Prince Michael of Kent ( born Prince Michael of Kent , full name Michael George Charles Franklin ; born July 4, 1942 ) is a member of the British royal family , the grandson of King George V and Queen Mary , a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II .
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| Prince Michael of Kent | |||||||||||
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 Coat of arms of Michael of Kent | |||||||||||
| Birth | July 4, 1942 (77 years) Coppins, Iver, Buckinghamshire , UK | ||||||||||
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| Father | Prince George, Duke of Kent | ||||||||||
| Mother | Princess Marina Greek and Danish | ||||||||||
| Spouse | Baroness Marie Cristina von Reibnitz | ||||||||||
| Children | Lord Frederick Windsor , Lady Gabriela Windsor | ||||||||||
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| Site | princemichael.org.uk | ||||||||||
| Type of army | and | ||||||||||
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Her Majesty the Queen
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The prince was named in honor of the Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich , the younger brother of Nicholas II and the cousin of both grandfathers and one of the prince’s grandmothers.
Prince Michael was born in the family of George, Duke of Kent and Princess Marina just 6 weeks before his father died in a plane crash. He has an older brother Edward (born 1935 ) and a sister, Alexander (born 1936 ).
He studied at the Sandhurst Military Academy from 1961 to 1963, served in Germany, Hong Kong and Cyprus, as well as in military intelligence. He retired from the army in 1981 with the rank of major.
He also bears the title of Honorary Rear Admiral of the Royal Naval Reserve, Honorary Marshal of Aviation (equivalent to Lieutenant General) of the Benson Air Force Royal Air Force Base, as well as the Colonel of the Honorary Artillery Company and honorary colonel of the Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment of the Armed Forces of Canada.
Prince Michael of Kent does not formally fulfill the royal duties of representing Great Britain on behalf of his cousin Queen Elizabeth II. However, he twice represented the queen in international travel. The prince heads his own consulting company and is engaged in business in different countries of the world.
As a member of the royal family has a personal emblem based on the national emblem of Great Britain .
Content
Family
In 1976, Prince Michael received permission from Queen Elizabeth II to marry a divorced Catholic Marie-Christine Traubridge , born Baroness von Reibnitz (born January 15, 1945).
According to the Act on royal marriages of 1772, which prohibited members of the royal family to enter into civil marriages in England , the ceremony was held on June 30, 1978 in Vienna . Due to a marriage with a Catholic, Prince Michael lost his dynastic status ( Act of the throne ) [1] . In accordance with the changes introduced by the Act of the throne of 2013, restored the right to inherit the throne. Currently ranked 48th in order of succession to the British throne.
Two children were born in marriage (both retained their dynastic status, as they were brought up in the Protestant faith):
- Lord Frederick Windsor (born April 6, 1979);
- Lady Gabriela Windsor (born April 23, 1981).
Charity
Prince Michael of Kent conducts extensive charity work, being the patron of numerous non-profit organizations in various fields of activity. Russia holds a special place in its charity work: in June 2004, the Prince Michael of Kent Foundation was founded [2] to finance community service projects in the following areas: culture, preservation of historical and cultural heritage, health care, and education. Prince Michael is an honorary doctor of the Russian Academy of Economics. Plekhanov, as well as the patron of the Russian National Orchestra [3] , the London School of Business and Finance and the British Educational Center in Russia. The British prince promised Kazakh scholars LSBF more scholarships.
Freemasonry
Prince Michael is active in British Freemasonry. He is the great master of the “ Grand Lodge of Masters of Freemasonry Labels, ” and the provincial grand master of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex [4] [5] .
Interesting Facts
- Prince Michael of Kent speaks Russian:
I try not to forget [ Russian ]. When I am among native speakers for a long time, I quickly feel progress and begin to speak much more freely.
- [6]
- The prince is an honorary doctorate from the St. Petersburg University of Humanities and Labor Unions. On May 17, 2012, he was presented with a robe, a diploma and an honorary doctor badge.
Personal emblem and awards
Awards
| A country | date | Reward | Letters | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Britain | Knight of the Right (chevaliers de justice) of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (United Kingdom) | Kstj | ||
| Great Britain | 1953 | Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal | ||
| UN | 1971 | Medal for participation in the UN peacekeeping mission in Cyprus | ||
| Great Britain | February 6, 1977 | Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal | ||
| Great Britain | February 6, 2002 | Medal of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II | ||
| Great Britain | June 2, 2003 | Knight of the Big Cross | Royal Victorian Order | GCVO |
| July 4, 1992 — June 2, 2003 | Knight commander | KCVO | ||
| Russia | October 27, 2009 [7] | Chevalier of the Order of Friendship | ||
| Great Britain | February 6, 2012 | Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal | ||
| Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ( Bourbon-Sicilian House dynastic award) | August 1, 2017 | Chevalier of the Grand Cross of the Order of Francis I | ||
| Michael of Kent | |
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| Details | |
| Carrier | Michael of Kent |
| Crest | British crowned leopard |
| Crown | Grand Crown of Grandchildren |
| Supporters | British Crowned Lion and Scottish Unicorn |
| Orders | Royal Victorian Order |
| The soil | Grassy lawn |
As a member of the royal family, it has a personal emblem based on the emblem of the monarch of the United Kingdom .
Blazon
Four-piece shield : in the first and fourth field is the coat of arms of England - three gold leopards with azure arms in a scarlet field, in the second field Scotland's coat of arms - in a golden field with a scarlet double inner border , sprouted with lilies, scarlet rising leopard with azure arms, in the third field the coat of arms of Ireland - a golden harp with silver strings in an azure field. On top of the shield is a silver titlo of five ends, three of which are alternately burdened with the cross of St. George, and two - with an azure sea anchor.
The shield surrounds the symbol of the Royal Victorian class of the Great Cross.
The supporters: on the right - the British, crowned by the open crown of the grandchildren of the sovereign, the lion with a silver title (as in a shield) on the neck; on the left - the Scottish unicorn with the crown of the grandchildren of the sovereign and a silver title (as in a shield) on the neck.
The shield is crowned by the crown of the grandchildren of the sovereign with a peer hat inside.
Crest: golden crowned by the open crown of the grandchildren of the sovereign, a leopard with a silver titling (as in a shield) on the neck, standing on the crown of the grandchildren of the sovereign.
Ancestors
Notes
- ↑ Bradford S. Elizabeth II. Biography of Her Majesty the Queen. - M .: Vagrius, Zakharov, 1998. - P. 415-416.
- ↑ The Prince Michael of Kent Foundation
- ↑ Prince of Kent will help Russian musicians , Kommersant.ru (January 30, 2004). The date of the appeal is February 22, 2015.
- ↑ Archived copy (inaccessible link) . The appeal date is March 11, 2014. Archived May 4, 2009.
- ↑ Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex | In the community ... for the community
- ↑ Independent newspaper
- ↑ Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of October 27, 2009 No. 1205 “On awarding the Order of Friendship to citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland” . // Kremlin.ru , October 27, 2009.