George, Duke of Kent (1902-ka1942) and Princess Marina (1906-1968)


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hmm I didn't know much about Marina, but she appeals less and less
 
I have to say the opposite was true for me. I didn’t know much about her but I came to admire her very much. Her marriage was not at all easy and she had a fairly lonely life once her children were grown and living their own lives. She must have felt very isolated and perhaps that’s why she relied so much on the company of her sisters and their families which took her further away from the British Royal Family as it forged a new direction where most things were central to Clarence House.
 
Gaudete said:
I have to say the opposite was true for me. I didn’t know much about her but I came to admire her very much. Her marriage was not at all easy and she had a fairly lonely life once her children were grown and living their own lives. She must have felt very isolated and perhaps that’s why she relied so much on the company of her sisters and their families which took her further away from the British Royal Family as it forged a new direction where most things were central to Clarence House.
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Totally agree here.
Here's a woman who married a very complicated man, lost him at a quite young age and had to raise three children on her own, with, as pointed out, limited ressources (from a royal point of view).
It's a bit easy to forget that she was a very popular member of the BRF, carriying spectacular engagements across the worl on behalf of the Queen.
I dont' think she was "bossy" either, but she was from a bygone world and wished just the best for her children. At the end she gave her blessing for Alexandra and Edward, so she was not that stiff after all ...
I do think that QEQM was just a bit jealous ans indeed insecure, because Marina was the epitome of the Continental woman : beautiful, tall, elegant, intelligent and regal from head to toe. Snobbish ? She refused to be Queen of Norway !!!!
A fascinating figure, sadly a bit forgotten nowadays.
 
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Totally agree Nico. I think with Marina, the last ties to Queen Mary's style were severed and the British Royal Family found itself entering a new age that was really dominated by the Queen Mother for the next 40 years. We know that the Queen rarely made any decisions affecting the family without the consent of her mother....and we all know how that turned out. That isn't to say that the Queen Mother was a terrible person but she had her flaws and they made an impact on those around her.

For Marina, this would have been a totally alien concept. She grew up in a world where rank and position were paramount and where the vast European royal network was incredibly important. It's therefore not a surprise that after Queen Mary's death, she found herself increasingly at odds with the British court and tended to be a bit of a loner. But as you rightly say, she was extremely popular with the British people which gave her a kind of special position within the family. Even when both sides of the House of Commons criticised the cost of refurbishing Apartment 1a at Kensington Palace for Marina, they went to great lengths to include statements of praise for the Duchess because they didn't want to be seen to attack her personally.

Princesses are no longer made the way Marina was. And for the Queen Mother, she must have been a constant reminder that Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was a royal outsider. I don't think that bothered Princess Alice (Gloucester) one bit but Marina was real competition. Especially when you consider that the only other sister-in-law the Queen Mother had was the Duchess of Windsor and we all know the story there. I can see the situation from both sides. Marina disagreed with the way the Queen Mother raised her daughters and how she lived in her widowhood. Elizabeth thought Marina was a snob and demanded too much. I don't see how they ever really could have been friends.
 
Prince George honored the Cinema industry. He has an eloquent speaking voice.
 
Denville said:
hmm I didn't know much about Marina, but she appeals less and less
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Several years ago I read a book called "Blood Relative" which was written by Nicholas Gray, an Irish lecturer. The author claimed that Alexei, Tsarivitch and son of Nicholas and Alexandra, had escaped the massacre and grown out of haemophilia, and had been bought up by people loyal to the Tsar. It's posited that, as children, an alliance had been made between Alexei and Marina and that they met, as young adults, in Paris. The author further claims that after Prince George was killed, Marina and the now grown Alexei, had secret meetings, the result of which was a -secret- pregnancy which produced a son -the author- who was handed over by the establishment to Irish adoptive parents.

Clearly, much research had gone into the book -I found it hard to put down- and the author mentions many names -both Irish and Russian- who were known to a friend of mine. Of course, by the 1990's, memories had faded. We know, of course, that there's no doubt that the entire Imperial Family were massacred but because there appears to have been some mystery surrounding the author's adoption I suspect there was always the whisper of a tantalizing chance that his theory was correct. Like all conspiracy theories, the theory is much more exciting than the mundane truth. Please don't shoot the messenger.
 
I would prefer to know the truth about something than a fantasy... and how on earth cuodl someone "grow out of haemophilia"?
 
Denville said:
I would prefer to know the truth about something than a fantasy... and how on earth cuodl someone "grow out of haemophilia"?
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As I said. Don't shoot the messenger!!! The author goes into lengthy detail about mitochondrial DNA which was far beyond my comprehension. I was on book-swapping terms with my doctor so I shared this one with him. He confirmed that the author had made a compelling case ON SOME POINTS. Well. Yes. I'm aware of how statistics work. Re 'haemophilia'. The author maintained that he'd gone back 16 generations of Queen Victoria's family and could only find a "blood disorder".
 
Tsaritsa said:
As I said. Don't shoot the messenger!!! The author goes into lengthy detail about mitochondrial DNA which was far beyond my comprehension. I was on book-swapping terms with my doctor so I shared this one with him. He confirmed that the author had made a compelling case ON SOME POINTS. Well. Yes. I'm aware of how statistics work. Re 'haemophilia'. The author maintained that he'd gone back 16 generations of Queen Victoria's family and could only find a "blood disorder".
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I'm not "shooting" anyone. I'm pointing out that as far as I know (I'm certainly no expert) no one "grows out" of Haemophilia. and it seems to me quite obvious that this is a whole big fantasy, like the one I've seen on the internet wehre Diana had a secret daughter by Charles...
 
Denville said:
I'm not "shooting" anyone. I'm pointing out that as far as I know (I'm certainly no expert) no one "grows out" of Haemophilia. and it seems to me quite obvious that this is a whole big fantasy, like the one I've seen on the internet wehre Diana had a secret daughter by Charles...
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To the best of my knowledge they're more likely to die of something related to it, however, the author, by claiming it was a nonspecific blood disorder, gives it some leeway. The book was written whilst there was still some question mark regarding the bodies. Now that question mark has been removed.............................please do tell me more about Charles' and Diana's secret daughter.
 
Prince George and Princess Marina went to Yugoslavia in 1935.
 
:previous: ..." the Duchess shakes hands with the peasants"...can you imagine the absolute hailstorm of controversy that would ensue if an announcer said that today about Royals meeting ordinary citizens?:lol::ohmy:

How times have changed!
 
:previous: It does seem unbelievable that a Duchess who is not only a Duchess but a Royal Princess as well would be so involved with the peasants. However, Marina deserves credit for encountering the people the way she did.
 
CyrilVladisla said:
:previous: It does seem unbelievable that a Duchess who is not only a Duchess but a Royal Princess as well would be so involved with the peasants. However, Marina deserves credit for encountering the people the way she did.
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Um I think the comment was more about the Language being used ?

Its not unbelievable a duchess or royal would touch a commoner. Back then may have been more uncommon. But we certainly see even the queen do it.

What would be shocking would be if the BBC in 2018 called commoners 'peassants' and made a big deal of someone like Kate touching one :lol:
 
On July 2, 1966 Princess Marina presented Billie Jean King with the winner's trophy.
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-j...marina-duchess-of-kent-presents-64485453.html

In the early 1930s Prince George was appointed an inspector of factories. He alarmed factory committees of the day with his campaign for a five day working week.

When Edward VIII abdicated in 1936, some people believed that Edward's brothers Prince Albert and Prince Henry should be bypassed and that Prince George becomes King. Do you think George, Duke of Kent would have been a successful sovereign?
 
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Today in Royal History is the 77th Death Anniversary of Prince George, Duke of Kent!
 
:previous: No...I don"t believe so. For all his good looks, his charisma, and his eminently suitable lovely wife Marina, George is widely reported to have had a serious problem with substance abuse.:ermm:
 
There were talks about that and I think Princess Marina would have been a great Queen Consort but yes, Prince George's substance abuse and his promiscuity would posed a great toll on him.

It's wishful thinking but the Kent's life would have been different and Princess Marina would have lived a more grandiose life. It such a pity that she had to endure a lot after his death but even amidst the humiliation and financial difficulties, she remained, until her death, a very important and hardworking royal of her time.
 
Moonmaiden23 said:
:previous: No...I don"t believe so. For all his good looks, his charisma, and his eminently suitable lovely wife Marina, George is widely reported to have had a serious problem with substance abuse.:ermm:
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I understood that he got over his drug problems..(not that I'd have wanted to see Marina as queen)….
 
:previous: You wouldn't have wanted to see Princess Marina as Queen Consort?

Why, may I ask?
 
Was the idea to have Prince George become King because he and Princess Marina had a son, Prince Edward?
 
The idea of bypassing is not new is it. How many times do we hear Charles should be bypassed for his son.

The reality is that you cant choose your heir. Succession is succession. Albert and Henry would have had to come to the throne and abdicate. And arguably Elizabeth would have been in line after her father abdicated.

George was young and popular. He had a beautiful royal blooded wife. And he had a son. In those times that made him attractive to the people. Henry of course would have two sons, but not until six years later.

It certainly wasnt the wish of the royal family. Or at least their father. He was quoted as saying he wished the throne could go right to Albert and Elizabeth.

Life would have been very different for the Kents if all those who needed to abdicate had and George found himself on the throne. Biggest being that he would not have died before 40 in an airplane crash.

Marina was a hard working dedicated royal as a widow. But then again so was the Queen mother. I dont know if Marina would have been any better a queen consort then her sister in law would have been.

How different it would be with King Edward IX on the throne now. Would we have had Queen Katherine, or would he have ended up married else where as the Prince of Wales. Would we have George, Prince of Wales and Prince Edward as his heir? Katherine's father was a baronet, would that have been considered acceptably high enough for the POW?
 
It wasn't really just because Prince George was handsome and he has blue-blooded wife. Even as little he already had a reputation for being an art-lover and a linguist.

According to royal biographer, Christopher Warwick, he was by far the best of the four brothers. George was “The outstanding child and in many ways the most gifted. Edward, the heir to the throne, was pretty much a philistine, Bertie who became George VI, was not a particularly cultured or artistic individual and Henry, who became Duke Of Gloucester, was practically bovine.”

https://adeladdie.com/2015/10/29/playboy-prince-prince-george-duke-of-kent/


Marina is born to both artistic parents and she has a very bright personality. Actually at that time, the Duke and Duchess of Kent are the darlings of the crowd. Their home at 3 Belgrave Square became of focal point of the pre-WWII high society.

According to Christopher Warwick, 'That dazzling pair dominated London society, gathering around them some of most brilliant personalities from the arts, entertaining lavishly and generating an interest in their way of life that was unparalleled in the history of the royal family.'

https://therake.com/stories/icons/the-forgotten-prince/

Actually this couple made me hooked in royalty and I see them as Kingly and Queenly. They would have been a great King and Queen and their children would have been great as children of the King and Queen (not including Prince Michael's choice of wife)
 
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Without choosing one prince or princess over another I'd just like to say that I'm sure that Marina would have been one fantastic queen.
 
Today in Royal History is the 51st Death Anniversary of Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent born Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia. She died age 61 on 27 August 1968 of brain tumor.
 
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