Wedding of Prince Christopher of Greece and Princess Françoise of Orléans

Two Kings, Four Queens, and Two Crown Princes were among the Royal Guests and Relatives celebrating the Wedding of Prince Christopher of Greece and Princess Françoise of Orléans at the Palatine Chapel in Palermo on this day in 1929, 95 years ago, following a Civil Ceremony at the Palazzo d’Orléans.

Prince Christopher of Greece, the youngest son of King George I of Greece and Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia, married Princess Françoise of Orléans, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Guise (wearing a Diamond Bandeau Tiara), in a civil ceremony at the Palazzo d’Orléans in Palermo, which was followed by a religious ceremony at the Palatine Chapel in Palermo the following day.

Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark and Princess Francoise of Orleans were married this evening in a civil ceremony at the Orleans Palace in Palermo. The wedding was conducted by the Podesta of Palermo.

The bride’s witnesses were the former King Manoel of Portugal, the Duke of Aosta, brother of the King of Italy. The bridegroom had as his witnesses Crown Prince Umberto of Italy and former King George II of the Hellenes. The same witnesses will serve tomorrow at the religious wedding at the Palatine Chapel.

The civil wedding was followed by a dinner for more “royalty and blue blood of Europe than had been assembled since the wedding of the bride’s younger sister, Anne, to the Duke of Apulia at Naples on November 5, 1927.”

The bride was given away by her father, the “tall Duke of Guise,” who is the “heir of the Kings who in a thousand years made France.”

Prince Christopher had been previously married to American Millionaire Nancy Leeds, who had passed away in 1923. The couple had one son, Prince Michael of Greece, who was born less than a year before Prince Christopher passed away in 1940, while the Princess died in 1953.

The wedding brought together Greek Orthodox royals from the grooms side and Catholic royals from the brides side, among them were Two Kings, Four Queens, and Two Crown Princes, led by Prince Christopher with Queen Sophia of Greece followed by Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna, Princess Nicholas of Greece and Prince Andrew of Greece

King George II and Queen Elisabeth of Greece with Crown Prince Paul and Prince George of Greece and Denmark

 King Manuel II of Portugal with Queen Augusta Victoria and Queen Amélie and the Prince of Piedmont (later King Umberto II of Italy)

Other Guests included Princess MargaritaPrincess Theodora, and Princess Irene of GreeceQueen Helen of Romania, Infanta Isabel of Spain, the Duchess of Aosta, Prince Knud, Prince and Princess Viggo of Denmark, and Prince and Princess Olga of Yugoslavia.

Others in the wedding party include Francoise’s aunt, Helene, the Duchess of Aosta, and her son, the Duke of Apulia. Francoise’s elder sister, Isabelle, who is married to Count Bruno d’Hartcourt, was unable to attend the wedding as she recently gave birth to a child.

Other royal guests included former queen Amelie of Portugal, former Queen Elizabeth of Greece, Prince Nicholas of Greece, Princess Margarita, and Princess Theodora of Greece, Princess Irene of Greece and Queen Helen of Roumania; Infanta Isabel of Spain, Prince Knud of Denmark, Prince and Princess Viggo of Denmark, Prince and Princess Olga of Yugoslavia and Count and Countess d’Orleans-Chaponay.

Most of the royal guests are staying at the Orleans villa and the larger Palermo hotels. There has been “a constant interchange of receptions and dinners with the Sicilian nobility.”

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The Greek Turquoise Parure

Cartier Tiara

 Diamond Bandeau Tiara

Embed from Getty Images

Prince Christopher of Greece married Princess Françoise of Orléans (wearing a Diamond Bandeau Tiara) in a civil ceremony at the Orleans Palace in Palermo on this day in 1929, which was followed by a religious ceremony at the Palatine Chapel in Palermo the following day. The couple had one son, Prince Michael of Greece, who was born less than a year before he passed away, and the Princess died in 1953. Incidentally, their son celebrated his wedding just days earlier.

The ceremony brought together Greek Orthodox royals from the grooms side and Catholic royals from the brides side, including the King Manuel and Queen Amelie of Portugal, Queen Sophie, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Nicholas, Princess Margarita, Princess Theodora, and Princess Irene of Greece, Queen Helen of Romania, Infanta Isabel of Spain, the Duchess of Aosta, Prince Knud, Prince and Princess Viggo of Denmark, and Prince and Princess Olga of Yugoslavia.

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