Princess Marina: Poverty life of mum of the Queen's first cousin Duke of Kent - Royal Insider

[Music] foreign [Music] passing of the queen at the age of 96 her first cousin the Duke of Kent now stands as the oldest member of the royal family at the age of 87. Prince Edward is the son of the Duke and Duchess of Kent Prince George and Princess Marina and the grandson of King George V and Queen Mary he was born on October the 9th 1935 in Belgrade Square London his extraordinary life has spanned Decades of Royal Service the helming of one of the most clandestine organizations and a religious Scandal inside of his own family Prince Edward George Nicholas Paul Patrick is the eldest of three children with Princess Alexander born on Christmas Day 1936 and Prince Michael of Kent joining the family in 1942 although his work with more than 140 different organizations sometimes goes on noticed Edward has always been a dedicated member of the royal family the official royal family website claims that he has been to over 60 different countries to promote British goods and trade Edward's mother took him on a legendary tour of the Far East and it was there that he was first exposed to the idea of a life of service the journey occurred around the time Edward turned 17 and 10 years after the Kent family's tragic event in 1942 when Edward was just seven years old his father the Duke of Kent left behind his wife Marina and their three children in a military air accident in Scotland just months before his 40th birthday circumstances surrounding the incident remain mysterious to this day and the Kents have never spoken publicly about the crash Edward subsequently inherited his father's title of Duke of Kent Earl of Saint Andrews and baron downpatrick according to Celia Lee author of hrh the Duke of Kent a life of service Marina lived in genteel poverty following the death of her husband writing for the UK's Express Ms Lee said Prince Edward enjoyed an idyllic childhood with his younger sister princess Alexander and his adoring parents until their lives were shattered when their father passed away in an airplane crash in 1942 when their newborn brother Prince Michael was only six weeks old the widowed princess Marina was left in Gentile poverty but continued with her work as commander of the woman's Royal Naval service Oren's until her death in 1968. Marina was a glamorous and well-liked member of the royal family she was once a princess of Greece and Denmark before marrying Prince George in 1934 and becoming the Duchess of Kent according to Royal writer Hugo Vickers The Duchess was the only War Widow in Britain whose estate was forced to pay death duties the high rates of wartime taxes unknown to the pre-war British Elite would prove to be her undoing papers in the national archives in queue show the that Buckingham Palace preferred to keep the Widow Duchess of Kent in poverty rather than support prime minister Winston Churchill's plans to support her with public funds while King George VI advisors had fears it might expose how little tax a raw family paid on their massive State subsidies at a time when Brits were paying record rates of income tax her poverty was seen as less relevant than the damage that may be suffered by the rest of the royal family three months after the Duke's death the duchess's financial advisor Lord Herbert wrote a letter to the Prime Minister explaining her predicament when Prince George passed away the 25 000 pound annual subsidy paid by the state to the Duke ended and after paying death duties and all her necessary bills The Duchess would have a disposable income of less than one thousand pounds a year hardly enough to maintain her country home in buckinghamshire Lord Herbert wrote it will be quite impossible for her to have a London residence which she ought to have in order that she may be able to see the many people which a member of the royal family has to see and to entertain those who entertain her she is a very economical person and has no expensive tastes or habits but she would feel deeply hurt if she knew that the minute the Duke was dead Parliament took no more interest in her which is what it would amount to he added her Royal Highness will have to lead a very different life from that expected of her and it will be a constant struggle to keep her small household and staff even if taxation is eventually reduced Churchill forwarded sir Kenneth wood the chancellor a copy of Lord Herbert's letter and a request for Action the treasury though remained unmoved I cannot help but feel that there would be those members of parliament anxious especially at this time to compare the grant with the sufferings of the poor it is for serious consideration whether the king or the government would wish to run the gauntlet of such circumstances sir Kenneth retorted Churchill insisted on taking responsibility for getting the subject through Parliament conceding that a change in the legislation may be required for The Duchess to gain access to money held in the trust funds of her three children in response to Sir Kenneth Churchill stated it is not a matter of primary concern to the king the duchess's interest is distinct however neither the treasury nor the palace were pleased about the proposal and the chancellor Enlisted the assistance of the Attorney General to fight any attempt to set a precedent for trust funds Churchill's proposal to exclude the duchess from taxation as other members of the royal family are was also vetoed Queen Mary the King's mother received seventy thousand pounds in tax-free income during the time a report by a cabinet committee including sir Kenneth Herbert Morrison Home Secretary Sir John Anderson Lord president of the council and vice count Simon Lord Chancellor in March 1943 in our view the real question for decision is whether the case for the state making Financial provision for The Duchess outweighs the risk that as a result the financial provision for the royal family as a whole might become in some degree a matter of public controversy Churchill was clearly disappointed by their results telling them I am very much grieved by the negative conclusions which you have reached in this matter when you tried to push the matter further he was met with opposition from Buckingham Palace his office was told on the authority of the king that it would be better not to raise this matter but to Let It Drop The Duchess made ends meet by selling works of art that had belonged to her husband and after the war changes were made to the Civil list so that a similar situation would never occur for his part the princess's son Prince Edward married Catherine Worsley on June the 8th 1961 at yorkminster the couple Share three children George Earl of Saint Andrews born in 1962 lady Helen Taylor born in 1964 Lord Nicholas Windsor born in 1970 and a stillborn son named Patrick born in 1997. Edward and Catherine currently have 10 grandchildren among of whom include Lord downpatrick and Lady Amelia Windsor a famous model when the Duchess of Kent converted to Catholicism in 1994 it garnered national attention Prince Edward's position in the line of succession was unaffected by this decision despite the fact that it was a major one for a member of the Raw family to make however it has affected his immediate relatives because many of them have fallen out of the line of succession as a result of the restrictions imposed by the succession to the crown act 2013 Prince Edward began participating in official engagements at the age of 16 and has devoted his entire life to performing Royal obligations the Royal National Lifeboat institution the stroke Association and the Commonwealth War Graves commission are some of the most significant causes he represents surprisingly the Freemasons are one of the Duke's most well-known associations since his induction into the organization in 1963 he has advanced through the ranks he became Grand Master in 1967 and in 2013 he celebrated 50 years as a Freemason he was spotted at the Queen's death just three months after he joined joined her for two of her final appearances on Buckingham Palace balcony to Mark her historic Platinum Jubilee the four serving first cousins of the Queen the Duke of Kent princess Alexander Prince Michael and the Duke of Gloucester attended the Monarch State Burial at Westminster Abbey and her committal service at Saint George's Chapel in Windsor together with the rest of the royal family future looking George Earl of Saint Andrews son of Prince Edward is the present heir to the Duke Dum of Kent then his son Lord downpatrick will follow him someday once the Earl of Saint Andrews acquires the title it will no longer be a royal jukedum due to their conversion to a different religion and he will be addressed as his grace the Duke of Kent rather than his Royal Highness

Channel: Royal Insider

Views: 150,979

Keywords: poverty, life, mother, Princess Marina, duchess of Kent, the queen, Queen Elizabeth, cousin, Duke of Kent, prince edward, royal family, royal insider

Id: bOl1nzoi8n8

Length: 10min 57sec (657 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 11 2022