Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark
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Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark (10 August, 1888 - 21 January, 1940) was a member of the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg Royal House.
He was born at Pavlovsk, Imperial Russia; his parents were George I of Greece and Olga, Queen of Greece; he was the youngest of their eight children (twenty years younger than their oldest child, Constantine), and was called "Christo" by the family. His older brothers included Constantine, George, Nicholas and Andrew.
Christopher, like his siblings, was a polyglot, speaking Greek, English, Danish, Russian, French and Italian. The siblings spoke Greek to one another, and used English with their parents. The parents, however, spoke German to each other.
When Christopher came of age he joined the Hellenic Army, although apparently he would much rather have rather studied the piano. While a young man, he was apparently offered no less than three different thrones - those of Portugal, Lithuania, and Albania - but he declined them all, as he did not wish the stress of royal duties.
He was briefly engaged to Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife in about 1910. (Alexandra's mother, Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife, was a daughter of Alexandra of Denmark, an older sister of George I of Greece, his father.) The engagement was terminated when disapproving parents learned of the liaison.
On 1 January, 1920, Christopher married a very wealthy American widow, None May "Nancy" Stewart Worthington Leeds, at Vevey, Switzerland. His wife, who was previously widowed and divorced, was granted the title "HRH Princess Anastasia of Greece," and her fortune, which she inherited from her second husband, a tin millionaire, greatly helped the Greek Royal Family during their exile in the 1920s. The wedding followed a six-year engagement while the legal details of marriage to a twice-married commoner were worked on. Shortly after their marriage she developed cancer, and died in London on 29 August, 1923, leaving no children from this marriage. Prince Christopher did, however, have a stepson, William Bateman Leeds Jr (1902-1971), who married, in 1921, Princess Xenia Georgievna Romanova of Russia, who was Christopher's niece through his elder sister, Marie, Grand Duchess George of Russia.
Christopher later remarried; his second wife was Françoise de Guise, Princess of Orléans (25 December, 1902 - 25th February, 1953). Françoise was a daughter of Jean d'Orléans, Duc de Guise and Isabelle d'Orléans. Isabelle was a daughter of Philippe, Comte de Paris and his wife and first cousin Marie Isabelle d'Orléans. They were married in 1929 in Palermo, Italy; the civil ceremony was on 10 February, and the religious one on 11 February. They had one child, Prince Michael of Greece, who was born in 1939, shortly before his father's death in Athens.
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| Styles of Prince Christopher of Greece | |
|---|---|
| Reference style | His Royal Highness |
| Spoken style | Your Royal Highness |
| Alternative style | Sir |
