Christoffel “Christo” Oldenburg

HRH Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark Royal House of Oldenburg Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg Youngest child and son of King George I of the Hellenes and his wife, Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna Romanova. Paternal grandson of King Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel, Queen Consort of Denmark. Maternal grandson of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia and Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg. Christopher was born in Pavlovsk Palace, just south of Tsarskoye Selo in the jurisdiction of St. Petersburg. He joined the Hellenic Army as a young man, and spoke several languages including Russian, English, Danish and Italian, as well as his native Greek. He was offered the thrones of Portugal, Lithuania and Albania, all of which he refused because he did not want to endure the stress of monarchy. In January 1920, he married Nancy Stewart Worthington Leeds, an American and the wealthy widow of William Bateman Leeds. She was granted the style and title of HRH Princess Anastasia of Greece and Denmark, in her own right, by his brother King Constantine. Though devoted to his wife, their marriage was tragically short and without issue. Princess Anastasia died three years later in London from cancer. Christopher's stepson, William Bateman Leeds, Jr., married his niece Princess Xenia Georgievna Romanova of Russia in 1921. In 1929, Christopher married his second wife, Princess Françoise of Orléans. She was the daughter of Jean d'Orléans, Duc de Guise, and Isabelle d'Orléans. Together Christopher and Françoise had one son. Prince Michael was born in Rome in 1939, shortly before his father's death in Athens.