Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark

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Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark (Template:Langx; Template:OldStyleDateTemplate:Spaced ndash27 August 1968), later Duchess of Kent, was a Greek and Danish princess by birth and a British princess by marriage. A granddaughter of King George I of Greece and Queen Olga, she was the daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia. In 1934, she married Prince George, Duke of Kent, the fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary. They had three children: Prince Edward, Princess Alexandra, and Prince Michael. She was widowed in 1942, when her husband was killed in a plane crash while on active service, and remained active in royal duties throughout her later life, attending public engagements across the Commonwealth, including the independence celebrations for Ghana and Botswana. She died in 1968, aged 61.

Early life

Princess Marina in 1920

Marina was born on 13 December 1906 in Athens, Greece, during the reign of her paternal grandfather, George I of Greece.<ref name=etimes68/> She was the third and youngest daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark, and his wife Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia.<ref name=smh68aug>Template:Cite news</ref> Her father was the third son of George I of Greece and Queen Olga,<ref name=mgaz34/> while her mother was the only daughter of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia. Her father was a grandson of Christian IX of Denmark, while her mother was a granddaughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia.<ref name=mjour34/>

Marina had two elder sisters, Princess Olga and Princess Elizabeth. Olga married Prince Paul of Yugoslavia in 1923. After the assassination of his cousin, Alexander I of Yugoslavia, Paul served as Prince Regent of Yugoslavia from 1934 to 1941. Elizabeth married Carl Theodor, Count of Toeering-Jettenbach in 1934.<ref name=Burke>Template:Cite book</ref> One of their paternal uncles was Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, the father of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (making Marina and her sisters Philip's first cousins).

Marina spent her early years in Greece, and lived with her parents and paternal grandparents at Tatoi Palace. Along with her sisters, she was raised to be devout and religious, which was encouraged by her grandmother, Queen Olga of Greece.<ref>King, pg. 37</ref> Marina's family travelled outside of Greece often, especially during the summer months. Her first recorded visit to Britain was in 1910, when she was 3, after the death of her godfather, Edward VII. During that visit, she met her other godmother and future mother-in-law, Queen Mary, who treated Marina and her sisters like her own children.<ref>King, pg. 39</ref>

The Greek royal family was forced into exile when Marina was 11, following the overthrow of the Greek monarchy.<ref name=mjour34/> They later moved to Paris, while the Princess stayed with her extended family throughout Europe.

Marriage and children

Wedding ceremony

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Princess Marina on her wedding day

In 1932, Marina and Prince George (later the Duke of Kent), a second cousin through Christian IX of Denmark, met in London.<ref name=mjour34>Template:Cite news</ref> Their betrothal was announced in August 1934.<ref name=mgaz34>Template:Cite news</ref> George was created Duke of Kent on 9 October 1934.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> On 29 November 1934, they married at Westminster Abbey, London.<ref name=smh1934>Template:Cite news</ref> The wedding was a grand affair, as it had been more than eleven years since the last royal wedding with Prince Albert, Duke of York, and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother). The wedding of George and Marina was the first royal wedding ceremony to be broadcast by wireless, and with the use of other technology, such as microphones—the control room was located underneath the Unknown Warrior's tomb of Westminster Abbey. The service was broadcast locally and abroad to other nations, and loudspeakers allowed spectators from outside the Abbey to hear the proceedings.<ref>King, pg. 125</ref> The wedding was followed by a Greek ceremony in the private chapel at Buckingham Palace, which was converted into an Orthodox chapel for the ceremony.<ref name=smh1934/> The wedding was the most recent occasion on which a princess from another royal family married into the British royal family.

Married life

Portrait by Philip de László, 1934

The Duke and Duchess set up their first home at 3 Belgrave Square, close to Buckingham Palace.<ref>King, pg. 136.</ref> She became a patroness of several organizations and charities, including the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital, the Women's Hospital Fund, and the Central School of Speech and Drama. She would continue to support these charities and institutions for the rest of her life.<ref>King, pg. 143</ref> She became very close to her mother-in-law, Queen Mary, with whom she would usually spend time while her husband was off performing his own royal duties.<ref>King, pg. 144</ref>

The couple had three children:

The Duke of Kent was killed on 25 August 1942, in an airplane crash at Eagle's Rock, near Dunbeath, Caithness, Scotland, while on active service with the Royal Air Force. The Duchess, according to royal biographer Hugo Vickers, was "the only war widow in Britain whose estate was forced to pay death duties".<ref>Hugo Vickers, Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, Hutchinson, 2005, p. 230</ref>

During World War II, Marina was trained as a nurse for three months under the pseudonym "Sister Kay" and joined the civil nurse reserve.<ref name=smh68aug/>

Later life and death

The foundation stone of St Mark's, Bromley, laid by the Duchess

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.<ref name=etimes68>Template:Cite news</ref> She was the president of the Wimbledon All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club for 26 years.<ref name=smh68aug/> She was also the president of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution from 1943 until her death and was awarded the RNLI's gold medal in 1967 to mark this contribution.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1947, Marina visited Greece and Italy.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref> In June 1952 the Duchess laid the foundation stone of the new St Mark's Church in Bromley, London, which had been damaged in the war.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1952, the Duchess also visited Sarawak (then a British Crown Colony), where she laid the foundation stone of the Cathedral of St Thomas in Kuching. She also visited the Batu Lintang camp, a Japanese internment camp during World War II which had been converted to a teacher training college, and the city of Sibu, where she opened the outpatient department of the Lau Kheng Howe Hospital.<ref>Sarawak Gazette 1952</ref>

In 1954 Marina was granted an Apartment at Kensington Palace as a permanent grace-and-favour residence in London. During her early widowhood Marina had often stayed with her mother-in-law Queen Mary at the latter's London Residence at Marlborough House; however the old Queen's death in 1953 had created a need for Marina to have a London base on her own. The Apartment had stood vacant for nearly fifteen years, having previously been the home of Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll prior to her death in 1939. Louise's apartment was deemed too large for Marina's needs, its eastern half was divided to create Apartment 1A. The budget for the conversion and renovation works was budgeted at £80,000 but ultimately cost £127,000. During the works, Marina was reportedly on the verge of removing an original Wren staircase inside Apartment 1, finding it "too much like a servant's staircase", and too narrow for descending in full evening dress; the staircase was preserved after palace officials intervened to prevent its destruction.<ref name="Quinn207">Template:Cite book</ref> Marina and her three children took up residence in October 1955, and Apartment 1 continued to be her home until her death in 1968.<ref name="Warwick">Template:Cite book</ref>

In March 1957, when the Gold Coast achieved independence from Britain as Ghana, the Duchess of Kent was appointed to represent the Queen at the celebrations.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref> Fifty years later, at the 50th anniversary of Ghana's independence, her son, Edward, Duke of Kent, was appointed by the Queen to represent her.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Marina with the governor of São Paulo, Carvalho Pinto, in 1960

Marina earned a place in the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1960 together with the Princess of Monaco, Patricia Lopez-Willshaw and Merle Oberon.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1964, she took an extensive tour of Australia and officially opened Gladesville Bridge in Sydney.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

In September and October 1966, when the British Protectorates of Bechuanaland and Basutoland became the new Republic of Botswana and the Kingdom of Lesotho respectively, Marina was appointed again to represent the Queen at both celebrations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The main public hospital in Gaborone, the new Botswana's capital, is named "Princess Marina Hospital". She was the Chancellor of the University of Kent at Canterbury from 1963 until her death.

Marina died of a brain tumour at Kensington Palace at 11.40 am on 27 August 1968, aged 61.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=etimes68/> Her funeral service was held at St. George's Chapel on 30 August.<ref name=windsor>Template:Cite news</ref> She was buried at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Her funeral was the last royal ceremony attended by her brother-in-law, the former king Edward VIII.<ref>Ziegler, Philip (1991). King Edward VIII: The official biography. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Template:ISBN, pp. 554-556.</ref> Her will was sealed in London after her death in 1968. Her estate was valued at £76,166 (or £940,600 in 2022 when adjusted for inflation).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Legacy

Princess Marina gave her name to many facilities, including:

Titles, styles, honours, and arms

Titles and styles

Marina was known as the Princess Marina of Greece.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> Upon marriage she became known as Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Kent,<ref name="1935-St. John"/><ref name="Victorian-Order"/> and was later titled Her Royal Highness The Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent.<ref name="Electrical and Mechanical"/>

Honours

Commonwealth

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Foreign

Dynastic

Honorary military appointments

The Duchess inspecting cadets of the WRNS officers' training course, 1941
Canada
United Kingdom

Arms

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Ancestry

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See also

References

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Bibliography

  • Day, J. Wentworth. H.R.H. Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (Robert Hale, 1962)
  • King, Stella. Princess Marina: Her Life and Times (Cox & Wyman Ltd, 1969)

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