However, Paul's engagement to a German princess received a mixed reaction in Greece, especially since Adolf Hitler attempted to include Nazi swastika flags at their wedding ceremony.

Though Paul successfully secured money from the Marshall Plan to fund recovery and infrastructure projects, he was criticised for limiting democracy when the new 1952 Greek constitution gave extensive powers to the monarch.

[13] Constantine wished to keep Greece neutral during the prelude to World War I, but was in support of the Central Powers, since he was the brother-in-law of the German Kaiser, Wilhelm II.

Gonatas, who was serving as prime minister, called for the Greek royal family's evacuation of the country while Venizelos and the victorious Liberal Party prepared to assume government.

Although Paul was eager to travel through his old homeland, he was still banned from entering Greek waters, so he and Wessel agreed to hide his identity and refrain from any political activity while on their trip.

Paul and George then stopped in Italy to collect their sisters, who had been living in the Villa Sparta, and other members of the Greek royal family, such as Prince Christopher.

Historian John Van der Kiste describes George as having become a "suspicious and taciturn man" who had little interest in showing affinity and becoming close with his younger brother, Paul.

[71][72] Paul frequently acted as the unofficial regent for Greece and often represented George at events, such as at the repatriation of their parents' bodies to the Tatoi burial grounds and at Venizelos' funeral in 1936.

[75] Many citizens were also worried of the cost of the Crown Prince's wedding due to the effects of the Great Depression, and protests against taxpayer money being spent of glamorous royal events were held across the country.

Benito Mussolini launched a violent propaganda campaign against Greece and accused George of violating its neutrality by harbouring British ships within its waters.

[100][99][101] Fearful of their impending arrests, Paul, George, other members of the royal family, and some government officials agreed to flee the mainland and land in Crete on 9 April.

Paul, George and Peter narrowly escaped the Fallschirmjäger by taking the British ship HMS Decoy from Sfakia to Alexandria, where the rest of the royal family had fled to.

George VI denied them access to the United Kingdom as he opposed Frederica's entry into the country, worried that a descendant of Wilhelm II would cause a revolt against the British monarchy, which had German roots.

Following many requests, Paul managed to gain authority to go to Cairo and join the Free Greek Forces in August 1942, wishing to help liberate Greece.

[118][119][120] Archbishop Damaskinos greeted them upon their return, after which the royals discovered that their palaces had been pillaged and ransacked, while the Greek Civil War between the monarchists and communists began to take place.

[123] Paul frequently read, told stories and listened to classical music in the presence of his daughters,[124] who later attended a boarding school in Salem to complete their education.

The two girls were influenced by the teachings of Kurt Hahn, a Judo-German teacher whose ideas were commonly found as principles in royal families of German origin.

Paul and his cousin, Peter, maintained a strained relationship after the royal family accused him of entering a misalliance by marrying Irina Ovtchinnikova, a divorced Russian commoner.

[130] Paul's aunt, Princess Alice of Battenberg, who was the mother of Prince Philip, regularly engaged in disagreements with Frederica, who she thought was clumsy and scared of her sister-in-law, Elena Vladimirovna of Russia.

[131] Paul's contraction of typhoid fever immobilised him for several weeks and caused fears for his health, concurrent to the ongoing Greek Civil War, in which guerrilla warfare conducted by communists continued in the north of the country.

The Turkish government invited the couple to the Hagia Sophia, a Greek Orthodox Church that had been converted into a mosque and then to a museum, but they declined, instead only visiting the tomb of Mustafa Kemal.

Alongside Paul were members of the British royal family, Haakon VII of Norway, Frederik IX of Denmark, Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and President Vincent Auriol of France.

[149] Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria, and his family took part in these trips, which is why he decided to return to Paul the Greek crown jewels of the Wittelsbach king Otto of Greece, who had been deposed in 1862.

[citation needed] Earlier in 1948, the government of the United Kingdom announced its intentions to constitutionally reform their colony in Cyprus, an island inhabited by Greeks.

[152] Cyprus had been an issue of contention since the conclusion of the Greek Civil War and at George VI's funeral, Paul unsuccessfully attempted to host talks with the British government to achieve enosis.

[157] Greek Prime Minister Alexandros Papagos submitted a document outlining the issues of the Cyprus problem to the United Nations, while EOKA and General Georgios Grivas led an independence movement.

[160] Archbishop Makarios III was released on 28 March 1957 as a result of pressure from American President Dwight D. Eisenhower, while there were numerous accounts of terrorism in Cyprus.

Economists, however, continued to worry about the fact that Greece's economy was very reliant on foreign loans and a majority of food consumed needed to be imported into the country.

[169][170] The media used Paul's quick political stance to the Cyprus problem, his travel to Britain in 1963 despite the prime minister's recommendation and his close links with higher ranking staff in the Greek army as examples of these accusations.

Although Paul's reputation was not as badly affected directly, Karamanlis' party, the National Radical Union, who was the monarchy's greatest supporter, was weakened in the public eye.