mother had kept them away from their father during the war. That they never were able to see him again, as Grand Duke George Mikhailovich had been killed during the Russian Revolution, only increased their resentment and they disapproved of their mother's relationship with Ioannidis. In part to distance themselves from their mother, both daughters married early. In 1921, 17-year-old, Princess Xenia married William Bateman Leeds, Jr., son of Nancy Leeds. Princess Nina was married in London in September 1922 to Prince Paul Chavchavadze (1899–1971), son of Prince Alexander Chavchavadze and Maria Rodzianko. The same month King Constantine had to abdicate after Greece lost the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922. Princess Maria's eldest nephew succeeded him as King George II of Greece on 27 September 1922. Three months later, despite her daughters' opposition, Princess Maria married Admiral Pericles Ioannides on 16 December 1922 in Wiesbaden, Germany.Marie Georgievna, Grand Duchess of Russia, A Romanov Diary p. 253 A wandering life After a honeymoon in Frankfurt and Munich Princess Maria of Greece and her second husband returned to Athens. They left Greece at the time of the proclamation of the Second Hellenic Republic in 1924. The couple moved to London to the house the Princess had in Regent's Park where they lived for a couple of years. The Greek Princess devoted herself to drawing and she made a series of whimsical illustrations in color of exotic people and animals that she called "Katoufs" "making a face" in Greek. She published her drawing as a children's book in 1925 with rhymes written by Princess Maria Trubetskoy, née Rodzianko (1877–1958). The two women dedicated the book to their common grandson, Prince David Chavchavadze. Princess Maria was Queen Alexandra's favorite niece and she was her constant companion during the Queen's last years at Sandringham. After her two daughters had moved to the United States and her aunt Queen Alexandra had died, Princess Maria and her husband moved to Rome in 1926.Chavchavadze, The Artistic Legacy of Two Grand Mothers, p. 57 Many members of the Greek royal family were also living in Italy. The Princess acquired a residence, the Villa Attica, located on via Antonio-Bertoloni. The couple followed a relatively simple existence, and Princess Maria divided her time between gardening and the writing of her memoirs, published years later by her grandchildren. Maria was an inveterate backgammon player while her husband carefully monitored their expenses. In 1933,