Pavlos And Marie Chantal: Current Events December 2002 - October 2003

[Julia]

...[I]f you are, say, the New York socialite Barbara de Portago, the message you are presenting is evidently one of gilded prosperity, and stalwart single motherhood, as evidenced by Christmas cards depicting Ms. Portago alone with her son, often posed in a lavish evening gown against a backdrop of Impressionist pictures and bamboo ballroom chairs. If you are Tina Brown and Harry Evans, the message of a yearly collaged photographic card showing these rhino-tough publishing veterans disporting themselves on carefree vacations with their children, George and Isabel, is decidedly wistful and Kennedyesque. If you are Crown Prince Pavlos and Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece, the message in an engraved Christmas card that shows your family — mother, father, Olympia, Constantine and Achileas — wearing sweaters hand-knitted in a Greek flag motif is both achingly tasteful and politically suggestive. The Greek royal family, as some recipients of the cards will undoubtedly remember, remains distinctly unwelcome in Greece.


Exerpt from The New York Times online.


Pic of family...

[samitude]

Over at the Miller Sisters Message Board Mary said that MC was interviewed on Greek TV. Here's her scope on the interview.

Merry Christmas to all of you girls from Athens, Greece. As I was watching the news yesterday, there was MC interviewed at her new London home. The house is impressive, comfortable and classic. There were no eccentricities and there were family pictures everywhere. Most of them were portraits of MC and the kids. The whole style was pretty british.
MC said that she feels privileged because she has a fantastic husband and three wonderful kids. She said that being a mother is her priority in life, and that she never intended to become a carrer woman, she is just fascinated by the fact that she designs something and six months later she can she it worn by a child.
She was very casually dressed and the children were adorable. MO is a little star. She was far more expressive than the boys, doing grimaces in front of the camera and playing with a kitten.

Two things surprised me- MC said nothing about having more kids. She has always said that she wanted four or five but she seemed pretty ´full´with three children. And then, her greek. After almost eight years of marriage, she still can´t handle it. The whole interview was in english, and when asked about her greek, she just repeated the phrase she had said on greek TV on her engagement day-My greek is not very good (in greek) and then started laughing, as if she wanted to turn the conversation somewhere else. I was a little disappointed that after all these years the only phrase she can use is the one that -obviously-Pavlos teached her in order to impress reporters eight years ago as a young fiancee.
Anyway, in general she came across as a simple and nice person. She said that her children are her life and it seemed so indeed.

I just thought you might be interested. Once again, Happy Holidays!
Mary

[Julia]

Thanks for the snippet, Sylvia! MC sounds like a lovely person!

-Julia

[Jacqueline]

Thanks for the info Sylvia. I have to admit that although I always thought that MC was most likely a fairly nice person, I am a bit disappointed that after eight years she has yet to learn the Greek language. I understand her perhaps not taking it seriously with the way many of Greece's government officials feel about the Royal Family and their return, but I think that she should know more than simply one phrase. I know that she is fluent in French, so she possesses the ability to learn languages if she desires to, but it is sad that she has not learned more.

I guess that she must be really happy with having three children. I remember her saying something about having five and a mini van or something to that effect years ago....but I guess that she may now settle for three.

[samitude]

Mary over on the Miller Sisters Message Board said that she saw the second half of Pavlos and MC's interview on Greek TV. This is what she had to say about it.

Last night, I had the chance to see the second part of the MC and Pavlos interview on greek tv. This time it was Pavlos who said how wonderful their life is and that they moved to London in order for the children to be raised in a european environment. He said that MC is his other half and he feels perfectly happy being married to a woman with a strong character.
He also said that a fourth child is in their plans, although not for the immediate future.

I'm glad that they have decided to have another baby. I wonder how long they will wait. They seem very happy and in love.

[Julia]

Ok, another few pics of Crown Princess Pavlos... Pic from Corbis

[samitude]

I got this from the Miller Sisters Message Board. I thought you all would like to read this.

MC is on the cover of February´s ¨Life and Style¨. The whole article (many pages)is about MC´s children line and her wonderful fashion style. She is photographed with beautiful clothes (Valentino, Prada) at her new home in London. Pavlos and AA are also present, but they don´t appear in the photographs. On the cover, MC wears a Ralph Lauren sweater and a Prada skirt. She says that she inherited her style from her mother and her love for business from her father.
She also says that she owes her sense of independence to the ten years she lived in the US, but that she was brought up and educated in Europe and she wants the same for her kids.
The reporter writes that MC lookes very cool and behaves normally, without caring much about the impression she makes. The house is simple and the decoration is not yet completed.
At one point, the reporter mentions that AA appeared wearing a Superman outfit and that MC and Pavlos were eating pizza and pop corn left from last night´s Haloween party for their children.
I can´t remember anything else for now, she really looked great in the pictures, simple make up, simple hairdo and no jewells.

[kelly9480]

I've never heard of that magazine. Where's it sold?

[samitude]

I think it's a Greek magazine.

[Josefine]

picture from http://alloverpress.dk

picture from http://alloverpress.dk

picture from http://alloverpress.dk

picture from http://alloverpress.dk

picture from http://alloverpress.dk

picture from http://alloverpress.dk

picture from http://alloverpress.dk

I found this on www.ritva.com its from a Swedish magazine - ETA: Svensk Dam /Mandy

I did a direct translation from Swedish to English

Victoria's friend and jetset princess
Marie-Chantal
Controls Europe's royal women


I have not read the article but dying to hear is someone else has read it

[samitude]

No, I haven't read the article. I wish I could. Maybe Ritva would translate it for us.

[thissal]

No doubt, it would be interesting, but proper? Marie-chantal is not even a real princess or real royalty. She doesn't have a country to represent. Maybe she should, but the current fact is that she does not.

[Alexandra]

Oh, I wish, she would something to her hairs! She looks so elegant, when she wears her hair high. It is always a problem for us with fair, colourless hairs, it looks just nothing without some kind of a hairdo.

[samitude]

Thank you for posting these photos! I like Marie-Chantal and the whole Greek royal family. I look forward to seeing the rest of your photos.

[Jacqueline]

Crown Prince Pavlos

Photo From: Polfoto

[iseestudio]

Any one read the article yet?
I'm curious about what the article says...

[Jacqueline]

Originally posted by thissal@May 16th, 2003 - 3:30 pm
No doubt, it would be interesting, but proper?** Marie-chantal is not even a real princess or real royalty.* She doesn't have a country to represent.** Maybe she should, but the current fact is that she does not.

She does not have a country to represent, but she is a princess by marriage. I think that it is quite insulting to Pavlos' parents to say that they are no longer royal and that their daughter-in-law isn't real royalty. In essence it is the same as saying that their son Pavlos is not a real prince and that his bloodline is fake. That is quite unfair to the GRF and Marie-Chantal and Pavlos' children. The GRF along with many non-reigning royals exists under very difficult circumstances. It is unfortuante that they have to live in exile and that there is no longer a monarchy in Greece but that happens. However, their birthright is not something that should be treated so shabbily.

I was born a commoner, of course, and if someone were to tell me that my surname wasn't real or that of my daughter-in-law's (if I were to have one) simply because we no longer lived in our ancestral homes, I would be very upset. I don't live in my family 's ancestral countries, but we are still comprised of many ethnicities and I would be very disheartened if anyone said that I was less than that simply due to political reasons. I may not be able to represent these countries to the best of my ability, but I should at least be allowed to keep my name without someone calling me a fake. Granted that Marie-Chantal was born a commoner, she did marry a prince and whatever title he holds or uses as someone of royal birth became hers as well when they married.

But, I guess that it is easy to make fun of Marie-Chantal since she wasn't born a royal. It is always easy to make fun of commoners especially those who marry exiled and/or deposed royals. The royal may be good enough in exile, but never the commoner. I guess that a commoner that marries an exiled royal is still a commoner.

[Jenna1186]

Hey Jacqueline,

I think what Thissal meant(and Thissal if I am wrong please correct me ) is that Marie-Chantal isn't a real princess in the sence that she not a 'working' princess.'Working' princess meaning going on state vists,attending goverment functions and so on.You look at the 'working' crown princesses(Mette-Marit,Maxima,Mathilde and Masako) who are doing all these things and more.You have to wonder if its fair to say that Marie-Chantal is leading them,seeing as she really doesn't have to fulfill as many obligations or sacrifice perharps as much personal time as the others do.I think that yes she is a 'real' princess but not a 'working' princess like the others.

[thissal]

Jacqueline,

I can assure you I wasn't making fun of commoners especially those who marry exiled and/or deposed royals.

What I believe is that those who retain the title of king or queen and crown prince or crown princess, after they are deposed, devalue and demean what those titles mean for others who hold them. Those titles represent a function which is an important role in the running of a country.

This doesn't apply to the lesser titles such as prince/princess/duke/duchess and other royal titles or evidence of "bloodlines", whose function doesn't necessarily involve the hard work and importance that the titles of king, queen, and crown prince/princess do.

[Jacqueline]

I understand exactly what is being said here and I promise that I have noted every single word.

It is an interesting point, but surely someone cannot be faulted for "not working" if the country and the country's government doesn't want them to even live in the country. I don't see the Greek royals as a group of individuals that are purposely "not working." They really cannot be blamed for not having any official functions in Greece or anywhere for that matter. They are in exile and there is only so much that they can do. They simply cannot have functions involving other heads of state and represent Greece to their fullest abilities. The amount of "work" that they can do is limited. It appears to me that this discussion makes it appear as though the GRF is purposely trying to demean the titles that they hold and that doesn't appear to be true. I would tend to believe that many deposed royals would be very happy to still be functioning within their countries, but it is completely out of their control.

I agree that reigning monarchs do serve important roles within their respective countries, however, they really do not serve any purpose in the running of a country's government. They are more symbolic than anything in most countries, and they reign and they do not rule, which may be one of the reasons for the longevity of some.

On a side note, I do not believe that the magazine is implying that Marie-Chantal is actually "leading" Europe's royal women where "work" or dedication is concerned. I would tend to believe that this is about fashion and the attire of royal women, MC in particular. Most articles about MC are about her clothing line and her sense of style and her charity work. I don't think that this one will differ from the others greatly. However, if anyone does read the article, please give us a brief summar. I would like to know what was written as well.