Princess Anastasia of Greece and Denmark (born Nonnie May Stewart;[a] 20 January 1878 – 29 August 1923) was an American-born heiress and member of the Greek royal family.
[1] On 3 August 1900, May married for the second time in Cleveland: the groom was William Bateman Leeds, a wealthy businessman who was born on 10 September 1861, in Richmond, Indiana.
Leeds died in 1908 in Paris, France,[2] leaving a fortune estimated at 35 million dollars and a reputation as America's "Tin King", based on his financial success in plating and marketing that metal.
In a memoir, published shortly before his death, Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark (1888–1940) addressed the persistent rumors alleging that his first wife was much older than he and that he married her for profit: The truth, he wrote, was that he met Mrs. Leeds, who was ten years his senior, in Biarritz, France, in 1914 where they fell in love, eventually resolving to marry for no other reason.
The wedding was delayed due to reservations within the Royal Family about the prince's proposed marriage to an American commoner who had been married twice already.
After the First World War, when the dynasty went into exile and lived in much-reduced circumstances, family opposition to Prince Christopher's wealthy bride-to-be subsided.
[1] According to her will, her remains were returned to the United States and she was buried with her parents in the family mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York City.