Château de la Croë

Coordinates: 43°32′46″N 7°08′03″E / 43.54605°N 7.13413°E / 43.54605; 7.13413
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Château de la Croë in 2011
Overview of the villa and grounds

The Château de la Croë is a large detached

Associated Newspapers
.

Ownership

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor leased the château in May 1938, in addition to their Parisian mansion, after the Duke's abdication as King Edward VIII in 1936.[1] When the Germans invaded France they left it, traveling to Spain, on 19 June 1940.[2]

The Windsors returned in 1946 to find that it had been used during the war as a billet for Italian and German troops. The building was in a poor state and there was abandoned military equipment on the building and in the garden.[3] The Duchess of Windsor subsequently renovated the house, leading the author Rebecca West to comment that "There are not many women who can pick up the keys to a rented house, raddled by long submission to temporary inmates, and make it look as if a family of cheerful good taste had been living there for two or three centuries."[1]

Clementine Churchill celebrated their fortieth wedding anniversary with the Windsors at the château in 1948.[4]

Among the Windsors' guests were

blonde haired,[5]
however, in Edward Wessex’ 2015 documentary, “Whatever happened to the Windsors?”, there is film footage of staff with dark hair and dark skin filmed at the Chateau.

The Windsors left when their lease expired in the spring of 1949.[6]

The Greek shipping magnate

Athina Livanos, found him in bed with her friend, the socialite Jeanne Rhinelander.[8] The house was then acquired by Onassis's brother-in-law and business rival, Stavros Niarchos, who bought it for his wife, Eugenia Livanos, Athina's sister.[8]

21st century

The Château de la Croë has been owned by the Russian businessman

squatters, with only the structure still intact. The permit for the renovation was granted in February 2004, and work took four years to complete.[10]
The work was completed two months ahead of the deadline, with all of the furniture and fittings individually made and designed for the house.

As part of the work, an approx. 15 m long swimming pool was built on the roof of the building, and a gym and cinema were installed in the basement.[10] The grounds were landscaped by Peter Wirtz, the son of noted Belgian landscape designer Jacques Wirtz, and planted with Californian and Mediterranean species.[10]

Chateau seized

As of April 2022, due to the ongoing

invasion of Ukraine the chateau has been seized by the French government because of sanctions against Russian oligarchs.[11]

References

  1. ^ .
  2. ^ Lownie, Andrew (2021), Traitor King, Blink, p103, ISBN 978-1-78870-481-6
  3. ^ Lownie, Andrew (2021), Traitor King, Blink, p241, ISBN 978-1-78870-481-6
  4. .
  5. ^ .
  6. ^ Lownie, Andrew (2021), Traitor King, Blink, p253, ISBN 978-1-78870-481-6
  7. ^ Sebag, Gaspard (9 October 2018). "In Abramovich's World, $47,000 Buys a Square Meter of Space". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  8. ^ .
  9. ^ a b Osborn, Andrew (17 February 2011). "Roman Abramovich declares assets". The Daily Telegraph.
  10. ^ a b c d e "Antibes Abramovich entrouvre les portes du Château de la Croë". Nice Matin. 27 January 2010.
  11. ^ "Roman Abramovich's $120M Riviera mansion seized by French authorities". nypost.com. Retrieved 13 April 2022.

43°32′46″N 7°08′03″E / 43.54605°N 7.13413°E / 43.54605; 7.13413