Many happy returns to Princess Michael of Kent! The Royal Family cousin celebrates her 79th birthday on Jan. 15, 2025, so now seems like a good time to educate ourselves on one of the more eccentric and controversial members of King Charles’ family tree, from her peculiar name to her, let’s say, awkward ancestry.
Princess Michael of Kent, otherwise known as Baroness Marie-Christine Anna Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz, was born in January 1945 in the then-German controlled Czechoslovakia. With the end of the Second World War coming later that same year, her father (more on him in a moment) and her mother fled with their baby daughter to the U.S.-controlled Bavaria. From there the future princess enjoyed a charmed childhood spent in such countries as Austria, Australia, and Mozambique.
It wasn’t until she moved to London for university in the 1970s that she first met her current husband. Initially, Marie-Christine married the English banker Thomas Troubridge in 1971 and maintained a friendship with Prince Michael of Kent thereafter, which ended up growing into something more following her divorce from Troubridge in 1977. The pair were married the following year and went on to have two children, Lord Frederick Windsor (45) and Lady Gabriella Kingston (43).
Princess Michael’s name often causes confusion, seeing as it’s common for women to take their husband’s surnames but extremely rare for them to adopt their husband’s first names, too, even in the Royal Family. The reason she does this is due to a mix of an antiquated rule of the British aristocracy and a strange family oversight. Michael is the only grandchild of King George V not to have been granted a royal peerage at marriage. So while the wives of his cousins automatically gained a title when they were wed, Marie-Christine could only be called princess if she adopted his full name, hence why she’s known as Princess Michael of Kent.

Adopting a completely new name may well have been appealing to the princess as her maiden name carries some unfortunate baggage. Marie-Christine’s father, Baron Gunther von Reibnitz, was an actual, card-carrying member of the Nazi Party. Joining in the party’s early days in 1930, von Reibnitz rose to the rank of major in the SS. He only fell out of favor with the party when he sought an annulment on his first marriage — in order to marry Marie-Christine’s mother — without telling them, which his Nazi superiors saw as a sign of disloyalty.
This isn’t the only controversy in the princess’ closet. In 2017, Princess Michael stole headlines for all the wrong reasons when she turned up to a Christmas lunch hosed by the late Queen Elizabeth II wearing a “blackamoor” brooch. A “blackamoor” is an archaic, and deeply offensive, figurine or form of jewelry depicting a black-skinned person in a turban that dates back to the 18th century. The princess’ decision to wear such a brooch was viewed as particularly heinous as this was the family gathering at which Meghan Markle was introduced to the Royals en masse for the first time.
Princess Michael issued an apology following the shocking snafu, with her spokespeople telling the press: “The brooch was a gift and has been worn many times before. Princess Michael is very sorry and distressed that it has caused offence.”
The less savory aspects of Princess Michael’s heritage and personal history is probably why she never received a typical family honor. Neither Marie-Christine nor Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, were ever awarded the GCVO (Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order), something that is known to be because the Queen never approved of their “antics.”
Happy birthday, Princess Michael! You are so much more than just your husband’s name. For better or for worse.
Published: Jan 15, 2025 03:12 pm