Princess Françoise of Orléans (1902–1953)

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Princess Françoise
Princess Christopher of Greece and Denmark
Born(1902-12-25)25 December 1902
Paris, France
Died25 February 1953(1953-02-25) (aged 50)
Paris, France
Burial
Royal Cemetery, Tatoi Palace, Greece
Spouse
(m. 1929; died 1940)
IssuePrince Michael of Greece and Denmark
Names
Françoise Isabelle Louise Marie d'Orléans
HouseOrléans
FatherPrince Jean, Duke of Guise
MotherPrincess Isabelle d'Orléans

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

Louis-Philippe
.

Life

Jean d'Orléans, duc de Guise

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

Jean d'Orléans, duc de Guise (an Orléanist 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 on 11 February 1929, she married Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark (1888–1940).[1] 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 (1851–1926).[1] 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.

Tomb of Prince Christopher (left) and Princess Françoise (right) - Tatoi Royal Cemetery

This royal marriage was unusual in that era, with a Catholic marrying a non-Catholic (he was Greek Orthodox, whilst she was

Roman Catholic).[2] They had only one child, the writer Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark (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.[1]



Ancestry

Notes

  1. ^ .
  2. ^ Michel de Grèce, Mémoires insolites, Pocket, Paris, 2004, p. 15.

Bibliography