Obituary Constantine of Greece dies
Marriage The beautiful love story of Constantine II of Greece and Anne-Marie of Denmark
His relationship with Spain: Brother of Queen Sofía and one more in Zarzuela
To attract the attention of the most refined classes and attend society balls, there is no better weapon than a renowned photographer to immortalize the aspirants to be the center of attention.
In the case that concerns us, billionaire
Robert Miller
(89), co-founder of the retail giant
Duty Free Shoppers
(DFS) with an
estimated fortune of 1.9 billion dollars according to the latest
Forbes
listing
, hired the services of Herb Ritts to portray their three beautiful daughters,
Pia
(57), Marie-Chantal (54) and
Alexandra
(50).
Miller is still married to the Ecuadorian
María Clara Pesantes
(82).
All three wore exclusive couture designs of extremely refined taste.
Once staged, they began to be known as the Miller sisters, the postmodern version of the famous Mitford sisters.
In the book by Juan Luis Galiacho
Matrimonios SA: business, money and love in famous Spain
(2009), the author highlights that "the photographs were sent to the main society magazines, both American and European, together with a brief resume of each (...)
The Miller sisters became the focus of attention of high society and the media
".
The plan concocted by Robert Miller would have the desired effect.
Pia married Christopher R. Getty
-oil heir-,
Alexandra married Alejandro von Fürstenberg
(52) -son of German prince Egon von Fürstenberg and American designer Diane von Fürstenberg (76)- and Marie-Chantal met their expectations saying "I do" to
Prince Paul of Greece and Denmark
(55) -
heir to the Greek throne if the monarchy returned
- on July 1, 1995 at the Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Sophia in London.
Once again,
the aristocracy of money had joined the aristocracy of blood
.
A
blind date in 1992 orchestrated by the 'matchmaker' Alecko Papamarkou
, a New York banker friend of the Greek royal family, was the origin of this fairy tale.
A friend of Pablo and Marie-Chantal, he immediately found the perfect opportunity for them to meet.
He was sure that they were made for each other.
The appointment was on the birthday that the Greek shipping company Stavros Niarchos had organized for his son Philip in New Orleans.
No sooner said than done.
The crush arose
between both
aristocrats .
"It was definitely love at first sight
," Prince Paul told
Hello!
he added that "I was immediately struck by his delicate features and stunning beauty. I soon discovered we had a lot in common."
So that the courtship would not go to waste,
Pablo found the ideal cover in his cousin, Prince Felipe de Borbón,
since they were both studying at Georgetown University.
Soon after, Marie-Chantal moved to Washington so she could be close to her boyfriend.
Felipe VI with Pablo of Greece and Marie-Chantal in the year 2000GTRES
Until then, Marie-Chantal had moved between the elite of London, Hong-Kong -she spent her childhood there- Switzerland -study at the exclusive Le Rosey boarding school- and New York, where she was
one of the most sought after names by the Manhattan high society
and where he worked with Andy Warhol.
The Millers and the Grecias were delighted with the relationship.
The proposal took place on a chairlift in Gstaad
(Switzerland).
After the engagement, came the conversion ceremony to the Orthodox religion in which Alecko was the best man at the request of the Greek royal family.
However, the millionaire was not invited to the big wedding as it
is said that King Constantine II of Greece (82) was very angry when Alecko asked him for a high commission for having worked as a matchmaker
.
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On the day of the wedding, the bride arrived with a
dowry of 177 million euros
, the same that Robert Miller granted to his sisters, and also took care of the wedding expenses.
Valentino's couture bridal gown alone cost 200,000 euros
.
The link was attended by
1,300 guests
, of whom 450 were direct witnesses in the cathedral and the other 850 saw it on television at Hapmton Court, built at the beginning of the 16th century for Cardinal Wolsey, King Henry VIII's right-hand man.
As Queen Elizabeth II was the guest of honor, orders were given not to have much enthusiasm during the festivities.
I mean, zero tears.
British etiquette forbids showing one's feelings excessively
, something Marie-Chantal always regretted.
It was one of the first weddings between a crown prince and a commoner.
Currently,
Pablo and Marie-Chantal -
Letizia's enemy -
are one of the most envied couples in high society
.
Their solid marriage and
offspring worthy of a fashion catalog
with names in homage to the Greek homeland -María Olympia (26), Constantino Alexios (24), Achileas Andreas (22), Odysseas Kimon (18) and Arístides Stavros (14) - is the envy of aristocrats and millionaires.
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Marie-Chantal and Pablo of Greece -
hypothetical sovereigns of Greece
as well as Luis Alfonso de Borbón and Margarita Vargas of France - have established residence in New York, but
still maintain palatial holdings in London, the Hamptons and Bermuda
.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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