Prince and Princess Michael of Kent Current Events 5: September 2009-July 2011

[Zonk]

Let's try to stay current regarding the events of The Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.

Zonk
British Forums Moderator

 

[principessa]

Princess Michael of Kent gave Majesty-Magazine an interview. She is also at the cover of the current issue:

http://www.majestymagazine.com/images/issue/large.jpg

 

[Al_bina]

Thanks for the update!
It is nice to know that Princess Michael was invited to grace the cover of the Majesty magazine. She looked wonderful. I am not keen on her turban though. Pearl ear-rings are magnificent. Hopefully the interview will be posted.

 

[Mermaid1962]

Thank you for the cover photo! I'll be on the lookout for this one.

Princess Michael of Kent gave Majesty-Magazine an interview. She is also at the cover of the current issue:

http://www.majestymagazine.com/images/issue/large.jpg

 

[Dierna23]

Thanks, principessa! Lovely cover, Princess M. seems to like turbans...

 

[MAfan]

Has the photo of the cover been taken recently? She seems a lot younger then she really is...

 

[Dierna23]

I had the same impression. I'm pretty sure it's a current photo, but photoshopped.

Here's a clip about the movie "Oh my god", a documentary in which all sorts of people were asked "who is god?". Peter Rodger, the director, also got a few celebrities for his movie, like Seal, Bob Geldof, Ringo Starr and also Princess Michael of Kent. There's a short appearance of her in this video at 0:51

YouTube - WHO IS GOD?

 

[MAfan]

I had the same impression. I'm pretty sure it's a current photo, but photoshopped.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLCNcbJutCw

I fear you're right...although still wonderful, Princess Michael is nearly 65, and in the photo she doesn't look like a 65 years old woman...

 

[Dierna23]

The princess who works hard for her money

Princess Michael of Kent has an eye for art. “I studied art history,” she says in an exclusive interview at the Emirates Palace hotel during Art Abu Dhabi, while wandering around the Galerie Gmurzynska looking at paintings by Picasso, Degas and Matisse, among others.


“The most important ingredient in being a collector or an art critic is curiosity. If you want to know, you learn, and with knowledge comes appreciation.” She pauses. “As well as a passionate desire to steal one of these paintings, which is why Mathias stays so close to me.”

Read more: Magazine - The National Newspaper

 

[Hereditary Thane]

British diplomats are now the only branch of the state to have escaped politicization by the Thatcherite and Blairite "elites"; how long this remains so is open to debate. Prince Michael of Kent is a cultured and uncontroversial figure (he thinks before he opens his mouth) and while my Russian colleagues inform me they find him intelligent and personable, he is viewed with suspicion because of his Romanov connections. Remember the revolution was a catastrophe for millions of Russians.

My personal belief is that it may show a lack of connection among court advisors in their failure to take on board one of the most able members of the royal family. Much maligned for his "commercial" work, what else would they have the man do when he has been excluded from the Firm.

 

[Iluvbertie]

He was not 'excluded' from the Firm but because he was male and so far from the succession it was decided that he wouldn't work as a full-time royal in the way that his older brother the Duke and his sister Princess Alexandra did.

He really is a generation ahead of the younger royals today where many people suspect that only William and Harry, of their generation will do full-time royal duties with Beatrice and Eugenie getting some type of job and doing occasional duties and Louise and James doing none - one of the reasons why they don't use the HRH.

I can even see Charles limiting the HRH to the children of the monarch and only the grandchildren of the eldest child e.g. Harry's children won't be HRH at all but William's, in time will.

 

[Warren]

The princess who works hard for her money
Read more: Magazine - The National Newspaper

Another quote from the article putting to rest, once again, the "too grand for us" tag:

The princess, now known by her husband’s name, was born Baroness Marie Christine Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz on January 15, 1945, to a central European aristocratic family in Bohemia, the only daughter of Baron Gunther Hubertus von Reibnitz and Countess Maria Anna Szapary von Muraszombath. The Queen of England famously called her “too grand” for the British royal family. “This is one of those quotes like ‘Let them eat cake’ that has been taken out of context. Basically, Lord Mountbatten [uncle of the Queen’s husband, the Duke of Edinburgh] was trying to sell me to the Queen as a potential wife to Prince Michael. I am Catholic and foreign so it was not an easy sell. He laid it on a bit thick and she came out with the line ‘she sounds a bit too grand for us’. He thought it was terribly funny.”

On the press:

“What happens when you marry into the royal family is your privacy is suddenly gone and you don’t value your privacy until it is no longer there,” she says. “We’re not so interesting now we’re older but I had to send my daughter to America to study so she could be in peace. She is very beautiful and the papers followed her everywhere.”

Like several members of the British royal family, the princess has a tricky relationship with the press, which has dubbed her “Princess Pushy”. The nickname apparently came from Princess Anne, but has been adopted by the British media and public because Princess Michael has a reputation for being rather attention-grabbing. For example, at her son’s wedding, when she wore an extremely low-cut dress, the press accused her of trying to steal the limelight from his bride. Does she think the label is fair? “Life was never meant to be fair,” she says. “You have to deal with the cards you have as best you can. And I am very fortunate to have a wonderful husband who loves me, my children and my health.”

 

[Westminster]

Very nice article. I met Princess Michael 2006 and she was as charming and witty as she appears in this interview. She is also very funny, I noticed nothing pushy or arrogant. But she is a strong woman and some people are just afraid of strong woman in my opinion and some are jealous on beauty and brainpower too!!

 

[Vicki J]

Isn't it funny how 2 different people can read the same article and come to different opinions.

I wonder why she didn't answer many of the questions put to her in a straight way. I can't remember anyone being that interested in her son or daughter here anyway.

I haven't heard of the book by Peter Lane but I saw that it's for sale at 1p + pp. Is it like the books she writes, with fiction mixed in with facts? The BBC seems to be sticking with her mother managed a beauty salon, which kind of fits in with everything else, except the bit Angela quoted.

Did she live in a decent area in Australia or just the suburbs?

 

[Iluvbertie]

Did she live in a decent area in Australia or just the suburbs?

What does this question mean?

To many Australians where they live, whether a suburb, a town, a rural city or on a farm/property is a 'decent' area.

I didn't know that we had 'decent' areas and 'suburbs' as I live in a suburb which is a lovely one and I would describe is a 'decent'. I couldn't afford to live in many suburbs as the cost is way too high for me but I also wouldn't want to live in some of then due to the snobbery of the people who live there.

A suburb is simply a smaller geographical area within one of the larger cities.

 

[Zonk]

Please note that all posts regarding the ancestry of Princess Michael of Kent have been moved here http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/f23/the-family-of-princess-michael-of-kent-26397-2.html .

Let's try to stay on topic with the Current Events thread of The Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.

Zonk
British Forums Moderator

 

[Dierna23]

Kents to pay palace apartment rent

Prince Michael said at the time: "We pull our weight for the family and the country. And we do it because we feel we are privileged, and privilege doesn't work without obligation... The public view of us is trivia and uninformed."

The Press Association: Kents to pay palace apartment rent

 

[Al_bina]

It is nice to know that the apartment issue has been resolved. Hopefully the public will not harp on about Prince and Princess Michael living at taxpayers' expense.

 

[Mermaid1962]

The Michaels look very, very regal in the picture that goes with this article.

 

[Kasumi]

Does anyone knows do TRH Prince&Princess Michael of Kent have the passports?
And is HM The Queen having any problems with getting the passport?
The Russian media say HM can't leave the UK because she has no the surname to fill the passport.
Any answer will be much appreciated!

 

[Zonk]

Since both TRH and HM have traveled internationally extensively, I would hazard that all three have passports.

 

[Kasumi]

Dear Zonk,
Thanks a lot for your quick reply.
The Russian speculations are based on this article mainly.

 

[Iluvbertie]

Since both TRH and HM have traveled internationally extensively, I would hazard that all three have passports.

All royals, except the Queen, have had passports in the past.

The security rules for entry to and leaving from Britain have changed and there are now reports that the Queen will need a passport due to changes in British security at airports.

Can we see your documents please, Your Majesty... Queen faces anti-terror checks every time she leaves UK | Mail Online

 

[Westminster]

The Press Association: Kents to pay palace apartment rent

Why do they have to pay rent now? I thought the appartment was a gift from Queen Elizabeth II.?

 

[Iluvbertie]

Why do they have to pay rent now? I thought the appartment was a gift from Queen Elizabeth II.?

Like BP and Windsor Castle Kensington Palace is a government owned palace and, after 1992, questions were raised about the 'grace and favour' apartments being given to the royals, particularly in such prime areas of London - in other words the taxpayers believe that they should be getting a market rent for their property.

The Queen has allowed a peppercorn rent for awhile but the agreement was that from this year a market price has to be paid.

 

[Mermaid1962]

The Queen will receive a passport authorized by--the Queen? Requiring HM to carry a passport makes absolutely no sense to me.

 

[Roslyn]

The Queen will receive a passport authorized by--the Queen? Requiring HM to carry a passport makes absolutely no sense to me.

It's insane! And quite delicious for that very reason.

 

[sophie25]

Prince Michael has received a new military appointment. According to his website he has been made Regimental Colonel of the HAC (Honourable Artillery Company). The HAC is the oldest regiment in the British army so it's a great honour for him.

 

[Dierna23]

That's some good news, congratulations to Prince Michael! I'm sure, this is a great honour for him.

 

[Dierna23]

British Royal Tours Damaged Mumbai Chabad House

Prince Michael of Kent, a cousin of British monarch Queen Elizabeth II, toured the heavily damaged site of Chabad-Lubavitch of Mumbai, India, in a gesture of solidarity and in support of the rebuilding effort following the Nov. 26, 2008 terrorist attack there and at tourist centers throughout the city.

British Royal Tours Damaged Mumbai Chabad House - Stories - Chabad-Lubavitch News

Prince Michael pledges $1,00,000 aid to Nariman House

Mumbai: Queen Elizabeth's first cousin, Prince Michael of Kent, on Wednesday pledged a donation of USD 1,00,000 in rebuilding part of the Nariman House, one of the terror sites of November 26 attack, during his visit to the House here in south Mumbai.

Prince Michael pledges $1,00,000 aid to Narmiam House