Princess Olga
Duchess of Aosta
BornPrincess Olga of Greece
(1971-11-11) 11 November 1971 (age 52)
Athens, Greece
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2008)​
IssuePrince Umberto
Prince Amedeo
Princess Isabella
Names
Olga Isabelle
HouseGlücksburg
FatherPrince Michael of Greece and Denmark
MotherMarina Karella
Greek royal family
House of Savoy

The Prince of Venice
The Princess of Venice

The Dowager Princess of Naples

Extended royal family
The Dowager Duchess of Aosta
  • The Duke of Aosta
    The Duchess of Aosta
    • The Duke of Apulia
    • The Duke of the Abruzzi
    • Princess Isabella
  • Princess Bianca, Countess Arrivabene-Valenti-Gonzaga
  • Princess Mafalda, Baroness Lombardo di San Chirico
Princess Maria Isabella

Princess Olga, Duchess of Aosta, also known as Princess Olga Isabelle of Greece (Greek: Πριγκίπισσα Όλγα της Ελλάδας; born 11 November 1971), is the younger daughter of author Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark and his wife, Marina Karella, an artist and daughter of the Greek business magnate Theodore Karella. Olga is married to her second cousin Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta.

Early life

Princess Olga was born on 11 November 1971 in Athens, Greece. She is the younger sister of Princess Alexandra. She grew up in Paris and New York, spending summers at the family's island retreat at Patmos, Greece.[1] She chose to attend boarding school in England, studied history in Rome, and is a graduate of Princeton University.[2] She also holds a degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Although Olga worked for a while in interior decoration, she went to Panama to photograph and study phalaena. Later, as a lepidopterist, she helped to set up and then worked in the Liquid Jungle Lab in Panama in co-operation with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. She is also a journalist and filmmaker.

Engagement, marriage and children

Olga's engagement to Prince Aimone of Savoy, son of Amedeo, 5th Duke of Aosta, was announced in May 2005. Aimone and Olga are second cousins; both being great-grandchildren of the French pretender Jean d'Orléans, duc de Guise. They are also second cousins-once-removed, as George I of Greece is Aimone's great-great-grandfather and Olga's great-grandfather. Olga's father, Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark, Aimone's late paternal grandmother, Princess Irene, Duchess of Aosta (née Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark), and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark), were all first cousins.

The couple wed, after a three-year engagement, on 16 September 2008 at the Italian embassy in Moscow, the city in which Aimone was employed. Their religious marriage took place on 27 September at Patmos,[3] where it was expected that the Patriarchal Exarch of Patmos, Archimandrite Andipas Nikitaras, would preside at the Church of the Evangelismos of the Virgin Mary at Pano Kambos, with a reception following on the site of a former school.[4] Since the Second Vatican Council, marriages celebrated according to the rite of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, to which the exarchate belongs, may be recognized as canonically valid.[5] A canonical dispensation was obtained from the Catholic Archbishop of Moscow, Monsignor Paolo Pezzi, who was the local Ordinary of prince Aimone.[6]

On 7 March 2009, Princess Olga gave birth to a son named Umberto in Paris, France.[7][8] On 24 May 2011 in Paris, Olga gave birth to another son, named Amedeo Michele. A day after his birth, Amedeo was granted the title Duke of the Abruzzi by his paternal grandfather.[9] On 14 December 2012, Olga gave birth to a baby daughter, Isabella Vita Marina, in Paris, France.[10]

References

  1. ^ "Talents et volonté". Point de Vue (in French). 1991-02-21.
  2. ^ Bern, Stéphane (1987-03-13). "Michel de Grèce: prince et romancier". Dynastie (in French): 12–15.
  3. ^ Unione Monarchica Italiana Archived 2009-01-02 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Koenig, Marlene (2008-09-28). "Royal Musings". Translation of Patmos Times article. Marlene Koenig. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
  5. ^ Hubert Jedin, Konrad Repgen (1980). "The Code and Development of Canon Law to 1974". History of the Church: Volume X The Church in the Modern Age. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 171. ISBN 978-0-86012-090-2.
  6. ^ CronacaQui(26 September 2008)[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ (in Italian) Official announcement from the site of the Royal House of Savoy.
  8. ^ (in Italian) monarchia.it Archived 2009-01-02 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Comunicato Stampa del 25 maggio 2011
  10. ^ "U.m.i. - Isabella: Una Nuova Principessa in Casa Savoia". Archived from the original on 2015-09-25. Retrieved 2015-01-18.
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