Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark
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Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, née Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark (Greek: Πριγκίπισσα Μαρίνα της Ελλάδας και Δανίας); 13 December [O.S. 30 November] 1906[1] – 27 August 1968) was a member of the British Royal Family; the wife of Prince George, Duke of Kent, the fourth son of King George V of the United Kingdom and Mary of Teck.
Princess Marina was the last foreign-born princess to marry into the British royal family.
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Early life
Princess Marina was born in Athens, Greece on 13 December 1906. Her father was Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark, the third son of George I of Greece. Her mother was Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia, a granddaughter of Tsar Alexander II of Russia. One of her paternal uncles was Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, the father of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
She was baptised near the end of 1906, and her godparents were: The King of Greece, The King of the United Kingdom, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich of Russia, The Princess of Wales and Grand Duchess Viktoria Feodorovna of Russia.
The family was generally poor and forced into exile when she was 11, following the overthrow of the Greek monarchy. They later moved to Paris, while the Princess stayed throughout Europe with her extended family.
Marriage
On 29 November 1934 she married Prince George, Duke of Kent at Westminster Abbey, London. Together the couple had three children:
- Prince Edward of Kent, born 9 October 1935; Duke of Kent from 25 August 1942
- Princess Alexandra of Kent, born 25 December 1936
- Prince Michael of Kent, born 4 July 1942
The Duke of Kent was killed on 25 August 1942, in an aeroplane crash at Eagles Rock, near Dunbeath, Caithness, Scotland, while on active service with the Royal Air Force. The Duchess, according to royal biographer Hugo Vickers, was "the only war widow in Britain whose estate was forced to pay death duties".[2]
Later life
After her husband's death, the Duchess of Kent continued to be an active member of the British Royal Family, carrying out a wide-range of royal and official engagements. She was the longtime president of the Wimbledon All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. She was both first cousin and aunt (from 1947) to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, via his marriage to Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth II.
In March 1957 when Ghana - then a British Colony - gained independence from Britain, the Duchess of Kent was appointed to represent the Queen at the celebrations. Fifty years later, at the 50th Anniversary of Ghana's Independence, it would be her son, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent who would be appointed by the Queen to represent her.
Just before the current Duke of Kent's wedding in June 1961 to Katharine Worsley, she announced that she wished to be known as HRH Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent instead of HRH The Dowager Duchess of Kent, a change in traditional style that was granted by her niece, Queen Elizabeth II. Upon her marriage in 1934, Princess Marina had become HRH The Duchess of Kent, Countess of St. Andrews, and Baroness Downpatrick. However, she remained a Princess of Greece and Denmark. Following her elder son's wedding, she simply reverted to her own princely title.
In September 1966, when the British Protectorate of Bechuanaland became the new Republic of Botswana, the Duchess of Kent was appointed again to represent The Queen at the celebrations. The main public hospital in Gaborone, the new Botswana's capital, is named "Princess Marina Hospital".
She served as the first Chancellor of the University of Kent at Canterbury from 1963 until her death from a brain tumour at Kensington Palace on 27 August 1968, aged 61.
Titles, styles, and honours
Titles and styles
- 13 December 1906 – 29 November 1934: Her Royal Highness Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark
- 29 November 1934 – 8 June 1961: Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Kent
- 8 June 1961 – 27 August 1968: Her Royal Highness Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent
Honours
British Honours
- CI: Companion of the Order of the Crown of India
- GCVO: Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
- GBE: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire
- GCStJ: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem
- Royal Family Order of King George V
- Royal Family Order of King George VI
- Royal Family Order of Queen Elizabeth II
Foreign Honours
The Order of St. Olga and St. Sophia, 1st Class- Grand Cross of the Order of Beneficence
Grand Cross of the Order of the Aztec Eagle
Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun of Peru
Grand Cross of the Order of Merit
Grand Cross of the National Order of the Southern Cross
Grand Cross of the Order of the Liberator San Martin
Honorary military appointments
- Colonel-in-Chief, of The Kent Regiment
- Colonel-in-Chief, of The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment
- Colonel-in-Chief, of The Dorset Regiment
- Colonel-in-Chief, of The Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment
- Colonel-in-Chief, of The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment
- Colonel-in-Chief, of the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
- Colonel-in-Chief, of The Queen's Regiment (Allied)
- Honorary Colonel, of the Buckinghamshire Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
- Honorary Colonel, of the 4th Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
- Honorary Colonel, of the 431 LAA Regiment RA
- Honorary Colonel, of the 299th (Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry, Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars, and Berkshire) Field Regiment, RA
- Honorary Colonel, of the Buckinghamshire Regiment, RA (Territorials)
- Colonel, of the Queen's Own Buffs
Honorary Commandant, of the Women's Royal Australian Naval Service
Ancestry
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Trivia
Princess Marina was the subject of a song ("She's Bought a Hat Like Princess Marina") written by Ray Davies and recorded by his group, the Kinks, on their 1969 album Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire).
References
- BBC – "1968: Princess Marina laid to rest". Dated 30 August 2007.
- ^ Genealogy of the Royal Family of Great Britain
- ^ Hugo Vickers, Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, Hutchinson, 2005, page 230
See also
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Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark
Cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg
Born: 13 December 1906 Died: 27 August 1968 |
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Chancellor of the University of Kent 1963–1968 |
Succeeded by Jo Grimond |
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