By Christopher Vaughan May 16, 2006, 23:17 GMT
It must have been love at first sight when HRH Prince Michael of Kent met Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz. If the prince were to marry this Catholic divorcee, he would be obliged to give up his place in the line of succession to the British throne.
HRH Prince Michael of Kent Copyright Anthony Crickmay Courtesy of www.princemichael.org.uk
The romance blossomed and with it controversy around the couple grew. However, they endured the scrutiny and married in 1978, becoming TRH Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. In the years since, they have been continually beset by bad publicity and numerous scandals.
One of the biggest condemnations the prince and princess have received is that they take advantage of their royal status for commercial gain. While this might seem the case, the reality of the situation is a little more complex.
Prince Michael of Kent was born as the third child of King George V's fourth son. Given his distance in the line of succession, it was never expected that the prince would take on royal and official duties. There have only been half a dozen occasions when the prince has been asked to act on behalf of his cousin, Queen Elizabeth II.
Because of this, he has never received a parliamentary annuity or an allowance from the Privy Purse. Instead, the Queen has granted him permission to earn his own living. He heads his own consultancy company that offers advice to various business sectors. As well, he often travels with various British business delegations to countries such as China and Russia.
Aside from his commercial endeavors, the prince also supports many different charities and organizations. These include the Children's Fire and Burn Trust and the World Monuments Fund in Britain.
His wife, Princess Michael, also earns her own income. Before their marriage, she worked as an interior designer. More recently, she has focused her attention on writing and speaking engagements.
She has authored three books, dealing with historical royal figures. She has expanded on these interests and often gives lectures on history and the arts. These lectures have taken her across countries such as the United States, Canada, Argentina, Austria and Switzerland -- sometimes for charity and other times for a fee.
Some of her more notable discussions have been for groups at the National Gallery in Washington and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. As well, she sits on the Board of Trustees for the Victoria & Albert Museum.
The couple is also thought to supplement their income by occasionally selling off items from their personal collections. Faberge pieces come up for auction from time to time that are rumoured to be from their Kensington Palace apartment.
The apartment itself has been another source of major criticism for the prince and princess. The use of the 'grace and favour' apartment was a wedding gift from the Queen.
When it was revealed a few years ago that they only pay a nominal fee for general upkeep, it was met with anger from some parliamentarians and the media. The palace itself is maintained with the use of public funds. It has since been decided that the prince and princess will soon lose their free-rent status and will have to find their own living accommodations.
The couple presently owns an eight-bedroom country mansion in Gloucestershire, UK. This property was recently placed on the market. It is thought that they are selling the country estate in order to finance a new home closer to London.
As for recent rumours of a troubled wedded life, the prince and princess are not alone. The Duke and Duchess of Kent are supposedly married in name only. Princess Anne and Timothy Lawrence are thought to be leading separate lives as well.
The prince and princess have received much of their harmful publicity due in large part to the inability of the princess to keep her personal thoughts and comments to herself.
While the rest of the Windsor family usually manages to silently brave through controversy, the princess seems to enjoy wading into the spotlight of negative attention.
Whether it's for her support for British fox hunting, making perceived racist comments in the United States or even bad mouthing her in-laws, the princess always seems to get her controversial views across to the media with relative ease.
May be if she spoke less about such things, the media and public might look upon her with a more positive attitude. But then again, those controversial comments keep the Princess of Kent in the spotlight and perhaps that's where she prefers to be.
On the other hand, Prince Michael seems to shun media attention. He seems to enjoy his time pursuing more personal interests. He's a vintage car enthusiast and a competitive rally driver. What he thinks of his wife's often indignant comments is not known, he tends to shy away from making his opinions public.
Due to ill-perceived comments or apparent special treatment based on public money, the prince and princess are never very far from the obtrusive eye of the press. But behind the scenes, this royal couple is apt to follow their own career paths and contribute much of their free time to charitable causes. Whatever happens in their private life should be their own business, and how much of that is made public should be up to the couple themselves.
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Christopher Vaughan is a journalist living in Canada. He has been a royal watcher for more than 20 years.
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