Talk:Prince Michael of Kent

naming
The second paragraph ends with this statement: "He is named after the short-reigning last Tsar of Russia, to whom he is related." But the last tsar of Russia was Nicholas II of the Romanov family. So how is Prince Michael named after him (or related to him, for that matter)?


 * The Michael they are referring to was Grand Duke Michael, Nicholas' younger brother. When Nicholas abdicated for himself and his son Alexei, Michael became the Tsar.  The very next day, Michael abdicated in favor of the Duma. Prsgoddess187 13:22, 9 December 2005 (UTC)
 * The connection is not too hard. Michael's mother was Empress Marie of Russia, consort of Alexander III of Russia; Marie was the sister of Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, consort of Edward VII of the United Kingdom; Edward and Alexandra were the parents of George V of the United Kingdom; George V was the father of Prince George, Duke of Kent, who is Prince Michael of Kent's father.Prsgoddess187 13:22, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

Queen Wilhelmina
Was Queen Wilhelmina really his godfather? I wanted to change "godfathers" to "godparents", but I wasn't sure if this wasn't some technicality, like the Queen being the Duke of Lancaster. Zoe (216.234.130.130 19:04, 14 December 2005 (UTC))

misinformation
Frankly most of the information on this discussion page (by other people) is misinformation and distortions of information. As someone who personally knows the royal personage in question more than the average Public---your most reliable historical information about HRH Prince Michael's ancestors is not the gossip columns but two well researched books: Nicholas and Alexandria and the The Romanovs by Robert K. Massie.

The late Tzar of all Russias and his family are direct ancestors of HRH Prince Michael. HRH Michael, while not in line for the British Throne, because he married a Catholic and because he married a divorcee, is a strong contender for the Throne of Russia should ever Russia revert to a Monarchy. If you look at the photos of Nicholas II and HRH Michael there is a very strong resemblance. His children, however, are strong contenders for the British Throne because they were not raised as Catholics and were born in Britan.

When the Revolution came during WWI, Russia fell because it had been taken over by Rasputin who was using Alexandria as a puppet making all the decisions for her that normally Nicholas would have made and left her in charge of while he was out in the field directing the war. Rasputin had gained this control over the Royal family because (1) He had been introduced by the late Metropolitan of Moscow to the Royal family for the purpose of obtaining funds for a Church (2) he seemed to miraculously control Alexi's bleeding as Alexi suffered by hemophilia a genetic disease brought on by mutations of certain genes due to inbreeding (most of the Royals of Europe had or have married cousins and other relatives so much that genetically this concentrated their gene pool so much that they were essentially marrying brother and sister, mother and son, and daughter and father---they were as the song goes their own grandpa or grandma.

The allowing religion to take over government is just one of the evils of mixing church and state which the world never seems to learn; Lenin ordered the execution of Tzar and his family. This put all members of the Nobility in danger and many attempted unsuccessfully to escape and were killed because most countries would not take them;those that were able to escape went to Denmark and elsewhere. Only one Romanov remained and was allowed to serve politically in the Soviet Union only because he aligned himself with Lenin and Stalin. A Romanov still serves in the Russian Parliament in 2006. Among those who escaped were Dowager Empress Marie Fedorovna who left Russia to go to Denmark only on the insistence of her sister Queen Alexandria of England who had been the Duchess of Kent before her accession to the Throne.

The Empress's relationship with the King of Denmark, her Nephew, of that time was not a happy one as he was always badgering, humiliating and accusing her of sponging off him---they frequently argued about money--epecially since the Empress had brought her jewels with her and the King thought she should either sell or pawn them to pay her expenses. George V finally resolved the problem by sending his Aunt "Minnie" an annual  pension of $48,000 US(whose US Value in 2006 would $476,888). Aunt "Minnie" died in 1928--some 8 years after resolving the Kings displeasure or at least it continued coldly.

Pleas were put in for Britain to take all the royal family including the Tzar. The ruling Monarch George V of England at that time refused to allow most of the  surviving family to come to England because of diplomatic problems even though these were his close family members but when they learned that many were or had been executed often on sight--Britain backed down and allowed HRH Prince Michael's ancestors to come to England. Those who were able escaped on British Warships sent for them. They arrive in England and elsewhere (Canada and the United States) basicially as paupers or near with the few things that they could bring with them and often these were jewels--usually fabulous troves of diamonds. It is these ancestors from whence HRH Michael was born in 1942 during the years that Hitler was bombing London. HRH is named for Grand Duke Michael of Russia who was brother of the Tzar and is closely related to Queen Elizabeth II. Today (2006) the greatest numbers of Russian descendents of the Romanovs live in the United States and Canada---partcularly in New York, Florida (Palm Beach and Miami), California (where Rasputin's daughter also lives),and South Carolina. Most do not let on anything about their ancestory and the average person on the street would think that they are like the average middle class person even though some of them are very wealthy. WR —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.169.16.20 (talk • contribs) 8 April 2006


 * Whoever wrote the massive paragraph above is well...wrong. Prince Michael of Kent is NOT a direct descendant of the last Tsar; nor is he a strong contender for the Russian throne. His likeness to Tsar Nicholas II does not give him precedence over the Russian Laws of Succession. Make sure you know what you are talking about... Yanksta x 17:42, 4 May 2006 (UTC)


 * (this section is just unsubstantiated opinion from an anonymous contributor who didn't bother to sign it, and never bothered to come back. Is it worth keeping? Swanny18 (talk) 13:34, 1 July 2009 (UTC))

I agree the last Tzar of Russia is not a direct ancestor of Prince Michael, why individuals get such facts wrong I can not understand Johnkennedy58 (talk) 23:55, 17 October 2010 (UTC)

Place in line of succession
It says at birth he was sixth. Was he not, however, seventh behind (1&2) his cousins Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, (3&4) his uncle the Duke of Gloucester and his uncle's (admittedly very young) son William, (5) his (admittedly soon to die) father and (6) his elder brother? 128.252.78.82 (talk) 17:15, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

Prince Michael was promoted to the rank of Honorary Rear Admiral of the Royal Naval Reserve in June of 2004. Might be nice to add that to the article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.252.0.80 (talk) 23:17, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

I am curious as to his place in the line of succession. The article states that his son Lord Frederick is 46th in the line of succession, which would make Prince Michael 45th. However, this means that there are three people missing from the line of succession. Michael's brother Edward is 34th. Edward's son George is 35th. The only child of George still in the line of succession is Amelia, as Edward and Marina are Roman Catholics, so she is 36th. Edward's son Nicholas would be next in line, but he and his children are Roman Catholics, so Edward's remaining child Helen is 37th. Her four children are 38th, 39th, 40th and 41st. Edward's sister Alexandra is behind Michael in the line of succession, so who are 42nd, 43rd and 44th in the line of succession? Should Michael be 42nd, Frederick 43rd, Maud 44th and Gabriella 45th? Kelevroeh2 (talk) 06:56, 7 August 2015 (UTC) kelevroeh2
 * The three sons of Nicholas Windsor are not necessarily excluded. They are included on some lists as eligible presumably because they are not confirmed Catholics. DrKay (talk) 07:19, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

Patrilineal descent
I've deleted this section, as it is irrelevant to the subject (see comments here). And there are more interesting connections than some Ruritanian lineage, anyway. Swanny18 (talk) 13:10, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Photograph by Allan Warren


We have a great photograph of Prince Michael, created by Allan Warren. It is 20 years old, but I nevertheless find it more useful than the photograph currently used in the infobox. At least one can see his entire face. Should we replace the current photograph image with the 1990 photograph? The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (talk) 14:24, 21 August 2010 (UTC)
 * I think it’s wonderful that Allan Warren has uploaded his photographs onto Wikipedia. I changed the photo at Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester for the same reason that you mention as I believe a formal portrait is a much better. So yes I believe we should replace Prince Michael’s photo with the Allan Warren one. - dwc lr (talk) 14:52, 21 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Done! The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (talk) 15:07, 21 August 2010 (UTC)


 * Wowsers, looks just like his paternal grandfather. -- GoodDay (talk) 04:31, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

11th Hussars
I'm assuming the uniform Prince Michael is wearing here is that of the 11th Hussars. Is he Colonel of the Regiment? Opera hat (talk) 11:07, 1 May 2011 (UTC)
 * I've just had a further look around. The 11th Hussars were merged into the Royal Hussars in 1969 which in turn became part of the King's Royal Hussars in 1992; the Colonel-in-Chief is the Princess Royal. Prince Michael's own site does not mention any association with the regiment beyond his service with the 11th. This seems a bit odd as other princes wore Colonel's uniforms to the wedding - the Duke of Edinburgh (Grenadier Guards), the Earl of Wessex (Royal Wessex Yeomanry), the Duke of Kent (Scots Guards) and the Duke of Cambridge (Irish Guards), though the Prince of Wales (Welsh Guards) and the Duke of York (Royal Highland Fusiliers) wore naval uniform and the Duke of Gloucester (Rifle Volunteers) wore RAF uniform. Opera hat (talk) 14:46, 1 May 2011 (UTC)

The other other photo
I have two questions about the photo in the Marriage section.

First, neither the photo nor the adjoining text has a date; does one exist?

Second, is the photo possibly reversed? It looks to me that the pocket square or handkerchief in the breast of the jacket is on the wrong side (Michael's right, not his left). And in the original, larger image for which this is a thumbnail, it's clear that his jacket is buttoned right-over-left, as is customary for women's wear, rather than left-over-right as in the 1990 and 2008 photos. Perhaps it was a fashion statement, perhaps a princely quirk, but perhaps the image had been reversed somewhere along the way. --- OtherDave (talk) 00:58, 4 February 2012 (UTC) (edited after [a] edit conflict and [b] forgetting I hadn't signed in.


 * On 30 May 2012, user DrKay corrected the orientation, so the picture is now correctly displayed – just an explanation for anyone reading the text above and looking at the picture and becoming confused. However, the date is still unresolved. Thomas Blomberg (talk) 10:39, 23 June 2013 (UTC)

Honourable Artillery Company
Prince Michael is not listed as the Honourable Artillery Company's Colonel (Barney Spurner)or Colonel-in-Chief (the Queen). There is no "Royal Colonel" listed, and I presume the Queen would overtake them as Colonel-in-Chief. So where does this come from? 74.69.11.229 (talk) 18:35, 14 February 2013 (UTC)
 * http://www.princemichael.org.uk/the-prince/military-involvement/ and http://www.heart.co.uk/news/uk-world/world-war-one-soldiers-laid-to-rest-in-france/ "Prince Michael of Kent also attended in his capacity as HAC Royal Honorary Colonel." Kowalmistrz (talk) 19:58, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

Mother-in-law

 * Maria Anna Carolina Franziska Walpurga Bernadette, Countess Szapáry de Muraszombath, Széchysziget et Szapár

Is this the name of one person? Newjerseyliz (talk) 15:33, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

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Light Aircraft Association
I saw on a specialised forum ( https://www.pprune.org/private-flying/617895-prince-michael-resigns-laa-patron.html ) that, until 2018, the Prince was a patron of the LAA, a federation of people building their own (usually smallish) aeroplanes. There is no mention of this neither on the LAA page nor in this article - who can add the information, with references? Jan olieslagers (talk) 16:31, 2 February 2019 (UTC)

Controversy
I see from the history of this article that people have previously included a section entitled 'controversy' and that this has then been removed. The controversy regarding the Prince's dealings with Russia has been categorised under 'interests', but this is irregular on Wikipedia. The 'controversy' section should be reinstated. 81.135.249.212 (talk) 06:50, 15 September 2022 (UTC)
 * No, per Controversy sections including such a section would be irregular. Removing it is regular. DrKay (talk) 16:56, 15 September 2022 (UTC)

Military training
Prims Michael attended The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was in Intake 30 and attended for two years from January, 1961-December 1962. He passed out as a second lieutenant in December 1962. This information provided by a fellow intake 30 officer cadet. Not sure where the information about Mons comes from, but it is wrong. 207.81.113.200 (talk) 16:56, 8 December 2022 (UTC)

Honours
Michael seems to be the only living grandchild of George V who is not a companion of the Garter. Does anyone know why? Robin S. Taylor (talk) 18:07, 30 August 2023 (UTC)