Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark (, romanized: ''Christóphoros''; 10 August 1888 – 21 January 1940) was the fifth and youngest son and youngest child of King

George I of Greece George I ( Greek: Γεώργιος Α΄, romanized: ''Geórgios I''; 24 December 1845 – 18 March 1913) was King of Greece from 30 March 1863 until his assassination on 18 March 1913. Originally a Danish prince, George was born in Copenhage ...

, 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.

Family background

Christopher was born at Pavlovsk,

Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...

, son of King

and Queen Olga, a Russian grand duchess by birth. 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 Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Ancient Greek, Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In ...

and

Andrew Andrew is the English form of the given name, common in many countries. The word is derived from the , ''Andreas'', itself related to ''aner/andros'', "man" (as opposed to "woman"), thus meaning "manly" and, as consequence, "brave", "strong", "c ...

. Christopher, like his siblings, was a

polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

, 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 a

cadet branch A cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets (realm, titles, fiefs, property and incom ...

of the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg dynasty which had mounted the throne of Greece in 1863.

Early adulthood

When Christopher came of age he joined the

Hellenic Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; , abbreviated ΠΝ) is the Navy, naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of various Aegean Islands, which fought in the Greek War of Independ ...

, although apparently he would rather have studied the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

. While a young man, he was apparently offered no fewer than three different thrones - those of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, and

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

- but he declined them all, as he did not wish the stress of royal duties. He was briefly engaged to Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife in about 1910 (Alexandra's mother, Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife, was a daughter of

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

and

Queen Alexandra Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was List of British royal consorts, queen-consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 Januar ...

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.

First marriage

Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark

On 1 January 1920, Christopher married a very wealthy American widow, Nonnie May "Nancy" Stewart Worthington Leeds, at

Vevey Vevey (; ; ) is a town in Switzerland in the Vaud, canton of Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Leman, near Lausanne. The German name Vivis is no longer commonly used. It was the seat of the Vevey (district), district of the same name until 200 ...

, Switzerland. His bride, a once-divorced and once-widowed commoner at least a decade older than the prince, was nonetheless recognised as Christopher's dynastic wife by his family (at the time of the engagement and wedding, the Greek royal family lived frugally in

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

, and as Christopher was last in the dynasty's

order of succession An order, line or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated, such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility. 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 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 29 August 1923, leaving no children from this marriage. Prince Christopher did, however, have a stepson, William Bateman Leeds Jr (1902–1971), who had, in 1921, married Princess Xenia Georgievna of Russia. She was Christopher's niece through his elder sister, Marie of Greece, Grand Duchess George of Russia.

Second marriage and family

Prince Christopher later remarried; his second wife was Princess Françoise of Orléans (25 December 1902 – 25 February 1953). Françoise was a daughter of Jean d'Orléans, Duc de Guise,

Orléanist Orléanist () 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 France in the long nineteenth ...

pretender to the throne of France, by his wife/first cousin, Isabelle d'Orléans. Isabelle was, in turn, a daughter of

Philippe, Comte de Paris Prince Philippe of Orléans, Count of Paris (Louis Philippe Albert; 24 August 1838 – 8 September 1894), was disputedly List of French monarchs, King of the French from 24 to 26 February 1848 as Louis Philippe II, although he was never offici ...

by his wife and first cousin, Infanta Isabel de Orléans y Borbon. The couple were married in 1929 in

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

, Italy; the civil ceremony was on 10 February, and the religious one on 11 February. 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.

Opinion on Anna Anderson

In 1927, Prince Christopher paid a visit to the

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

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 be

Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (; – 17 July 1918) was the youngest daughter of Nicholas II of Russia, Tsar Nicholas II, the last sovereign of Imperial Russia, and his wife, Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse), Tsarina Alexandr ...

, 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." 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." 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." 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."

Opinion on monarchy

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."

Death

Prince Christopher of Greece died in Athens on 21 January 1940, aged 51.Lines of Succession by Jiri Louda, Table 143

Ancestry

References

Books

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External links

Christopher of Greece
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christopher Of Greece And Denmark, Prince 1888 births 1940 deaths 19th-century Greek people 20th-century Greek people People from Pavlovsk, Saint Petersburg House of Glücksburg (Greece) Princes of Denmark Princes of Greece Burials at Tatoi Palace Royal Cemetery Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Greece Sons of kings Children of George I of Greece