 | You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in French. (November 2020)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
| Prince Christopher | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byPhilip de László, 1919 | |
| Born | (1888-08-10)10 August 1888 Pavlovsk,Russian Empire |
| Died | 21 January 1940(1940-01-21) (aged 51) Athens,Kingdom of Greece |
| Burial | Royal Cemetery,Tatoi Palace, Greece |
| Spouses | |
| Issue | Prince Michael |
| House | Glücksburg |
| Father | George I of Greece |
| Mother | Olga Constantinovna of Russia |
| Signature | _signing_as_Christo.jpg) |
Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark (Greek:Χριστόφορος,romanized:Christóphoros; 10 August 1888 – 21 January 1940) was the fifth and youngest son and youngest child of KingGeorge I of Greece, belonging to a dynasty which mounted and lost the throne of Greece several times during his lifetime. Much of his life was spent living abroad.
Christopher was born atPavlovsk,Imperial Russia, son of KingGeorge I of Greece andQueen Olga, aRussian grand duchess by birth.[1][2] He was the youngest of their eight children, being twenty years younger than their oldest child,Constantine. He was called "Christo" in the family. His older brothers were future King Constantine I,George,Nicholas andAndrew.[3]
Christopher, like his siblings, was apolyglot, 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.
The Greek royal family maintained close relations with the Danish royal family, to which they also officially belonged. The Hellenic royal line was acadet branch of theSchleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg dynasty which had mounted the throne of Greece in 1863.[4]
When Christopher came of age he joined theHellenic Navy, although apparently he would rather have studied thepiano. While a young man, he was apparently offered no fewer than three different thrones - those ofPortugal,[5]Lithuania, andAlbania - but he declined them all, as he did not wish the stress of royal duties.[citation needed]
He was briefly engaged toPrincess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife in about 1910[6] (Alexandra's mother,Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife, was a daughter ofKing Edward VII andQueen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, herself an older sister of George I of Greece, Christopher's father). The engagement was terminated when disapproving parents learned of the liaison.
On 1 January 1920, Christopher married a very wealthy American widow,Nonnie May "Nancy" Stewart Worthington Leeds, atVevey, Switzerland.[1][2][7] His bride, a once-divorced and once-widowed commoner at least a decade older than the prince, was nonetheless recognised as Christopher'sdynastic wife by his family[2] (at the time of the engagement and wedding, the Greek royal family lived frugally inexile, and as Christopher was last in the dynasty'sorder of succession, any children he fathered would not impact the succession rights of other Greek dynasts). Her fortune, estimated in the tens of millions of dollars, was inherited from her second husband, a tin millionaire,[1] and substantially eased the Greek royal family's exile during the 1920s. The wedding followed a six-year engagement while the royal court-in-exile negotiated the terms and arrangements of the marriage.
Shortly after their marriage, Princess Anastasia developed cancer, and died inLondon on 29 August 1923, leaving no children from this marriage.[1][2] Prince Christopher did, however, have a stepson, William Bateman Leeds Jr (1902–1971), who had, in 1921, marriedPrincess Xenia Georgievna of Russia.[1] She was Christopher's niece through his elder sister,Marie of Greece, Grand Duchess George of Russia.
Prince Christopher later remarried; his second wife wasPrincess Françoise of Orléans (25 December 1902 – 25 February 1953).
Françoise was a daughter ofJean d'Orléans, Duc de Guise,Orléanist pretender to the throne of France, by his wife/first cousin,Isabelle d'Orléans.[2] Isabelle was, in turn, a daughter ofPhilippe, Comte de Paris by his wife and first cousin,Infanta Isabel de Orléans y Borbon.
The couple were married in 1929 inPalermo, Italy; the civil ceremony was on 10 February, and the religious one on 11 February.[1][2] They were childless for a decade, then one child was born to Françoise:Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark was born in Rome in 1939, shortly before Prince Christopher's death.[1][2]
In 1927, Prince Christopher paid a visit to theLong Island home of William and Xenia Leeds, respectively his stepson and niece. Xenia had taken an interest in the strange case of a woman,Anna Anderson, who claimed to beGrand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, the youngest daughter of the last Tsar of Russia,Nicholas II.
As Prince Christopher explained, "That was her story, and, fantastic as it was, there were many who believed then − and still believe − in her, among them one or two members of the Imperial Family."[8] He went on, "Dozens of people who had known the Grand Duchess Anastasia were brought to see the girl in the hope that they might be able to identify her, but none of them could come to any definite conclusion."[8] Prince Christopher described her: "In the first place she was unable to speak Russian, which the Grand Duchess Anastasia, like all the Czar's children, had talked fluently − and would only converse in German."[8]
Summing up, he said of her, "The poor girl was a pathetic figure in her loneliness and ill health, and it was comprehensible enough that many of those around her let their sympathy over-rule their logic.... She was unable to recognise people who the Grand Duchess Anastasia had known intimately, and her descriptions of rooms in the different palaces and of other scenes familiar to any of the Imperial Family were often inaccurate."[8]
Prince Christopher recorded his thoughts on monarchy and those aspiring to it: "Nothing under the sun would induce me to accept a Kingdom. A crown is too heavy a thing to be put on lightly. It has to be worn by those born to that destiny, but that any man should willingly take on the responsibility, not being constrained by duty to do so, passes my comprehension."[9]
_and_Princess_Fran%25C3%25A7oise_(right)_-_Tatoi_Royal_Cemetery_on_2023-05-29_(DSC_01773).jpg)
Prince Christopher of Greece died in Athens on 21 January 1940, aged 51.[1][2][10]
| Ancestors of Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark |
|---|
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Generations are numbered by descent fromGeorge I. All princes were also Princes of Denmark. | ||
| 1st generation | .svg) | |
| 2nd generation | ||
| 3rd generation | ||
| 4th generation | ||
| 5th generation | ||
See alsoHouse of Glücksburg andGreek royal family | ||
The generations are numbered from the implementation of hereditary monarchy byFrederick III in 1660. | ||
| 1st generation | .svg) | |
| 2nd generation | ||
| 3rd generation | ||
| 4th generation | ||
| 5th generation | ||
| 6th generation | ||
| 7th generation | ||
| 8th generation | ||
| 9th generation | ||
| 10th generation | ||
| 11th generation | ||
| 12th generation | ||
| 13th generation | ||
1 Also prince of Norway 2 Also prince of Greece 3 Also prince of Iceland 4 Also prince of the United Kingdom 5 Not Danish prince by birth, but created prince of Denmark Princes that lost their title are shown in italics | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
