Marie's Family and Circle of Friends

Xeara · #1 05-27-2008, 10:42 PM

Can someone please explain Marie's family situation to me...I know she is the only child of Francoise Grassiot and Alain Cavallier but it is the half-brothers that confuse me...

Two brothers called Benjamin & Gregory Grandet - her mothers first marriage to a Mr. Grandet? And then married AC and had Marie, and then remarried for the third time to Christian Grassiot?

And Charles & Eduorard (?) Cavallier - were they born before Marie, in Alain's first marriage or after Marie...has he remarried since divorcing Francoise?

Is Marie the youngest of her half-sibling-brothers?

Someone please explain this to me...I can't find info on it anywhere...Thanks!!!

GlitteringTiaras · #2 05-27-2008, 10:49 PM

Per the Royal House of Denmark website:

Quote:

The Princess’s parents are Alain Cavallier and Françoise Grassiot, married on 14 June 1975, subsequently divorced. On 7 November 1987 she married Christian Grassiot, financial adviser. The Princess has four half-brothers, Benjamin and Gregory Grandet, both born in Switzerland, and Charles and Edouard Cavallier, both born in Paris. Like the Princess, all four half-brothers grew up in Paris.

If I am not mistaken she has:

Two older brothers from her Mon's marriage to another man.
Then Marie from Alain.
Two younger brother's from her Dad's marriage to a woman 15 years younger than her Dad.
Françoise and her current husband, correct me if I am wrong, do not have any more kids. If they did they are from her step-father's previous marriage before he met Françoise.

It's all somewhat confusing since there seems to be a lot of marriage and divorces in her family. Sad really.

Jo of Palatine · #3 05-28-2008, 04:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GlitteringTiaras

Per the Royal House of Denmark website:

If I am not mistaken she has:

Two older brothers from her Mom's marriage to another man.
Then Marie from Alain.
Two younger brother's from her Dad's marriage to a woman 15 years younger than her Dad.
Françoise and her current husband, correct me if I am wrong, do not have any more kids. If they did they are from her step-father's previous marriage before he met Françoise.

It's all somewhat confusing since there seems to be a lot of marriage and divorces in her family. Sad really.

Christian Grassiot, Marie's stepfather, has a daughter Jennifer Shorto from a previous marriag who attended the wedding with her two daughters, Marie's stepnieces.

Here's a pic of Chritian Grassiot with his granddaughters:

http://gfx.dagbladet.no/pub/artikkel...1211645509.jpg

And of Marie's stepsister Jennifer Shorto with her daughters at the wedding day:

http://images.bt.dk/apps/pbcsi.dll/b...w=300&Maxh=445

At the Scandinavian Royals Message Board I found this list where they tried to find out how the guests were related to Marie (thank you very much for the work

)

Monsieur Alain Cavallier (father)
:
: Madame Christian Grassiot (mother)
: Monsieur Christian Grassiot (stepfather)
:
: Monsieur Jerome Grassiot (maybe son of
: stepfather?)
: Madame Jerome Grassiot
:
: La Baronne de Sairigne (paternal
: grandmother, née Labesse, divorced or widowed Cavallier)
:
: Monsieur Guy Labesse (relative of paternal
: grandmother, maybe her brother?)
: Madame Guy Labesse
:
: Monsieur Gregory Grandet (halfbrother, son of mother)
: Madame Cécile Christen (halfbrother's
: girlfriend?)
:
: Monsieur Charles Cavallier (halfbrother, son of father)
: Monsieur Edouard Cavallier (halfbrother)
:
: Madame Patrick Dollfus (paternal aunt, née
: Cavallier)
: Monsieur Patrick Dollfus (husband of
: paternal aunt)
: Monsieur Christian Dollfus (cousin)
: Madame Christian Dollfus (cousin's wife)
:
: Madame Gabriel Peretti (cousin, née Dollfus)
: Monsieur Gabriel Peretti (cousin's husband)
: Tanguy Peretti (cousin's child)
: Gauthier Peretti (cousin's child)
: Charlotte Peretti (cousin's child)
:
: Madame Raymond Patenôtre (father's
: halfsister, née Brunet de Sairigné)
: Monsieur Raymond Patenôtre (husband of
: father's halfsister)
: Mademoiselle Alix Patenôtre (daughter of
: father's halfsister)

Madame Jennifer Shorto (daughter of
: stepfather Christian Grassiot
: Allegra Shorto (granddaughter of stepfather)
: Maya Shorto (granddaughter of stepfather)

royalina · #4 05-29-2008, 09:18 AM

Are there any pics of the 4 step brothers??? I wonder why they are not shown in the oficcial photos being her brothers???

ayvee · #5 05-29-2008, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by royalina

Are there any pics of the 4 step brothers??? I wonder why they are not shown in the oficcial photos being her brothers???

In this official photo, all three half-brothers (not step brothers) are present:
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m...M/biggroup.jpg

One brother stands behind the Mom (Gregory who appeared in the documentary) and two younger brothers stand behind the father just.

Remember one of the older brothers (Benjamin) couldn't make it to the wedding because his daughter was sick.

Also, this hotel: Château de la Vernède | Bed and Breakfast | swimming pool | chambres d'hôtes | piscine | avignon provence
is owned by Marie's mother.

-Ayvee

royalina · #6 05-29-2008, 11:06 AM

Thanks Ayvee! I meant half brothers, sorry!
Nice pic! I guess there is one Cavallier brother missed in the photo (what would've happen to him to miss the wedding, or the photo, given that he's in the guests list)
The two first on the left appear to look more alike and more likely to be siblings and the children from Francoise's first marriage?
And, what a charming Grandma!!!

Jo of Palatine · #7 05-29-2008, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ayvee

Wasn't Avignon the place where Marie and Joachim were seen together for the first time? I recall that they stayed in a hotel there under the name of "Cavallier" and at that time the media thought that Joachim had used this name as a pseudonym for him being the "knight" to his lady when in fact it simply was Marie's name.

royalina · #8 05-29-2008, 11:17 AM

OH! I think the missing brother is a Grandet brother form her Mom's side after all...???

**Stefan** · #9 05-30-2008, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by royalina

Thanks Ayvee! I meant half brothers, sorry!
Nice pic! I guess there is one Cavallier brother missed in the photo (what would've happen to him to miss the wedding, or the photo, given that he's in the guests list)
The two first on the left appear to look more alike and more likely to be siblings and the children from Francoise's first marriage?
And, what a charming Grandma!!!

Not a Cavallier one of her older halfbrothers, Benjamin from their mothers first marriage. He and his Family cancelled the Wedding because theri daughter who was to be a flowergirl got the flu.

Martha · #10 06-14-2008, 07:04 PM

It`s so confuse. one situation is clear Marie`s Mother has been married three times.

sneeuwklokje · #11 06-16-2008, 05:50 AM

And Marie's father is divorced twice it seems. Marie has married a divorced prince. My gosh, that family is tempting the Gods, aren't they

Jo of Palatine · #12 06-16-2008, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sneeuwklokje

And Marie's father is divorced twice it seems. Marie has married a divorced prince. My gosh, that family is tempting the Gods, aren't they

Depends on which Gods you are referring to: I doubt the Greek Roman Egyptian or Viking Gods would bat an eyelid.

sneeuwklokje · #13 06-16-2008, 02:09 PM

Yeah well, I have to confess I am a little bit oldfashioned.... I've been married to the same man for over 20 years.

Jo of Palatine · #14 06-16-2008, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sneeuwklokje

Yeah well, I have to confess I am a little bit oldfashioned.... I've been married to the same man for over 20 years.

From my personal expericence I can tell that sometimes children from such difficult backgrounds like Marie's make the best of spouses... I certainly hope this is the outcome for princess Marie as well...

Odette · #15 06-16-2008, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sneeuwklokje

And Marie's father is divorced twice it seems. Marie has married a divorced prince. My gosh, that family is tempting the Gods, aren't they

I sincerely hope that Marie and Joacquim have a long happy life together. Who knows? Perhaps they learnt a lot from everyone's past mistakes and will not repeat them. Hopefully she will adjust to the Danish climate and be happy.

auntie · #16 07-28-2008, 03:56 AM

Marie's father is wearing a sash, does anyone know what meaning it has?

Paty · #17 07-28-2008, 04:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by auntie

Marie's father is wearing a sash, does anyone know what meaning it has?

Princess Marie's father recieved the Grand Cross of the Order of Dannebrog, on the ocassion of the enaggement. The father of Mary also received the same order.

ashelen · #18 07-28-2008, 06:08 AM

is it true that Mari is from the high sociaty in france?

sneeuwklokje · #19 07-28-2008, 01:06 PM

They are certainly a lot more uppercrust than the Donaldson's, that's for sure. It's not like Marie's father has been a government minister or so, but they move in certain circles, otherwise Joachim could never have met Marie during a private party, where they were both invited.

Villemann · #20 07-28-2008, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sneeuwklokje

They are certainly a lot more uppercrust than the Donaldson's, that's for sure. It's not like Marie's father has been a government minister or so, but they move in certain circles, otherwise Joachim could never have met Marie during a private party, where they were both invited.

Marie met Prince Joachim at a hunting weekend in Denmark hosted by Caroline Fleming, nee Baroness Iuel-Brockdorff, a childhood friend of both CP Frederik and Prince Joachim.