Seems a life time since I took my break from this board. I came out of temporary royal break for the Queen Mum. I guess it took another special lady to bring me back.
December 13, 1906- birth of Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, Duchess of Kent.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/12390/princess-marina_of_greece#view-photo=283082
Princess Marina was born in Athens. Her father was Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark. Nicholas was the third son of George I of Greece. He was the younger brother of Constantine I and older brother of Prince Andrew. Marina was the paternal cousin of Prince Philip and King Paul of Greece (father of Constantine II and Sofia).Her mother was Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia. Her mother was a granddaughter of Tsar Alexander II.
Marina was the youngest of three daughters. Her sister Olga married Prince Paul of Yugoslavia. Her sister Elizabeth married Count Carl Theodor of Törring-Jettenbach (a nephew of Queen Elisabeth of Belgium on his mother's side).
Marina was baptized in 1906. Her godparents included her grandfather, as well as Edward VII (her father's Uncle by marriage) , Mary of Tech, her uncle Prince Andrew, her maternal uncle Grand Duke Borris and Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna of Russia (maternal aunt by marriage, married to mom's brother Kyril, originally Princess Victoria Melita).
She grew up with her parents and grandparents at Tatoi palace. They had an English nanny. She and her sisters were raised to be very devout religiously, something encouraged by their grandmother.
Her first visit to England was in 1910 after the death of her godfather. She met her godmother Mary for the first time. Mary was her future mother in law.
Her family was exiled from Greece when she was 11. While the family settled in Paris Marina would spend her time with her family through out Europe.
Marina met Prince George in 1932, her second cousin. George was the 5th out of 6 children of Georve V and Queen Mary (youngest to survive childhood). In October 1934 George was made Duke of Kent in anticipation of their wedding. The couple married November 29, 1934.
It was a grand affair, the first royal wedding since the duke and duchess of York had married ten years prior. Theirs was the first wedding broadcast by wireless and using microphones. The ceremony at the abbey was followed by an Orthodox ceremony in the chapel at Buckingham palace which was converted to an Orthodox chapel for the occasion. Her bridesmaids were her paternal cousins Irene, Eugenie and Katherine of Greece, her maternal cousin Grand Duchess Kira, her first cousin once removed Princess Juliana (future Queen of the Netherlands), her future niece Princess Elizabeth (Elizabeth II)and 2 cousins of her husband Lady Iris Mountbatten and Lady Mary Cambridge.
Marina was very close to her mother in law Mary.
Sadly her husband died August 25, 1942 in an airplane crash while on active duty in the royal air force. During the war she was trained as a nurse had joined the civil nurse's union.
Marina continued to be an active member of the royal family following her husband's death. She was president of Wimbledon All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club for 26 years a position her son Edward now holds. She represented the queen abroad on a number of occasions including on the independence of Ghana and Botswana. She had a number of other patronages including the Women's hospital Fund.
In 1961 when her son was to be married, Marina was permitted by the queen to be referred to as Princess Marina of Kent, instead of the Dowager Duchess.
She died August 27, 1968 at Kensington palace from a brain tumor at 61. Her funeral on August 30 was the final event her brother in law the Duke of Windsor would attend. She was buried in the royal burial ground of Frogmore.
Marina and her husband had three children.
-Edward: The current Duke of Kent. He married Katharine Lucy Mary Worsley with whom he has three children and 10 grandchildren.
-Alexandra: She married Hon. Angus James Bruce Ogilvy who died in 2004. They had two children and four grandchildren.
-Michael: sadly his father died seven weeks after his birth. He married Baroness Marie Christine von Reibnitz and had 2 children and have 2 granddaughters.
Of her 7 grandchildren, Marina saw the birth of four. Edward's youngest Nicholas and both of Michael's children were born after her death.
The Kent city of London fringe tiara was a wedding gift to Marina from the city.
The Kent City of London Fringe Tiara | The Court Jeweller
