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Christina Oxenberg

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Christina Oxenberg
Christina Oxenberg
Born (1962-12-27) December 27, 1962 (age 61)
New York City, U.S.
Occupations
  • Writer
  • fashion designer
Years active1986–present
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1986; div. 1996)​
MotherPrincess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia
RelativesCatherine Oxenberg (sister)

Christina Oxenberg (born December 27, 1962) is an American writer, humorist, and fashion designer.[1][2][3] She has written seven books,[4] and her writing has been featured in magazines and publications like Allure, The Sunday Times, Huffington Post, and others.[5] Her two knitwear clothing lines, Christina Oxenberg and Ox, have appeared in Barneys, Bloomingdale's, and luxury boutiques throughout the world.[2][5][6] Oxenberg is the daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia and is a descendant of the Serbian House of Karađorđević.[1][7]

Early life

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Christina Oxenberg was born in New York City. She is a daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia (born 1936) and her first husband Howard Oxenberg (1919–2010),[8] a Jewish[9] dress manufacturer and close friend of the Kennedy family. Princess Elizabeth is the only daughter of Prince Paul of Yugoslavia (who served as regent for his cousin's eldest son King Peter II of Yugoslavia) and Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark. She has a full sister, Catherine Oxenberg, and a half-brother on her mother’s side, Neil Balfour (born 1970).[10] On her father’s side she has a half-brother, Robert Oxenberg, and two half-sisters Starr Oxenberg and Ashley Harcourt.[11]

She attended 14 different schools in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Spain,[1][2][12] including the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle in Kensington, and graduated from the Colorado Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale, Colorado, in 1981.[1]

Ancestry

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Oxenberg's mother, Princess Elizabeth, is a descendant of William the Conqueror, through Frederick of Mecklenburg-Schwerin,[13] a maternal first cousin of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, and also a maternal second cousin of Queen Sofía of Spain, making Christina a second cousin once removed of King Charles III. Through her maternal grandfather Prince Paul of Yugoslavia, of the House of Karađorđević, Christina Oxenberg is also a great-great-great-granddaughter of Karageorge, who started the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire in 1804.

Oxenberg's maternal grandmother, Princess Olga, was the daughter of Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia and Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark,[13] himself the son of another Romanov grand duchess, Queen Olga Konstantinovna of the Hellenes and her Danish-born husband King George of Greece, brother of Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom and the Empress Maria Fyodorovna. Princess Olga was the sister of Princess Marina, who married Prince George, Duke of Kent (an uncle of Queen Elizabeth II); and Olga/Marina were also paternal first cousins of the Duke of Edinburgh (husband of Queen Elizabeth II) through their respective fathers Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, who were brothers.[14]

Career

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After high school, Oxenberg worked various jobs in New York ranging from a secretary to a roller-rink attendant. She would then go on a backpacking trip around the world before returning to New York City. Upon her return, Oxenberg secured a job at Studio 54.[15] Between 1984 and 1985, she worked as a research assistant for historian, Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, on his book Blenheim Revisited.[16] In 1986, she published her first book, Taxi, a collection of celebrity anecdotes and personal observations revolving around experiences in taxicabs. In Taxi, Andy Warhol, Bob Costas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and numerous others are featured.[15]

Christina Oxenberg married painter Damian Elwes near Amman, Jordan, in May 1986. They later divorced.[1][17]

In 1994, Simon & Schuster commissioned Oxenberg to write a semi-autobiographical novel that would eventually be published as Royal Blue. The novel was released in 1997 in the United States and was published by Quartet in the United Kingdom in 1998. The book is fictional but contains true elements.[1][7][18][19] The book received generally favorable reviews from publications like The Independent[19] The Guardian,[20] and The Times.[21] As a result of the book, Oxenberg appeared on the cover of New York Magazine[7] and was profiled in People.[1] It was called "darkly funny" by the Chicago Tribune.[22]

In 2000, Oxenberg went on hiatus from writing and took a job at Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Waterkeeper Alliance.[23] Through that job she met Fernando Alvarez, a Peruvian businessman living in Banff, Alberta, Canada. The two discussed the possibility of a clothing line using Oxenberg's name. They designed, produced and wholesaled a collection of knitwear. The pair used fibers such as the guanaco from Patagonia, the suri-alpaca from the high Andes and the muskox from the indigenous population in the North West Territories of Canada. From 2002 to 2010, Oxenberg produced two clothing lines (Christina Oxenberg and Ox).[2][6]

Dynasty cover

Christina Oxenberg would go on to self-publish several collections of short stories between 2010 and 2014, including Do These Gloves Make My Ass Look Fat?, Life is Short: Read Short Stories, and When in Doubt...Double the Dosage.[4][24][25] Additionally, her writing has appeared in publications like Allure, Penthouse, The Sunday Times, Takimag (where she published a weekly column),[5] HuffPost (where she currently publishes weekly columns), and others.[26]

In 2011, she moved from the Northeastern United States to Key West, Florida. Many of the stories in her short story collections like Will Write for Compliments and Life is Short: Read Short Stories are about or set in Key West. Since 2012 Oxenberg has contributed articles to Key West weekly magazine Konk Life.[27][28][29] In 2014, Oxenberg helped organize a visit by John Hemingway (Ernest Hemingway's grandson) to David Wolkowsky's Tennessee Williams Collection.[30]

In 2015, Christina Oxenberg moved to Serbia for a year to write and research her book, Royal Dynasty – An Insider's History of the Serbian Royal Family, which was published in Serbian in 2015 by the publisher, Laguna. For her work, Oxenberg received an award from the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2016.[31][32] In February 2018, Dynasty: A True Story was published in English in the UK by the publisher, Quartet Books. Subsequently, Oxenberg was interviewed by the Sunday Times,[33] Radio Gorgeous[34] and Tatler,[35] and she presented the book at the Oxford Literary Festival on 22 March 2018.[36]

In 2022, she caused a stir with an interview with the New York Post where she discussed the British royals and their long history of hazing newcomers.[37]

Bibliography

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Novels

  • Royal Blue (SIMON & SCHUSTER 1997)

Short story collections

  • Taxi (QUARTET UK 1986) (non-fiction)
  • Do These Gloves Make My Ass Look Fat? (2010)
  • Will Write for Compliments (2012)
  • Life is Short: Read Short Stories (2013)
  • When in Doubt...Double the Dosage: Sharp, Short, Snappy Stories (2014)
  • Genius (2015)
  • Princess Margaret's Coat (2016)

Autobiographies

  • Royal Dynasty – An Insider's History of the Serbian Royal Family (LAGUNA SERBIA 2015)
  • DYNASTY – A True Story (QUARTET UK 2017)

Ancestry

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Christina Oxenberg is a direct descendant of Karađorđe, a peasant from Šumadija region in today's Serbia, leader of First Serbian Uprising against the Ottomans, and founder of the Karađorđević Dynasty;[31] of King George I of Greece; of Tsar Alexander II of Russia;[38] of King George II of Great Britain and of Empress Catherine II of Russia.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g O'Neill, Anne-Marie (September 8, 1997). "Daughter Dearest". People. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d Gupte, Pranay (November 14, 2005). "A Princess Fashions Her Own Global Brand". The New York Sun. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  3. ^ Barker, Olivia (August 13, 2013). "Gwyneth Paltrow skewered by fellow authors". USA Today. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Christina Oxenberg". Amazon.com. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  5. ^ a b c Plasse, Sabina Dana (November 17, 2010). "Polite society has its critics". Idaho Mountain Express. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  6. ^ a b Ellis, Kori (May 14, 2008). "Christina Oxenberg Shawl". The Gloss. Archived from the original on October 6, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  7. ^ a b c Mason, Christopher (July 21, 1997). "Royal Flush". New York. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  8. ^ Pas, Leo van de (October 8, 2005). "Christina Oxenberg, genealogics.org".
  9. ^ "New York Magazine". July 21, 1997.
  10. ^ Pas, Leo van de (January 13, 2013). "Elisabeth, Princess of Yugoslavia". Archived from the original on January 13, 2013.
  11. ^ "Howard Oxenberg". The New York Times. July 4, 2010.
  12. ^ Thomas, Jr., Robert McG. (April 19, 1972). "She's Actually in Favor of Traveling With Children". The New York Times. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  13. ^ a b "Germany" at http://www.william1.co.uk, accessed 29 July 2023
  14. ^ David Lewis, William Addams Reitwiesner, Persons eligible to succeed to the British Throne as of 1 Jan 2011 at wargs.com, accessed January 17, 2019
  15. ^ a b Brown, Chip (October 5, 1986). "Oh, Taxi!". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  16. ^ Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh (1985). Blenheim revisited: The Spencer-Churchills and their palace. Beaufort Books. ISBN 978-0825302978. christina oxenberg.
  17. ^ "June Ferguson's Royal Genealogy Page". RootsWeb.com. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  18. ^ "Royal Blue by Christina Oxenberg". Kirkus Reviews. June 1, 1997. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  19. ^ a b Thackray, Rachelle (December 13, 1997). "Book: Loitering with good intentions". The Independent. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  20. ^ "Book Review "Royal Blue"". The Guardian. February 5, 1998.
  21. ^ Koning, Christina (November 29, 1997). ""Right First Time" Review of "Royal Blue"". The Times.
  22. ^ Slater, Joyce R. (May 25, 1997). "A Princess' Daughter, A Matron and a Parent on the Run". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  23. ^ Kissel, William (October 1, 2004). "Wardrobe: Spinning Yarn". Robb Report. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
  24. ^ Kellogg, Carolyn (August 13, 2013). "Gwyneth Paltrow annoys fellow author at book signing event". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  25. ^ "Christina Oxenberg: the woman who pretended to be Gwyneth Paltrow". The Guardian. August 15, 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  26. ^ "Entries by Christina Oxenberg". HuffPost. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  27. ^ Jenna Stauffer (host), Christina Oxenberg (guest) (February 8, 2012). Good Morning Florida Keys with Jenna Stauffer. WEYW-LP. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  28. ^ Michael Shields (host), Christina Oxenberg (guest) (May 24, 2013). Christina Oxenberg Kristina Karadjordjević. KONK (AM). Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  29. ^ Michael Shields (host), Christina Oxenberg (guest) (May 24, 2013). Christina Oxenberg on Konk Broadcasting Feb 7, 2012 Kristina Karadjordjević. KONK (AM). Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  30. ^ "John Hemingway Visits David Wolkowski's Tennessee Williams Collection at Custom's House" (PDF). Conch Color. April 24, 2014. pp. 24–25. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 6, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
  31. ^ a b "Crown Prince, Crown Princess and Prince Alexander attend "Royal Dynasty – Karadjordjevic Family Return Home" book launch". Royal Family of Serbia. December 10, 2015. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  32. ^ "Nagrada "Vidovdansko pero" Kristini Oksenberg Karađorđević" (in Serbian). Laguna. June 29, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  33. ^ Mikhailova, Anna (February 11, 2018). "Christina Oxenberg: Take me shopping and I will go ape". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  34. ^ FM, Player (February 15, 2018), Dynasty by Christina Oxenberg with Josephine Pembroke on Radio Gorgeous, retrieved April 5, 2018
  35. ^ Jenkins, David. "My dynasty life: Christina Oxenberg". Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  36. ^ "Christina Oxenberg | Oxford Literary Festival". oxfordliteraryfestival.org. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  37. ^ King's cousin says royals are always 'tough on foreigners' as she urges Meghan MarkIe to 'hang in there', Scottish Daily Express, 23 Sept 2022
  38. ^ Ulmann, E.F. (July 2010). "Between the Covers". Avenue. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
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