Irina Aleksandrovna Ovtchinnikova
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Her Royal Highness Princess Peter of Greece and Denmark |
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| Born |
4 October 1904 Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire |
| Died | 13 March 1990 (aged 85) Paris, France |
| Spouse(s) | Jehan, marquis de Monléon Lewis Sloden Prince Peter of Greece and Denmark |
| Parent(s) | Alexander Ovtchinnikov Lydia Jouriary |
Princess Peter of Greece and Denmark (née Irina Aleksandrovna Ovtchinnikova; Russian: Ирина Александровна Овчинникова; 4 October 1904 – 13 March 1990) was a white émigré who married the anthropologist Prince Peter of Greece and Denmark and assisted him in his research.
Ovtchinnikova was born in Saint Petersburg. On 26 November 1919, she married Jehan , marquis de Monléon (uncle of Rose de Monléon, Princess Stanisław Albrecht Radziwiłł), in Nice, France. She was only 15 years old. Their marriage ended in divorce on 17 July 1930. She took Lewis Sloden, an art dealer, as her second husband in London on 9 November 1932. She met the 27-year-old Prince Peter in the summer of 1935 and the two soon started a romantic relationship. He introduced her to his mother, Princess Marie, but the royal family strongly disapproved of Peter's relationship with "the Russian" (as they dubbed her) and were wary of her influence over the Prince. After King George II's restoration to the Greek throne in the autumn of 1935, Peter left for Athens. Ovtchinnikova threatened with suicide, leading King George to compare her with Anna Karenina.
Ovtchinnikova's influence over Peter steadily increased. She also proved willing to try to appease his family, especially Princess George. In December 1936, she obtained divorce from her second husband. The same month, King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom abdicated in order to marry his own twice divorced foreign lover, the American Wallis Simpson, and Peter disapproved of his conduct.
The pair embarked on a journey to Asia in September 1937, where Peter was going to engage in anthropological research. They arrived in what is now Pakistan in early 1938. Wishing to avoid the Himalayan winter, they moved to South India and spent time with the Toda people. They visited the Nilgiris district, Madras, Kalimpong and finally Ceylon. The pair contracted marriage in a Danish consulate in Madras in September 1939, without informing his family or the Greek government. By marrying Ovtchinnikova, he lost his succession rights, and his father, Prince George, disowned him.
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