The woman who will be a princess consort in one day belongs to a powerful and delicious family related to oil and maritime transport, and is divorced from the Greek singer Ninowith whom he is the mother of two children
The heiress Chrysi vardinogiannithe tycoon who has conquered Prince Nicolás de Greece, will be his wife when he has not spent a year of the divorce of the Prince of Tatiana Blanikwith whom Felipe VI’s carnal cousin spent 15 years.
There is some poetic in the second marriages of royalty: always more discreet, less rimbombant and with an air of romantic revenge that only those who have passed once through the altar and have discovered that the “forever“It is a concept, say, flexible. So here we are, nine months after Nicolás de Greece announced his unexpected separation of Tatiana Blatnik, with a new link on the horizon. And no, it is not any wedding, much less one any girlfriend.
The lucky one – or, as you look, the brave one – is Chrysi Vardinogianni, a woman who, although it does not carry blue blood in the veins, has something that in certain spheres weighs even more: a surname lined with oil and fleets of ships that They cross the seas as if they were extensions of their own fortune. Because if something has learned the monarchy over the centuries, it is not always measured in nobility, but in solvency.
A black gold lineage and deep waters
Chrysi Vardinogianni is not a newcomer to the world of power. His last name resonates in Greece as the echo of a saga that has turned oil and maritime transport into synonyms of huge wealth. His father, George Vardinogianhe is a tycoon with as many connections as ships, and his mother, agapi polyitis, has managed to move with the elegance of who understands that money, rather than spending, is invested in influence.
Raised in opulence, Chrysi grew up knowing that in life there are two types of people: those who see the yachts in the magazines and those who decide in which of them spend the summer. His first marriage was with the Greek singer Nino, a romance of those who sigh to the pink press until, inevitably, they crumble. From that union were born two children, already teenagers, who have grown between the music of his father and his mother’s businesses. After her divorce, the businesswoman had an romance with the actor and director Konstantinos Markoulakisbut the story did not prosper. And then a prince appeared.
Nicolás de Greece, the aristocrat without a throne but with agenda
Son of the Kings Constantine and Ana María de Grecia, Nicolás belongs to that generation of princes who have had to learn to live without a crown but with Pedigrí. With an exquisite education – international relations in the United States, specialization in diplomacy and national security -, the third son of the last Greek monarchs has managed to carve a profile that ranges between the advisor of large companies and the photographer with exhibitions in different countries. Because, although he does not reign on Greece, his lineage continues to open doors in the right halls.
In fact, his link with the Spanish monarchy is not less: he is cousin brother of the King Felipe VIand the relationship between the two has always been narrow. At its first wedding, held on the island of Spetsses in 2010, about 400 guests were present, including members of all European royal houses. That was a deployment of pomp and boato that made it clear that, although the Greeks voted for a long time for the Republic, royalty still has its own circle of influence in the country.
But modern fairy tales tend to include rupture chapters, and in 2023, after 13 years of marriage, Nicolás and Tatiana Blatnik announced their separation.
A brief but strategic courtship
That Chrysi Vardinogianni has been chosen to write the next chapter of Nicolás’ sentimental life is no accident. In the monarchies, even the dethroned, love is not usually a whim, but a delicate balance between convenience, prestige and affinity.
Chrysi’s assistance to the tribute for the second anniversary of the death of King Constantine in Tatoi, on January 16, was the official confirmation that the relationship was serious. It was not a simple summer romance, but a complete integration into the royal family. Then came the posterior lunch, the greeting to the relatives and, of course, the rumors of commitment that, in a matter of days, went from speculation to certainty.
Now, the wedding is underway, although with a radically different approach from the first one. Let us forget the speakers of SPEESES and the guests of blue blood in tropel. This time, Nicolás has opted for a discreet ceremony, surrounded only by the most intimate family and friends. Among the godparents could include his older brother, the prince Pablo; Your best friend, Nassosopouloshigh position of Morgan Stanley; and Vangelis kefalogiannisa well -known name in Greek business circles.
It is considered that the celebration takes place in some region in the south of the country, according to Nicolás’ love for the land that, despite not governing, has always considered its home. He was the first member of his family to settle in Greece after the return of his parents of exile, and his connection with the country goes beyond the symbolic.
A marriage of love or strategy?
The inevitable question is whether this union answers a romantic outburst or a perfectly calculated movement. In high society, and even more in circles close to royalty, second weddings are usually less about fairy tales and more about pragmatic realities.
Chrysi brings to the equation a lineage of billionaires, an agenda of contacts that is worth its weight in gold and a consolidated presence in the business framework of Greece. Nicolás, on the other hand, adds the aristocratic pedigree, the connection with the European monarchies and the elegance of who has managed to reinvent themselves in a world where noble titles no longer buy crowns, but prestige.
So, although the altar will talk about love and commitment, it is difficult not to see in this marriage a carefully woven alliance between tradition and convenience. Because if something has demonstrated, it is that, although the times change, certain rules of the game are still intact. And in the chess of royalty, each movement has its purpose.
