Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark - First Marriage

First Marriage

On 1 January 1920, Christopher married a very wealthy American widow, Nonnie May "Nancy" Stewart Worthington Leeds, at Vevey, Switzerland. His bride, a once divorced and once widowed commoner at least a decade older than the prince, was nonetheless recognised as Christopher's dynastic wife by his family (at the time of the engagement and wedding, the Greek royal family lived frugally in exile, and as Christopher was last in the dynasty's order of succession, any children he fathered would not impact the succession rights of other Greek dynasts). Her fortune, estimated in the tens of millions of dollars, was inherited from her second husband, a tin millionaire, and substantially eased the Greek royal family's exile during the 1920s. The wedding followed a six-year engagement while the royal court-in-exile negotiated the terms and arrangements of the marriage.

Shortly after their marriage, she developed cancer. Princess Anastasia died in London on 29 August 1923, leaving no children from this marriage. Prince Christopher did, however, have a stepson, William Bateman Leeds Jr (1902–1971), who had, in 1921, married Princess Xenia Georgievna Romanova of Russia. She was Christopher's niece through his elder sister, Marie of Greece, Grand Duchess George of Russia.