Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark
Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (née Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark; 13 December 1906 - 27 August 1968) was a member of the British Royal Family; the wife of Prince George, Duke of Kent, the fourth son of George V and Queen Mary.
Princess Marina was the last foreign-born princess to marry into the British royal family; subsequent brides have been commoners.
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.
She was baptised near the end of 1906, and her godparents were: George I of Greece, Edward VII, Prince Andrew of Greece, Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich of Russia, The Princess of Wales and Grand Duchess Viktoria Feodorovna of Russia.
The family were generally poor, and were forced into exile when she was 11 following the overthrow of the monarchy in Greece. The family later moved to Paris, and 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 tragically 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.
Later life
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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.
In March 1957 when Ghana, a British Colony gained independence from Britain, the Duchess of Kent was appointed by The Queen to represent her (The Queen) at the celebrations. Ironically 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 became HRH The Duchess of Kent, Countess of St. Andrews, and Baroness Downpatrick. However, she remained a princess of Greece and Denmark in her own right. Following her elder son's wedding, she simply reverted to her own substantive princely title.
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, honours and arms
Titles
- 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 George V, 2nd Class
- Royal Family Order of George VI, 2nd Class
- Royal Family Order of Elizabeth II, 2nd Class
Foreign Honours
The Order of St. Olga and St. Sophia, 1st Class- Grand Cross of the Order of Beneficence
Grand Cross of the National 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
See also
- English and British princesses
- Greek princesses
- House of Glücksburg
- House of Windsor
- British duchesses
- Companions of the Order of the Crown of India
- Dames Grand Cross of the Order of St John
- Dames Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire
- Dames Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
- People associated with the University of Kent
- Brain tumour deaths
- 1906 births
- 1968 deaths