Prince Michael of Kent

Early life

Michael was born at 7:35 pm on 4 July 1942 at Coppins, Iver, Buckinghamshire. He was the third child of Prince George, Duke of Kent, who was the fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary and a younger brother of kings Edward VIII and George VI. At birth, Michael was seventh in line to the British throne. His mother was Princess Marina, a daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia.

At Michael's baptism on 4 August in the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle, his godparents were his paternal uncle the King; Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (for whom her son-in-law Prince Bernhard stood proxy); King Haakon VII of Norway (his great-uncle); US President Franklin D. Roosevelt (for whom the Duke of Kent stood proxy); Frederica of Hanover, Hereditary Princess of Greece (his first cousin once removed, who was absent); Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (his paternal uncle, who was absent); the Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven (his paternal first cousin twice removed); and Lady Patricia Ramsay (his paternal first cousin twice removed). Because of the war, newspaper reports did not identify the location of the baptism and said instead that it took place at "a private chapel in the country".

Seven weeks after Michael's birth, his father was killed in a plane crash near Dunbeath, Caithness, Scotland, on 25 August 1942.

At the age of five, Michael was a page boy at the wedding of his cousins Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten.

Education and military service

Michael was educated at Sunningdale School and Eton College and is fluent in French as well as having a "working knowledge" of German and Italian. He is the first member of the royal family to learn Russian, of which he is a qualified interpreter.

Michael was commissioned into the 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own) in 1963. He later served in The Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own) after the amalgamation between the 11th Hussars and the 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own) in 1969. He saw service in Germany, Hong Kong, and Cyprus, where his squadron formed part of a United Nations peacekeeping force in 1971. Subsequent tours of duty, during a military career that spanned twenty years, included a number of appointments on the Defence Intelligence Staff. He retired from the Army with the rank of Major in 1981.

In 1994, Michael was made Honorary Commodore (later Honorary Rear Admiral and then Vice Admiral) of the Royal Naval Reserve, and in 2002, he was made Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Benson (promoted to Honorary Air Marshal in 2012). From 2009 to 2012, he was Regimental Colonel of the Honourable Artillery Company and on 31 January 2012 became its Royal Honorary Colonel. He is also Colonel-in-Chief of the Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment in Canada.

Activities and patronages

As the third child of George V's fourth son, it was not expected that Michael, as the only second son in the extended royal family, would undertake many engagements on behalf of the royal family. He has performed official duties in the Commonwealth realms other than the United Kingdom and has represented the Queen abroad.

He has, however, never received a parliamentary annuity or an allowance from the British Privy Purse, unlike both his elder brother, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, and his sister, Princess Alexandra, who both carry out official royal duties. He was given the use of a grace and favour apartment at Kensington Palace upon his marriage in 1978.

Michael represented the Queen at state funerals in India, Cyprus and Swaziland and, with his wife, Princess Michael of Kent, represented the Queen at the independence celebrations in Belize, and at the coronation of King Mswati III of Swaziland.

Michael supports a large number of charities and organisations. Some of his patronages and presidencies include: the Kennel Club, Children's Burns Trust, Maritime Volunteer Service, the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships, Life Saving Society, Royal Automobile Club, National Eye Research Centre, Motor Sports Association, Brooklands Museum Trust, the Light Aircraft Association, and the London School of Business and Finance.

The Prince Michael Road Safety Award was created in 1987 to give public recognition to those improving road safety throughout Great Britain and later the world in general. Michael also set up the Prince Michael of Kent Foundation in 2004 to support projects in Russia, including heritage and cultural restoration.

He announced his retirement from public life in June 2022 as he approached his 80th birthday.

Marriage and personal life

On 30 June 1978, Michael married Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz in a civil ceremony at the City Hall (Wiener Rathaus) in Vienna, Austria. As a Roman Catholic divorcée, previously married to banker Thomas Troubridge, with a Church annulment granted in May 1978, Marie-Christine required papal dispensation for a Catholic ceremony. Pope Paul VI had initially refused, but Pope John Paul II later granted permission. The couple received a Catholic blessing of their marriage and renewed their vows on 29 June 1983 at Archbishop's House, London. Marie-Christine has named Lord Mountbatten as their matchmaker.

Under the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701, Michael forfeited his place in the line of succession to the throne through his marriage to a Catholic. He was reinstated on 26 March 2015 with the coming into force of the Succession to the Crown Act 2013, and is 54th in line to the throne as of January 2025.

Michael and Marie-Christine have two children, both brought up as members of the Church of England and therefore in the line of succession to the throne since birth:

• Lord Frederick Windsor, born 6 April 1979 at St Mary's Hospital, London; married, 12 September 2009, Sophie Winkleman. Educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford. They have two daughters, Maud and Isabella.
• Lady Gabriella Kingston, born 23 April 1981 at St Mary's Hospital, London; married, 18 May 2019, Thomas Kingston. Educated at Downe House, Brown University in the US, and Linacre College, Oxford. Her husband shot himself on 25 February 2024 in the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, leaving her widowed at 42 years old.

In 2014, Michael was successfully treated for prostate cancer.

Personal interests

Commercial

Michael manages his own consultancy business, and undertakes business throughout the world. He is also a qualified interpreter of Russian.

Masonic

Michael is an active Freemason.

Russia

Michael speaks fluent Russian and has a strong interest in Russia, where he is a well-known figure (he is a former recipient of the Order of Friendship). Tsar Nicholas II was a first cousin of three of his grandparents: George V, Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark, and Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia. When the bodies of the Tsar and some of his family were recovered in 1991, the remains were later identified by DNA using, among others, a sample from Michael for recognition. He attended the 1998 burial of the Tsar and his family in St Petersburg. He is an honorary member of the Romanov Family Association. He is also the second cousin of Maria Vladimirovna, Grand Duchess of Russia, who is a claimant to the headship of the Imperial Family of Russia. They share the same great-grandfather, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich. Michael is the patron of organisations which have close ties with Russia, including the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce and the St Gregory's Foundation. In his capacity as patron of Children's Fire and Burns Trust, Michael has led fundraising rallies in 1999 and 2003 in Russia to raise money for the charity. He also led another rally in 2005 and raised money for the Royal Marsden Hospital and Britain's Charities Aid Foundation Russia.

Michael served as the Patron of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce (RBCC). He left the position in 2022.

On 4 March 2022, Michael returned the Order of Friendship due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Finland

Michael of Kent made a visit to Finland in 2017, during which he visited Helsinki, Espoo, Porvoo, Pori, and Tampere.

Sport

Michael was a part of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst rowing crew that won the Maiden Fours at Bedford in 1961. He competed for Great Britain in the 1971 FIBT World Bobsleigh Championships but crashed and failed to finish the event. He was official non-travelling reserve for the 1972 Winter Olympics. He took part in the 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally in an Austin Maxi, but he and his crew failed to finish the event.

Media scrutiny

In 2002, both Michael and his wife were the subject of criticism over the rent paid on their accommodation at Kensington Palace following scrutiny by the House of Commons Public Accounts committee on the cost of royal palaces and whether they were value for money. The committee had called on the Queen to evict its residents and put the apartments on a more commercial footing. When it was claimed that the couple paid a rent of only £69 per week for the use of their apartments at Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace announced that "The Queen is paying the rent for Prince and Princess Michael of Kent's apartment at a commercial rate of £120,000 annually, from her own private funds. This rent payment by The Queen is in recognition of the Royal engagements and work for various charities which Prince and Princess Michael of Kent have undertaken at their own expense, and without any public funding."

Michael has been scrutinized for financial assistance given to him by exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky through offshore companies, with a reported total of £320,000 in payments over the period 2002–2008. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Berezovsky stated, "There is nothing underhand or improper about the financial assistance I have given Prince Michael. It is a matter between friends."

In May 2021, reports were published stating that Michael was "selling access" to Vladimir Putin's political representatives. Footage from a Zoom call was released of Michael, alongside Simon Isaacs, 4th Marquess of Reading, interacting with undercover reporters posing as business executives seeking to make contacts with the Kremlin. In the video, he assured the men that his close ties with the country would be of benefit, and that he could introduce them to high-ranking figures within the Russian government in exchange for money. The call took place the day after the European Union imposed sanctions on the Kremlin. Michael was being offered £143,000 for a proposal and £36,000 a month by the faux businessmen, which he expressed satisfaction with. The Marquess claimed that Michael was the Queen's "unofficial ambassador to Russia" and had direct access to Putin. He later stated that he had "overpromised", while Michael said that he had not had contact with Putin since 2003. In a 2019 interview, Michael stated that he visited Russia twice a year as part of his work for the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce.

Marina Litvinenko denounced Michael's actions, saying that it demonstrated that he did not "care about human rights, democracy, about the people who are dying in Russia or what he did to your own citizens on UK soil". Conservative MP Bob Seely released a statement saying, in part: "We have sanctions against President Putin's regime for good reason. I'd love to know what Prince Michael thinks he is doing by making the UK's values and standards look optional."

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles

Official

As a child of a younger son of a British sovereign, he is styled as a British prince with the prefix His Royal Highness and a territorial designation deriving from his father's dukedom: "His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent".

Other titles

;Nigeria Calabar, Nigeria

• A person of honour and high standing in the Efik Eburutu Kingdom () (2017).

Honours

• [[File:UK Queen EII Coronation Medal ribbon.svg|45px]] 2 June 1953: Recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal
• [[File:UK Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal ribbon.svg|45px]] 6 February 1977: Recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal
• [[File:Order of St John (UK) ribbon -vector.svg|45px]] 18 January 2001: Knight of Justice of the Most Venerable Order of Saint John (KStJ)
• [[File:UK Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal ribbon.svg|45px]] 6 February 2002: Recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal
• [[File:Royal Victorian Order UK ribbon.png|45px]] 2 June 2003: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO)
  • 4 July 1992: Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO)
• [[File:QEII Diamond Jubilee Medal ribbon.svg|45px]] 6 February 2012: Recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
• [[File:CAN Canadian Forces Decoration ribbon.svg|45px]] 19 October 2015: Recipient of the Canadian Forces' Decoration (CD)
• [[File:UK Queen EII Platinum Jubilee Medal ribbon.svg|45px]] 6 February 2022: Recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal
• [[File:UK King Charles III Coronation Medal BAR.svg|45px]] 6 May 2023: Recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal

Foreign

• UN: Recipient of the United Nations Medal for UNFICYP (1971)
• Russia: Member of the Order of Friendship (4 November 2009 – 4 March 2022)
• Two Sicilies: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Francis I (19 August 2017)
• Peru: Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun (2 November 1994)

Wear of orders, decorations, and medals

The ribbons worn regularly by Michael in undress uniform are as follows:

Honorary military appointments

;Canada

• CAN Colonel-in-Chief, The Essex and Kent Scottish (14 November 2001 – present) ;United Kingdom
• UK Honorary Commodore, Royal Naval Reserve (1 April 1994 – 2004)
• UK Honorary Commodore, Maritime Volunteer Service
• UK Honorary Rear Admiral, Royal Naval Reserve (2004–2015)
• UK Honorary Vice Admiral, Royal Naval Reserve (9 March 2015 – present)
• UK Honorary Auxiliary Commodore, Royal Naval Auxiliary Service (1990)
• UK Commodore-in-Chief, Maritime Reserves (2006–present)
• UK Honorary Colonel, British Army (10 November 2010 – present)
• UK Senior Colonel, The King's Royal Hussars
• UK Regimental Colonel, Honourable Artillery Company (2009–2012)
• UK Royal Honorary Colonel, Honourable Artillery Company (31 January 2012 – present). (member since 1981)
• UK Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Benson (27 June 2002 – 2012)
• UK Honorary Air Marshal of RAF Benson (1 March 2012 – present)

Fellowships

• Grand Master of the Order of Mark Master Masons of England
• Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation
• Chartered Institute of Linguists
• Royal Aeronautical Society
• Society of Genealogists
• Institute of Road Safety Officers
• Institute of the Motor Industry

Memberships

• Liveryman of the Honourable Company of Air Pilots
• Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers
• Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Coachmakers and Coach Harness Makers
• Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers

Honorary academic degrees and awards

Degrees and appointments

• 1998: Plekhanov Academy of Economics, Honorary Doctorate
• 2003: Sinerghia Economics and Finance Institute, Honorary Professor
• 2012: St Petersburg University of Humanities and Social Sciences, Honorary Doctorate

Awards

• 2002: The International Man of the Year Award, Plekhanov Economics Academy
• 2003: The "Glory of Russia", Plekhanov Economics Academy

Arms

VICTORIA

Issue

Ancestry

Notes

References

References

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