1. Prince Michael of Kent is a member of the British royal family who is 53rd in line to the British throne as of 2025.
43 Facts About Prince Michael of Kent
1. 2.
The younger son of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, he is a grandson of George V, nephew of Edward VIII and George VI, and first cousin of Elizabeth II.
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Prince Michael occasionally represented Elizabeth II at some functions in Commonwealth realms outside the United Kingdom during her reign.
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Prince Michael of Kent has presented some television documentaries on the royal families of Europe.
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Prince Michael was born on 4 July 1942, at Coppins, Iver, Buckinghamshire.
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Prince Michael of Kent 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.
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At birth, Michael was seventh in line to the British throne.
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Prince Michael of Kent's mother was Princess Marina, a daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia.
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At the age of five, Prince Michael was a page boy at the wedding of his cousins Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten.
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Prince Michael of Kent was educated at Sunningdale School and Eton College and is fluent in French as well as having a "working knowledge" of German and Italian.
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Prince Michael of Kent is the first member of the royal family to learn Russian, of which he is a qualified interpreter.
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Prince Michael of Kent later served in The Royal Hussars after the amalgamation between the 11th Hussars and the 10th Royal Hussars in 1969.
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Prince Michael of Kent saw service in Germany, Hong Kong, and Cyprus, where his squadron formed part of a United Nations peacekeeping force in 1971.
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Prince Michael of Kent retired from the Army with the rank of Major in 1981.
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In 1994, Prince Michael of Kent was made Honorary Commodore of the Royal Naval Reserve, and in 2002, he was made Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Benson.
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Prince Michael of Kent is Colonel-in-Chief of the Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment in Canada.
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Prince Michael of Kent has performed official duties in the Commonwealth realms other than the United Kingdom and has represented the Queen abroad.
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Prince Michael of Kent has 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.
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The Prince Michael of Kent was given the use of a grace and favour apartment at Kensington Palace upon his marriage in 1978.
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Prince Michael of Kent announced his retirement from public life in June 2022 as he approached his 80th birthday.
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On 30 June 1978, Prince Michael of Kent married, at a civil ceremony, at the City Hall in Vienna, Austria, the German noblewoman Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz.
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Prince Michael of Kent had been married to the banker Thomas Troubridge ; they separated in 1973, divorced in 1977, and had their marriage annulled by the Catholic Church a year later, two months before her marriage to Michael.
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Under the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701, Prince Michael of Kent forfeited his place in the line of succession to the throne through his marriage to a Catholic.
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Prince Michael manages his own consultancy business, and undertakes business throughout the world.
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Prince Michael of Kent is a qualified interpreter of Russian.
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Prince Michael of Kent is the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons, and Provincial Grand Master of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex.
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Prince Michael speaks fluent Russian and has a strong interest in Russia, where he is a well-known figure.
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Prince Michael of Kent attended the 1998 burial of the Tsar and his family in St Petersburg.
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Prince Michael of Kent is the second cousin of Maria Vladimirovna, Grand Duchess of Russia, who is a claimant to the headship of the Imperial Family of Russia.
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Prince Michael of Kent is the patron of organisations which have close ties with Russia, including the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce and the St Gregory's Foundation.
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Prince Michael of Kent led another rally in 2005 and raised money for the Royal Marsden Hospital and Britain's Charities Aid Foundation Russia.
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Prince Michael served as the Patron of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce.
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On 4 March 2022, Prince Michael of Kent returned the Order of Friendship in the aftermath of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
34.
Prince Michael of Kent made a visit to Finland in 2017, during which he visited Helsinki, Espoo, Porvoo, Pori, and Tampere.
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In 2022, HRH Prince Michael of Kent visited Finland again, this time focusing on Tampere, Lempaala, and Helsinki during the British Week.
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Prince Michael was a part of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst rowing crew that won the Maiden Fours at Bedford in 1961.
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Prince Michael competed for Great Britain in the 1971 FIBT World Bobsleigh Championships but crashed and failed to finish the event.
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Prince Michael of Kent was official non-travelling reserve for the 1972 Winter Olympics.
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Prince Michael of Kent 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.
40.
In May 2021, reports were published stating that Prince Michael of Kent was "selling access" to Vladimir Putin's political representatives.
41.
The Marquess claimed that Prince Michael of Kent was the Queen's "unofficial ambassador to Russia" and had direct access to Putin.
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Prince Michael of Kent later stated that he had "overpromised", while the prince said that he had not had contact with Putin since 2003.
43.
I'd love to know what Prince Michael thinks he is doing by making the UK's values and standards look optional.