It’s no secret that there is a societal fascination with sisters.
From the socialite Schuyler sisters in the 1700s, to the reality TV star Kardashians today. There’s athletes Serena and Venus Williams, and models Gigi and Bella Hadid.
In the 1990s, New York City was enamored with a trio of sisters who dominated the city’s social scene, and eventually dazzled their way down the aisle with three of the world’s most eligible bachelors.
They were known as the Miller Sisters, and their pictures were plastered all over magazines – shots of them sitting front row at runway shows or photographs of them sipping champagne on luxury vacations.
The trio are the daughters of Robert Warren Miller, an American–born British businessman who co–founded DFS Group, known colloquially as Duty Free. He married Ecuadorian–born María Clara ‘Chantal’ Pesantes Becerra, and together, they had the three stunningly beautiful girls.
According to Kristen Richardson – high–society expert and author of The Season: A Social History of the Debutante, the 1990s were a very interesting time to observe high society.
‘It [the 1990s] had a feeling of transition, because you had the traditional upper class, recognizable on both sides of the Atlantic, which was disintegrating, and you had the rise of new types of money – entertainment money, the beginning of tech money… and the scale of money became much bigger,’ Richardson explained.
‘What happened to the old money in the 90s was, not only did their fortunes become less significant, but the cultural value shifted and made them less relevant,’ she continued.
Marie Chantal Miller strikes an extravagant pose above her sister Pia (in yellow) at a pool in the Hotel Belair, Cap Ferrat, July 1991
Alexandra and Pia Miller attend the unveiling party for Cartier Untamed on November 20, 1997 at the Cartier Flagship Store in New York City
The three sisters are seen together at Diane Von Furstenberg’s Spring 1998 fashion show
Speaking about the Miller sisters, Richardson noted that they were not old money, as their father was a duty–free billionaire. They were new money, and they had no problem flaunting their wealth – although they did so with taste and elegance.
Richardson chalked the public fascination with them being mostly due to the fact that they were sisters with a massive amount of money, as well as their good manners and taste, which was more rare during that time.
‘They were ambitious,’ she said. And their ambitions certainly paid off.
Pia Christina Miller, now 58, is the eldest of the sisters. She was born in New York City, spent her childhood in Hong Kong and later attended Institut Le Rosey – a private boarding school in Switzerland.
She briefly attended Barnard College in New York and later studied art history at Georgetown University.
The eldest sister married Getty Oil heir, Christopher Getty, in 1992 in a lavish 300–guest Bali wedding.
They said their vows on a mountaintop, while Indonesian children dropped rose petals on them.
Pia’s wedding, shockingly, was much more intimate and low–key than the weddings of her younger sisters.
Pia and Alexandra Miller attend Estee Lauder Launch Party for Dazzling Gold and Dazzling Silver on April 16, 1998 at the Cloud Club in NYC
Marie Chantal Miller (center) is seen lounging with friends at the pool of the Hotel Bel-Air, Cap Ferrat, 1991
The middle sister Marie–Chantal, now 56, was born in London, and attended school in Hong Kong, Switzerland, Paris and New York.
She began a degree in History of Art at NYU – having interned with Andy Warhol while still in high school – but her higher education efforts were cut short, naturally, when she was proposed to by the prince of Greece.
Marie–Chantal met Pavlos of Greece (an exiled crown prince and of son of Greece’s last king, King Constantine II) when one of her friends – New York investment banker Alecko Papamarkou – set them up on a blind date.
‘We clicked,’ the Princess told Vanity Fair in 2008. ‘It was love at first sight. I knew that he was the person I would marry.’
Pavlos – who is also of Danish royal blood through his mother, Queen Anne–Marie – proposed to Marie–Chantal on a skiing holiday in Gstaad, Switzerland, at Christmas.
The pair’s London wedding was the event of the social season, the New York Times reported that the occasion sent a global message, ‘the display of class, social clout and uptown style are back in fashion’.
Valentino scored the ultimate job of designing not only the bridal gown, but 61 other outfits – including dresses for Queen Sofia of Spain, the Infanta Cristina, Princess Rosario and Empress Farah Diba.
‘I have never been to such a beautifully arranged wedding – the flowers, the tables, the tent,’ Valentino said of the extravagant 1,200–person event.
Marie–Chantal began a degree in History of Art at NYU – having interned with Andy Warhol while still in high school (Pictured: Marie–Chantal and Andy Warhol)
Marie Chantal Miller and her father Robert Miller at her wedding to Crown Prince Pavlos Of Greece
Crown Prince Pavlos Of Greece and Marie Chantal Miller are seen on their wedding day
Nuptials took place at a mansion in the English countryside – where giant marquees recreated the Parthenon and 100,000 flowers were flown in from Ecuador.
The youngest Miller sister also married into royal blood. Alexandra, now 52, was born in Hong Kong, and eventually attended Parsons School of Design and Brown University, where she studied costume design and art history.
Despite being the youngest, Alexandra made her romantic catch before her older sisters.
In 1987, 14–year–old Alexandra was walking home to The Carlyle Hotel on the Upper East Side when she encountered the dashing 17–year–old Prince Alexander von Fürstenberg in the elevator.
Alexander is the son of the Austro–Italian aristocrat and Fiat heir, Prince Egon von Fürstenberg and fashion designer, Diane von Fürstenberg. They didn’t officially start dating until Alexandra was 18.
The pair got married in a glorious ceremony at St. Ignatius Loyola Church on New York’s Park Avenue in front of 650 guests.
Alexandra stunned in an off–the–shoulder white satin with a bouffant skirt and a long white tulle veil falling – the work of Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel.
However, of the three marriages, only one survived.
Alexandra Miller with fiance Prince Alexander von Fürstenberg
Designer Diane Von Furstenberg (center), with daughter-in-law Alexandra (left) and daughter Tatiana (right) at the VH1 Fashion and Music Awards
Alexandra Miller stunned in an off–the–shoulder white satin with a bouffant skirt and a long white tulle veil falling – the work of Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel. She is pictured above with her father
Paul of Greece and Marie-Chantal of Greece with their children, Olympia, Constantine Alexios, Achileas, Odysseas and Aristides at the Pre-wedding of Theodora of Greece and Matthew Kumar on September 27, 2024, in Athens
Marie–Chantal and Pavlos are still married with five children – four boys and one girl.
Alexandra and Alexander Von Fürstenberg had two children together – a girl and a boy.
Pia and Christopher Getty had four children – one girl and three boys – together, but their marriage also ended 13 years after saying ‘I do’.
While, in comparison to today’s socialite–types, the Miller sisters appear to reflect the notion of quiet luxury, Richardson holds that in their heyday they were not understated.
‘They were in every magazine, all day, every day, for years… at every party,’ she explained.
She continued, ‘I think we see them now and compare them to like the Kardashians and they seem understated, but my definition of understated is invisible… and they were not invisible.’
Luckily, we don’t have to imagine what the Miller sisters’ social media accounts might look like had they been young in today’s generation, because each sister had a daughter of their own – and they’re now best friends.
If you look at Isabel Getty, 31, Princess Marie–Olympia of Greece, 29, or Talita Von Fürstenberg, 26, on Instagram then you will see a highlight reel of Mediterranean getaways, British music festivals, grandiose family Christmas celebrations and endless events. Talita is an annual attendee of the Met Gala and Isabel a regular at Royal Ascot.
Prince William with his godchild, Konstantine Alexios Of Greece held by King Constantine Of Greece At The Greek Cathedral Of Saint Sophia In London
Crown Princess Marie Chantal of Greece and Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece attend the gala diner to celebrate the 18th birthday of H.K.H. Prince Christian’s at Christiansborg Palace on October 15, 2023 in Copenhagen, Denmark
Christopher Getty, Isabel Getty and Pia Getty on day 2 of Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse on June 19, 2019
Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece (L) and Talita von Furstenberg are seen at an event in NYC in 2019
Talita von Furstenberg and Rocco Brignone attend the 2021 Met Gala
(L to R) Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece and Denmark, Marie-Chantal, Crown Princess of Greece, Diane von Furstenberg and Talita von Furstenberg attend the Claridge’s Zodiac Party in November 2018
But despite the Miller sisters’ former wild ways, they appear to be stricter with their own heiresses.
‘Olympia says I was the strictest with her – the poor thing,’ Marie–Chantal told Avenue in 2021. ‘When she would go on sleepovers, I would say, “Prove it to me that you’re at your friend’s house” and she’d have to take a picture.
‘When I was her age, I was in New York with Andy Warhol. She reminds me all the time. She’d say, “It’s ironic that you’re so strict with me when you were out and about, completely able to do whatever you wanted.”‘
‘I guess that’s the way it is — you learn from your experiences. I had a lot more independence young, and therefore I am stricter and more worried because the world is a different place,’ she said.
While these women’s Wikipedia pages may describe them as ‘socialites’, Richardson isn’t sure such a thing exists anymore.
‘I don’t even know if there are female socialites now,’ she said. ‘ I think the expectation, historically, was that a female socialite would be very charitable… would essentially draw attention to causes.
‘The party needed to have some degree of virtue at some level to justify its existence,’ she continued.
Now, with social media, socialite–types don’t need to be out supporting causes to make themselves look good, because they can do damage control and sculpt their image from the comfort of their private luxury yacht.