On November 1st 1285, the King of Scotland, Alexander III, remarried. He had lost his first wife, two sons and a daughter, and the heir to the kingdom was now his young grand-daughter. It was a delicate situation and so he decided to try to have a male heir. He himself had been 8 years…
My grandmother Queen Olga of Greece in exile in Italy. Immediately behind her is my father, Christopher, and next to him, his sister Maria. Behind her is her brother Andrew, father of the Duke of Edinburgh. King Georges II of Greece and his brother, the heir to the throne Paul of Greece, visiting the…
The wedding of William Leeds with Princess Xenia of Russia. He was the son of my father’s first wife, Princess Anastasia of Greece. She was the daughter of my father’s sister. In the photo we can see my father, Christopher, his wife Anastasia, and the married couple. Next to the bride is her mother, Maria…
It is one of the biggest cut sapphires in the world, weighing over 300 carats. It was bought at the end of the19th century by the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, a passionate jewelry collector. It was passed on to her daughter-in-law, the Grand Duchess Cyril. After the 1917 Revolution, needing money, she sold…
It was during, or at the end of the World War. A young Austrian pianist arrived on a Greek island. He was handsome, and alone. He was talented. The two sisters belonged to the island’s aristocracy. Among their numerous properties, they prefered one they had called “happiness”. It was situated on top of a hill…
Yanni is the head of the largest family on the island of Spetses. He is also one of the most renowned butterfly experts in the Balkans. He is a contemporary of mine, and a friend. His family has an interesting history. In the early 19th century, his ancestors were shipowners. But at the time, there…
Princess Mary of Cambridge: known as “Fat Mary” within the family. She was the mother of Queen Mary. Queen Alexandra of England on the day of her coronation with page-boys carrying her train. Queen Alexandra of England taking a photograph with her Kodak of my father, Christopher, with Marie Bonaparte, the Grand Duke Dimitri with…
Andrew Perry was furious. On one December morning in 1970, Perry, the owner of the only stable in the region that rented its horses out to holiday-goers, discovered that somebody had broken into his stable during the night, saddled his black horse and went riding with it, exhausting it to such an extent that when…
There is an object that goes by the name of the ‘stone of destiny’. It is a rather large, dark grey stone that has been carved into a block and has no ornamentation or inscription on it. It had been custom to use this stone during the coronation ceremonies of the old Kings of Scotland…
Alexandra of Denmark, Princess of Wales, future Queen of England. Queen Alexandra of England with her daughter, Princess Victoria. Behind her is her great friend Hélène of Orléans, the Duchess of Aosta. Several of Queen Victoria’s grandchildren. Around the eldest, Princess Alice, the future Grand Duchess of Hesse. Opening of paliament…