everyday life of the Greek royal family was indeed increasingly difficult, and the pension received by the Diadochos George didn't allow her to buy the clothes and jewelry that she wanted.

She found refuge with her family in Bucharest, but despite the efforts of her mother and husband, neither Elisabeth's health nor her marriage fully recovered from the loss of her child.

[39][40][41] In Romania, George II and Elizabeth moved to Bucharest, where King Ferdinand I and Queen Marie gave to them a wing of Cotroceni Palace.

After initially alleviating her weariness with too much rich food and gambling, the former Queen of the Hellenes began a series of extramarital relationships with several married men.

However, Elisabeth was not the only one responsible for the failure of her marriage: over the years, George II spent less time with his wife and gradually settled his residence in the United Kingdom, where he also entered into an adulterous relationship.

Charged with "desertion from the family home", George II saw his marriage dissolved by a Bucharest court without being really invited to speak on the matter (6 July 1935).

After Crown Prince Carol renounced his rights to be able to live with his mistress Magda Lupescu, his son ascended to the throne as King Michael I under the direction of a Council of Regency.

[56] Thanks to the inheritance received from her father,[57] the financial advice of her lover, the banker Alexandru Scanavi, and her good relations with her brother, the princess managed to live in great style in Romania.

[58][59] In March 1935, she acquired the large domain of Banloc, near the border with Yugoslavia, a mansion in Sinaia and an elegant villa of Italian style, called Elisabeta Palace, located in the Șoseaua Kiseleff in Bucharest.

[58] After the death of the Queen Mother Marie in 1938 and the deposition of Carol II in 1940, Elisabeth played the role of First Lady of Romania.

[60] However, Elisabeth wasn't the only member of the Romanian royal family who had friendly relations with the communists: her sister Ileana did the same in the hope of putting her eldest son, Archduke Stefan of Austria, on the throne.