by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2014
Marie-Chantal is the wife of Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece, the eldest son of King Constantine II of Greece who was deposed in 1973. Marie-Chantal Claire Miller was born on September 17, 1968, in London, England. Her parents are Robert Miller, a billionaire entrepreneur and co-founder of Duty-Free Shops, and María Clara Pesantes Becerra. Her father was born American but is now a British citizen, and her mother was born in Ecuador. Marie-Chantal was an American citizen but renounced her American citizenship in 2011.
Marie-Chantal has an older and a younger sister and the trio was often referred to as “The Miller Sisters” in the newspaper society pages.
- Pia (born 1966) married Getty Oil heir Christopher Getty in 1992, had four children, divorced in 2005
- Alexandra (born 1972) married (1) Prince Alexander von Fürstenberg in 1995, had two children, divorced (2) Dax Miller
Marie-Chantal on the left with her sisters: Photo: www.instawebgram.com
Marie-Chantal grew up in Hong Kong, the location of the corporate headquarters of her father’s business. In Hong Kong, she attended the Peak School, an English language international primary school. When she was nine years old, Marie-Chantal went to the Institut Le Rosey, an exclusive boarding school in Rolle, Switzerland. In 1982, she began to attend Ecole Active Bilingue in Paris, France where she continued until her senior year. Marie-Chantal then attended The Masters School, a private, coeducational boarding school in Dobbs Ferry, New York. She began to attend New York University in New York City in 1993 but dropped out a year later when Crown Prince Pavlos proposed marriage.
Marie-Chantal and Pavlos met on a blind date arranged by a friend in 1992. The marriage proposal occurred on a ski lift in Gstaad, Switzerland over the Christmas holiday in 1994. Prior to the wedding, Marie-Chantal converted from Roman Catholicism to Greek Orthodoxy. The couple was married on July 1, 1995, at St. Sophia’s Cathedral in London, England. The wedding celebrations were extravagant and expensive. The wedding ceremony, receptions, and celebrations combined reportedly cost the Miller family 8 million dollars. The wedding dress alone reportedly cost $225,000. More royalty attended Marie-Chantal and Pavlos’ wedding than the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer.
The couple has five children:
- Princess Maria-Olympia (born 1996)
- Prince Constantine-Alexios (born 1998)
- Prince Achileas-Andreas (born 2000)
- Prince Odysseus-Kimon (born 2004)
- Prince Aristidis-Stavros (born 2008)
Marie-Chantal with her family in 2014; Photo: The Royal Post
Marie-Chantal and Pavlos have lived in New York City and London, where Pavlos has worked as an investment consultant. Marie-Chantal has her own business, Marie-Chantal, an international children’s wear brand.
March 6, 2014: Crown Princess Marie-Chantal on the right attending services commemorating the 50th anniversary of King Paul I of Greece’s death, with her husband Crown Prince Pavlos and his aunt Queen Sofia of Spain; Photo: Zimbio
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