HRH Princess Michael of Kent: A Modern Minor Royal

This Sunday I had the pleasure of hearing Princess Michael of Kent present a lecture titled "Royal Power: The Substance and the Show" at Fairfield University, Fairfield, Connecticut, US. It included an impressive slide show along with the delightful repartee of the Princess who impressed me as a very intelligent, well-read, well-traveled woman with a great sense of humor. The woman who introduced her said she was asked by HRH to keep the bio to a minimum and said she gave more information on her husband and children whom she is incredibly proud of then of herself. The only mention of her royal connections came when she was showing us a plan of Versailles and describing the bustling social schedules. She told of the eight changes of clothes a day and the travels from one end of the compound to your rooms to another end of the compound. She said something like this, "When HM the Queen is kind enough to have us at Windsor, it takes a full 7� minutes to get from our rooms to the drawing room where we meet before dinner. You can imagine what these ladies must have gone through with eight changes a day - with such lengthy walks through tunnels and with all the layers of clothing that had to be changed - to arrive promptly for all their appointments. It must have been terribly stressful especially during pregnancy." She did make another remark that I found quite witty, "Nobody likes a foreign Queen - or a foreign Princess for that matter". It made me think harder on the fact that for as long as I have been reading about Princess Michael of Kent it has been critical - harshly critical. Well I have to say that even after seeing her in person doesn't seem logical.

Princess Michael is the youngest child of (Baron Gunther Von Reibnitz) and his wife, Marianne, a Countess in her own right. Her maternal grandmother was a Princess and it was on her estate in Austria that Marie-Christine Von Reibnitz, the future Princess Michael, was born. She was born into the world of royalty. She is well rounded having lived in Australia and traveled through Africa before returning to Vienna to study history. It was while in London studying the history of fine arts that she met her future husband a first cousin to Queen Elizabeth II. At the time of their marriage in 1978, Prince Michael was eighth in line for the throne. He gave up his right to succeed in order to marry the catholic Baroness Marie-Christine. They have raised their two children, Lord Frederick (Freddie) and Lady Gabriella (Ella) in the Church of England. As a matter of fact, Lord Frederick Windsor born in 1979 is currently 28th in line for the throne and his younger sister; Lady Gabriella Windsor born in 1981 is currently 29th.

Prince Michael is the son of George, Duke of Kent, the fifth of King George V and Queen Mary's six children: Edward VIII abdicated 1936 (1894-1972), George VI (Albert) (1895-1952), Mary, The Princess Royal (1897-1965), Prince Henry Duke of Gloucester (1900-1974), Prince George Duke of Kent (1902-1942) and Prince John (1905-1919). Prince George married the beautiful Princess Marina of Greece. Therefore, Prince Michael is a cousin to both the Queen and Prince Philip. Sadly, Prince George died tragically in a plane crash during WWII. Prince Michael was an infant at the time. Though this has nothing to do with the story, I must add that Prince Michael's full name is Prince Michael George Charles Franklin - the Franklin being after his godfather, US President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. What brought Prince Michael and Baroness Marie-Christine together is probably their mutual love of history, country life, people and travel.

Prince and Princess Michael do not receive any money from the Civil List. On their home page www.princemichael.org.uk it is explained like this: "Although he has formally represented the Queen on several state occasions abroad, Prince Michael has never been granted an allowance from the Civil List: nor does he receive any form of stipend from the Privy Purse and therefore has the Queen's permission to earn his own living." This makes perfect sense as we remember George V when establishing the House of Windsor designed the system of titles and entitlements to be dissolved slowly from one generation to the next. Thus we have Prince and Princess Michael's children as a Lord and a Lady. They will have to work as Princess Margaret's children must work. There is no room on the Civil List for accommodation of such an extensive family. They do have a low rent residence at Kensington Palace, but many people who serve or have served the monarch in some way do as well. Remember Princess Diana lived in one as a child (Park House) until her father inherited his family estate (Althorp). Marion Crawford, Nanny to Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, was given a cottage (a grace and favour residence) at the time of her retirement.

Which brings me to the work that Princess Michael does. She writes historical books about long dead royals most of whom are not English. Two of her bestsellers, which have been translated, are "Crowned in a Far Country - Eight Royal Brides" (Weidenfeld) and "Cupid and the King - Five Royal Paramours" (Harper Collins). She lectures on these topics and on others such as royal gardens and other famous personalities of past centuries. She is giving a lecture on October 4th at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City on Lola Montez. She sits on the Board of Trustees for the Victoria and Albert Museum, she also has a lecture about this royal couple entitled, "Victoria and Albert: Their Lives, Their Dreams and Their Museum". Her career seems perfectly suited to her life as a member of the royal family of Windsor.

Which leads to my conclusion, in my opinion, which I hold more staunchly since having the opportunity to see Princess Michael at work, she is a working member of the royal family who carries herself with dignity. She is intelligent and well versed in the subjects she speaks on. She is an animated and humorous speaker - very entertaining. She has a solid marriage of over 20 years. She has two beautiful children who carry also themselves well and who are working hard in school. (Ella just started her Sophmore year at Brown University the alma mater of John F. Kennedy, Jr.) She and her husband support many charitable causes. Their careers do not seem to conflict with their royal duties. Lastly, if you ever have the opportunity to attend one of Princess Michael's lectures don't pass it up. It is certainly a worthwhile experience.

Well, this does put me in mind of all the hoopla surrounding some other 'minor' royals and their careers. Although, the problem I have with Prince Edward's career is different. I feel his programming is informative, interesting and tastefully done. I also think he is a good presenter. My problem with Edward is I don't see him as a minor royal. He is a son of the reigning monarch and seventh in line for the throne. His allowance is three times his salary from his real job. To me his and his wife's role is supporting the Queen. Their children, if any, would have the right to work. They need to be working full-time for the House of Windsor. What do you think? We've got lots of room in Speakers Corner for your comments. ;-)

All the best,