Prince Aimone of Savoy-Aosta engaged to Princess Olga of Greece, May 2005

[bigheadshirmp]

is it known yet when and where the wedding's gonna take place?

[julial]

Originally Posted by Meg

I read in other forum some time ago that he wanted to meet her when he saw this picture in a magazine.

http://www.monarquiahispanica.com/fo...e%20grecia.jpg

No wonder why the classic prince fell in love with this classic gorgeous beauty...

[Marengo]

I highly doubt it that the picture was the reason they met. I think that the two must have known each other long before the picture was taken as Olga appeared on various celebrations of the Orleans family (with her parents) Her father was an orphen when he was 14 and the late count of Paris oversaw his nephews education etc. The late countess of Paris (Aimone's grandmother) was close to him as well.

[carlota]

ohhh!!! i loved this notice!! the monarchy really needed an equal marriage!! it's great they are going to marry and that they are happy... :)


CONGRATULATIONS TO THE COUPLE!!!

any ideas on when will the engagement be?

[lashinka2002]

Originally Posted by tiaraprin

They are rivals because they both claim to be the heir to the throne of Italy.

Vittorio Emanuele is the son of ex King Umberto II. Vittorio Emanuele put his status in limbo according to the following passage from Royal Families of Europe by Geoffrey Hindley:

"According to others who would style themselves true legitimists, the claim to the crown in fact passed to a distant cousin, Prince Amadeus of Savoy, Duke of Aosta, on the day in 1970 when Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, married without his father's prior consent. By a family statute or patent of 1780, any claimant to the titles of the House of Savoy who marries without the permission of the Head of the House loses all entitlement for himself and his descendants. In January 1970, the Prince married his companion of some years' standing, the Swiss-born Marina Doria, by civil ceremony in Las Vegas, Nevada. King Umberto certainly withheld his permission, though without giving a reason. Whether it was that the lady was a commoner, or that the ceremony was a civil one is not clear. The decision of the Prince and Princess to go through with a religious ceremony in Tehran in 1971 made little difference to King Umberto's attitude. But he did attend the baptism of their son Filiberto and pronounced him Prince of Venice."

Hence this is a fight over who is the legitimate heir.

I got this from the Felipe wedding thread. Aside from love could this be the reason why these 2 are marrying? Marrying royalty would certainly give them a better chance of getting back on the throne.... Doesn't royalty have to marry royalty to ascend over there?

[MoonlightRhapsody]

Originally Posted by lashinka2002

I got this from the Felipe wedding thread. Aside from love could this be the reason why these 2 are marrying? Marrying royalty would certainly give them a better chance of getting back on the throne.... Doesn't royalty have to marry royalty to ascend over there?

As for Italy and Greece, I would think it has about the same chance as a snowball in Hades before the monarchies is restored. I don't think a majority of Italian and Greek people are too anxious to have a king/queen again.

In regards to the legitimate heir for Italy, I would think that the Duke of Aosta would be the true heir by a technicality. Vittorio Emmanuele is heir by birth, but because he married without his father's permission, it was clear he cut himself and his descendants from the line of succession. The Duke of Aosta, though not a direct descendant of the former king, is the heir due to a legality, not by birth.

[MoonlightRhapsody]

Originally Posted by Moonlightrhapsody

Doesn't he look like the pictures of Czar Alexander II of Russia? The last Czar with the mustache?

My mistake, it was Czar Nicholas II, not Alexander.

[lashinka2002]

Originally Posted by Moonlightrhapsody

As for Italy and Greece, I would think it has about the same chance as a snowball in Hades before the monarchies is restored. I don't think a majority of Italian and Greek people are too anxious to have a king/queen again.

In regards to the legitimate heir for Italy, I would think that the Duke of Aosta would be the true heir by a technicality. Vittorio Emmanuele is heir by birth, but because he married without his father's permission, it was clear he cut himself and his descendants from the line of succession. The Duke of Aosta, though not a direct descendant of the former king, is the heir due to a legality, not by birth.

Maybe they are still hopeful and that's the reason for a royal match

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

A photo of Aimone from a few years ago

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

princess Olga

[Aneca]

So does anyone know how long they have been dating? Last time I heard Princess Olga was going out with some playboy...

[Isabel]

Originally Posted by lashinka2002

Maybe they are still hopeful and that's the reason for a royal match

I don't think so. The members of these family don't appear to be delusional. I think that the royal match is based on the fact that these two people most likely follow the same circles thus kept running to each other. If that is the case chances are that they have known each other for years.

[Reina]

DId her family lead a more private life, unlike the ex-king constantine and his family. IF so I can see teh difference.

[julial]

they look like such ahappy couple, very comfortable to be together. Good for them.

[Meg]

I read that Olga has a degree in History from Princeton University and a Architecture superior course from Columbia University. However she has worked as an entomologist in Panama´s jungles for the Smithsonian Institute of Washington, her studies and her work doesn´t seem have much in common.

[EmpressRouge]

I was flipping thru my older issues of Vanity Fair, and I saw that Princess Olga had made their 2004 Best-Dressed List. The list was started in the 40s by Eleanor Lambert, and since 2004, Vanity Fair became in charge of it. Her profile from the list:
H.R.H Princess Olga of Greece
Residence: "Undetermined, possible Cairo."
Occupation: Chief Lepidopterist at the Liquid Jungle Lab, Panama
Favorite Designers: Valentino, Prada
Fashion icons: Jean Pigozzi
Favorite Piece of Clothing: Anderson & Sheppard tweed jacket
Greatest handbag of all time: Yellow canvas British Army haversck.
Diamonds or pearls: Giant pearls
Favorite Piece of Jewelry: Mogul archer's ring given to her by her father, Prince Michael of Greece
Favorite shoes: "I only wear Louboutins. The higher the heel, the more feathers and colors, the more 'Louboutinized,' the better.
Harrods or Harvey Nics: Selfridges - "It has the best underwear department of any store."
Favorite causes: The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International.

Queen Rania and her cousin Prince Pavlos also made the list that year.

[Hannelore]

OLGA OF GREECE AND AIMONE DE SAVOIE : THE FIRE OF LOVE

They're young, they're attractive, they're princes and they love each other. Olga of Greece and Aimone of Savoie-Aoste have been living a beautiful love story for months now. Greek and Italian royalists get exited about the thought of the two of them getting married. So it goes to show...princes don't only fall for Cinderella.

Olga of Greece, Aimone de Savoie ! The son of the duke d'Aosta and the second daughter of prince Michel of Greece are always together. In Moscow, where the young prince is director of the Russian branch of the Italian firm Pirelli, they've often been seen together - strolling through town like any couple in love. Late November (2004) they went together to the big reception given by the daughter of princess Pallavicini in her sumptuous palace in Rome. The first rumours started to circulate and since then the couple has tried to continue their love story outside of the spotlight. They gave their close friends the strict order to keep the press at distance.

Their idyl makes the Italian and Greek monarchist movements happy. It's true that their combined genealogical tree would make many old aristocratic families jealous. Italy, Greece, France, during 200 years these three lineages keep coming back with marriages in the royal houses of Spain, Denmark, Russia and England. Aimone and Olga are various times cousins. Their closest family tie is the one that comes from the Orléans branche : Olga's paternal grandmother (princess Françoise of France) was the sister of Aimone's maternal grandfather (the late count of Paris - head of the royal family of France).

When looking at the huge list of glorious ancestors, this young couple has a rather original personality: they both decided not to let their family history choke them.

Olga was born in Athens on November 17th, 1971. She spent part of her childhood in the Greek capital, then went to live with her parents in France and later in the US. She spent most of her adlescence in New York. As an architecture student at Columbia University she had a taste for provocation. When she obtained her degree, she started to work in interior decoration. Her first jobs were two boutiques in London and New York of the famous shoedesigner, Christian Louboutin. Apparently he was very happy with the result because he asked her to decorate his house in Luxor (Egypt) as well.
At that time Olga's other passion was photography. Between two decoration jobs, she would wander around the world, camera at hand. Untill the day her equipment got stolen...

As for the matters of the heart, she's non-conformist and dated a Greek journalist a lot older than her for more than a year. The relationship ended when she met a young French businessman, Johnny Pigozzi. He made her discover the enchanting world of butterflies. A hobby that soon became a passion. The two of them start a crazy project : the creation of a laboratorium for the study of butterflies in the jungle of Panama. Between two trips in Central America, where they stay in the winter months, they spend their time in the South of France or in Paris.
Sexy, unpredictable and full of surprises, Olga doesn't mind going to a mundain vernissage from time to time or to assist at the weddings of her royal cousins. She makes a habit of chosing her outfits at the very last moment - original but always elegant. At the wedding of her cousin Pavlos of Greece in London in 1995 she wore a cream coloured silk dress, with black polka dots, a long string of pearls and a large dark brimmed hat with a voilette. Three years later, in Venice, at the wedding of her sister Alexandra, she wore a raspberry ensemble, a few flowers in her chignon, and a large diamond and ruby lily-shaped necklace.

[Hannelore]

Aimone is certainly more discrete than his girlfriend. He was titled "duke of Pouilles" at birth (1967). He's the son of the fifth duke of Aosta and of princess Claude of France, the fifth daughter of the count and countess of Paris. His father is the head of the junior branch of the royal family of Italy.
After his studies at the naval college of Venice and the university of Milan, he started working in a bank. His mother tells : "One day he announced us he was leaving for Moscow. He had been offered to start up a Russian branch of Pirelli. He told me: "In Italy I'll always be my father's son or my mother's son. I want to prove myself in a country where people don't know my name" I admire him for that. He managed to build up a successful business in a difficult city."

Maybe it was Russia that brought Olga and Aimone (who've known each other since they were children) together. They both descend from the Romanovs and they both love this country where a tough everyday life goes together with irrational and romantic influences. If, as we hope, there will be an engagement, then the gotha will celebrate a great wedding in 2005. Apart from the (rather late) marriage of Michel de Bourbon-Parma and Maria-Pia of Savoie last year, we have to go back to 1999 to find the last mariage between two royal houses : Caroline of Monaco and Ernst-August of Hannover.

It would be -once again- a eucumenic union. Princess Olga is orthodox and prince Aimone catholic. The Italian royalists dream of a grand wedding at the Pantheon in Rome, where the kings of Italy rest. Or the wedding could take place in Pavlovsk, at 26 km of St Petersburg, at the palace of grand duke Constantin, where their mutual greatgrandmother, grand duchess Olga of Russia, first queen of Greece spent her childhood. It would be the first royal wedding in Russia in 100 years. This unexpected love story moves many hearts...

Written by : Philippe Delorme and Vincent Meylan

[Hannelore]

More pics of prince Aimone

[Hannelore]

more pics of princess Olga