WHILE Prince Harry is happily married to Meghan Markle, things could have been very different for the royal.
Before he met the Suits actress, the Prince is said to have been “smitten” with a royally approved European princess – with glamorous fashion credentials, a penchant for the high life and a distinct lack of a stiff upper lip.
Socialite Princess Olympia was 19 when she was introduced to Prince Harry (pictured in 2017)
Prince Harry was linked to his distant cousin in 2016, before meeting Meghan
In January 2016 he was linked to Princess Marie-Olympia of Greece and Denmark – known simply as Olympia.
Australian magazine New Idea reported Princess Beatrice had introduced 31-year-old Harry to the then 19-year-old.
The pair were said to have hit it off – as Harry recovered from his break up from Cressida Bonas in 2014.
The pair were said to have become serious very quickly, with a source telling the magazine: “Harry has fallen head-over-heels with Maria-Olympia. He’s absolutely smitten.
“They’ve been on a string of dates and are planning to go skiing in Switzerland before Easter.”
Prince William and Princess Kate had reportedly given the nod of approval to the royal romance.
The family were familiar with Olympia, now 26, as King Charles is her godfather and her late grandfather King Constantine II’s second cousin.
Often pictured on lavish breaks in Greece on her dad’s yacht, the Notting Hill-based beauty was branded a “goddess” by Tatler in 2014.
Princess Olympia on one of many lavish luxury holidays
Princess Olympia splits her time between London and New York
Olympia shares snaps from aboard luxurious yachts
Glamorous Olympia has modelled for Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana, Micheal Kors and fashion bible Vanity Fair, and boasts 284,000 Instagram followers.
She counts Paris and Nicky Hilton, as well as models Alice Dellal and Poppy Delevingne, as mates.
And like Harry, she likes to party – once causing an uproar by posting a picture of her holding up her middle finger on a night out in Rome.
The Princess was born in Corfu but raised in London by her Sandhurst-trained investment banker father Crown Prince Pavlos and British-American mother Marie-Chantal.
Olympia counts Paris Hilton one of her close friends
‘Absolutely smitten’
Although the family use royal titles, the monarchy was abolished in Greece in 1974.
Unsurprisingly Olympia is not a working royal – instead forging a career for herself in fashion.
Her mum Marie-Chantal – now queen – is worth £2billion thanks to her self-named kids clothing label which she founded in 2000 and is a favourite of the Princess of Wales.
Marie Chantal worked for Andy Warhol before meeting Prince Pavlos in New York.
Olympia – the eldest of their five children and only daughter – has followed in her mum’s footsteps, with an internship at Dior when she was just 17.
She told Harpers Bazaar she fell in love with handbags aged just 10 when her grandmother Queen Anne-Marie lent her a Louis Vuitton number.
She said: “My grandmother still owns that bag, and it still looks fabulous. I’m a real bag lady now, I have an issue. How many do I own? I have absolutely no idea.”
Controversial birthday bash
The family were slated for Olympia’s no holds barred 21st birthday party
Guests at Olympia’s bash included Paris Hilton, Nicky Rothschild, Poppy Delevingne, designer Valentino Garavani, and heirs to royalty and tycoons
Snaps from the party were shared on Instagram and caused a stir
Olympia has since trained at the New York Parsons School of Design and in 2019 she graduated from New York University with a degree in fashion business and marketing.
But unlike other students, the princess was not forced to slum it in student digs.
She is believed to have rented an apartment in upmarket Soho for a staggering £6,500 a month.
For her 21st birthday in 2017, she held a lavish party in the Cotswolds – where ostentatious photos ended up on Instagram.
Mum Marie Chantel told the Times of her embarrassment after the family were slated, stating: “It was a private party. It was a dress-up party, a theme party, and young people are expressive — it’s a different generation.
“The Instagram posts somehow got the better of us. I should have had a ban, and people are learning from that.
“It’s sad that it had to be misrepresented that way because it’s not who we are as a family. But you can’t win everybody’s hearts, right?”
£200k designer wardrobe
Olympia with her mother and father at Princess Eugenie’s 2018 wedding
The royal is said to have a £200K designer wardrobe
Last year she was appointed ambassador for luxury shoe brand Aquazzura, co-designing some of last year’s range with founder Edgardo Osorio.
The royal is even said to have a designer wardrobe worth £201,761, according to the fashion watchdog UFO No More.
And fashion seems to run in the family – Diane von Furstenberg’s granddaughter Talita is Olympia’s cousin.
Shortly after news of Olympia’s alleged romance with Harry emerged, he was linked to Meghan Markle.
The palace denied there was ever a relationship with Olympia, with one source telling Hello!: “Its nonsense, it’s not true in the least.”
It appears there’s no bad blood between Olympia and the British royal family with the socialite attending Princess Eugenie‘s wedding in 2018.
But Marie Chantal caused a stir by sharing a cheeky jibe at Prince Harry’s memoir Spare.
She liked a picture of the display at Bert’s Books in Swindon, where the autobiography was placed next to another book called How To Kill Your Family.
Since 2020, Olympia has had a beau of her own in the British aristocracy.
She is dating property developer Peregrine – or Perry – Pearson, son of the 4th Viscount Cowdray and heir to the family’s £224million fortune.
Earlier this month, Olympia was seen at the funeral of her grandfather King Constantine II in Athens.
Olympia loves a luxury holiday
The princess has been dating English aristocrat Peregrine Pearson since 2020
Olympia admits she’s obsessed with designer bags
