Princess Françoise d'Orléans (Françoise Isabelle Louise Marie; 25 December 1902 – 25 February 1953) was born an

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and ''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser'' XVII. "Griechenland". C.A. Starke Verlag, 2004, pp. 14-15, 19. (German) . She was thus a member of the

Greek royal family The Greek royal family (Greek: Ελληνική Βασιλική Οικογένεια) is a branch of the Danish royal family, itself a branch of the House of Glücksburg, that reigned in Greece from 1863 to 1924 and again from 1935 to 1973. It ...

and a descendant of the "Citizen-King"

Louis-Philippe Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary Wa ...

Family

Françoise d'Orléans was born in Paris, the second daughter of

Jean d'Orléans, duc de Guise Prince Jean of Orléans, Duke of Guise (Jean Pierre Clément Marie; 4 September 1874 – 25 August 1940), was the third son and youngest child of Prince Robert, Duke of Chartres (1840–1910), grandson of Prince Ferdinand Philippe and great- ...

(an

Orléanist Orléanist (french: Orléaniste) was a 19th-century French political label originally used by those who supported a constitutional monarchy expressed by the House of Orléans. Due to the radical political changes that occurred during that cent ...

pretender to the throne of France under the name Jean III) and his wife, the French Princess Isabelle of Orléans. Françoise's brother, Prince Henri, Count of Paris, succeeded their father as the Orleanist pretender, under the name Henri VI. In

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its ...

on 11 February 1929, she married

Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark ( el, Χριστόφορος; 10 August 1888 – 21 January 1940) was the fifth and youngest son and youngest child of King George I of Greece, belonging to a dynasty which mounted and lost the throne of ...

(1888–1940). This was Christopher's second marriage - he was the youngest son of King George I of Greece (1845–1913) and his wife,

Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia Olga Constantinovna of Russia ( el, Όλγα; 18 June 1926) was queen consort of Greece as the wife of King George I. She was briefly the regent of Greece in 1920. A member of the Romanov dynasty, she was the oldest daughter of Grand Duke C ...

(1851–1926). Through his father, he was thus a grandson of King Christian IX of Denmark (1818–1906), nicknamed "the father-in-law of Europe" due to his six children all marrying into other royal families. This royal marriage was unusual in that era, with a Catholic marrying a non-Catholic (he was Greek Orthodox, whilst she was

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

). They had only one child, the writer

Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark, (born 7 January 1939) is a Greek prince, historian, and author. He has written several historical books and biographies of Greek and other European figures, Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh. " Burke’s Royal F ...

(born 1939), whose marriage to the Greek artist Marina Karella (born 1940) did not conform to the laws of the royal house and thus deprived him of all right of succession to the Greek throne.

Ancestry

Notes

Bibliography

* Christopher of Greece, ''Memoirs of HRH Prince Christopher of Greece'', The Right Book Club, London, 1938. * Michael of Greece and Henri of Orléans, comte de Paris, ''Mon album de famille'', Perrin, 1996. * Michael of Greece, ''Mémoires insolites'', Xo, Paris, 2004 * Isabelle, countess of Paris, ''Tout m'est bonheur'', Éditions Robert Laffont, Coll. « Vécu », Paris, 1978. * Ricardo Mateos Sainz de Medrano, ''La Familia de la Reina Sofía, La Dinastía griega, la Casa de Hannover y los reales primos de Europa'', La Esfera de los Libros, Madrid, 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Francoise Of Orleans, Princess 1902 births 1953 deaths House of Glücksburg (Greece) Princesses of France (Orléans) Nobility from Paris Greek princesses Danish princesses Burials at Tatoi Palace Royal Cemetery