The Kents

[Belindabelle]

Just looking at the official coronation photograph of the modern slimmed down monarchy.

I see the Duke of Kent. I know his wife the Duchess (my favorite) retired from public life some years ago.

What happened to prince and princess Michael of Kent. I know they were at the coronation but how come the Duke outranks them and they are not part of the new firm.

Can anybody explain.

Right.

For example, King Charles and Sarah Chatto are first cousins because their mothers were sisters. KC and Sarah's sons are first cousins once removed. Sarah's sons and William and Harry are second cousins.

For anyone still confused. If you insert the word generation into it, makes it easier to follow.

1st generation (gen) cousin, share grandparents.
1st gen, one gen removed, is your cousins kids. (Ie Zara to Prince George)
1st gen, 2nd gen removed are your cousins, grandkids. (Armstrong Jones's to Prince George)

2nd gen cousins are your kids & cousins kids. Share great-grandparents (Zaras kids to Williams kids)

3rd gen cousins are your grandkids & cousins grandkids, they share great-great grandparents

The Queen & Philip were 3rd gen cousins. Both decended from Queen Victoria.

Oh, how interesting! And he might have been the first openly gay King too if his ancestors had been successful (as others like Edward II and James I were likely gay or bisexual, but obviously not openly so).

Also interesting that the Duke’s heir in the Jacobite line of succession is his brother, and the next heir is then his niece Sophie. She was at Charles’ Coronation (she is married to the Crown Prince of Liechtenstein). Must have been an odd chance for “what might have been” thoughts!

The Queen & Philip were 3rd gen cousins. Both decended from Queen Victoria.

They were also second cousins once removed as descendants of King Christian IX of Denmark.

@CarolinaInTheMorning Fascinating bit of trivia, look forward to that popping up in the pub quiz.
But interesting how the Royal Families are all inter-related not too close to cause a massive risk of genetic issues, But inter linked.

If they are first cousins of the queen, they are first cousins once removed of Charles, not second cousins. Their children are his second cousins.

Michael of Kent got busted for throwing Palace parties for Russian Oligarchs and selling to access to the Kremlin. He’s apparently very close to Putin and was even dubbed the unofficial Royal ‘ambassador’ to Russia.

Think Charles’ people are trying to dissociate to try to get the stink off.

He's a bit of a remote connection, and never an official position. I have no idea what all of my extended family are doing, whether there is a 'stink' or not, so don't hold Charles - for all his faults - to a different standard.

Think Charles’ people are trying to dissociate to try to get the stink off.

He and his wife were in the royal carriages at the races at least once this week so not that much dissociation really.

Royal Ascot 2023 day two: Frankie Dettori ends drought on Gregory in Queen’s Vase – as it happened | Royal Ascot | The Guardian

Apparently came in via the 'tradesman's entrance' today 😁

So funny how concerned people on the board are about Harrys visa and this story gets no attention.

Prince Michael of Kent was willing to use his royal status for personal profit, and provide access to Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime, a Sunday Times and Channel 4 report says.
The Queen's cousin was filmed at a meeting in which undercover reporters were told he could be hired to make representations to the Kremlin.
His friend, the Marquess of Reading, later described him as "Her Majesty's unofficial ambassador to Russia".
The prince, 78, has denied the claims.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57042823

This article was shared on page 2 and has been discussed

I can also see I referenced this scandal in the second post to explain why you don’t see them much anymore.

The queen and Anne worked as royals from a young age, Anne from 18. But the royals now all want the best years of their lives just to play.

The real issue is neither William or Kate like to work. The much older royals always do much more than them.

The whole culture has moved on… I can’t see any of the young royals leaving their toddlers with nannies for months on end and working into their 90s and 100s. And nor should they tbh.

It’s only ever the women that do full time royal duties straight away. The men always do their military stints first.

That’s no different to what William did.

@tigger2022 , they are the sons of Prince George who was George VI’s younger brother. So cousins of QE2 and therefore second cousins of the King.

That's not correct. They are first cousins once removed.
Their children are second cousins of the King.

There's only been Princess Anne though, who started in the late 1960s. And before her the (then) Princesses Elizabeth and Margare.

It's been all men since then (Andrew, Edward, William, Harry) so we don't really know what might lie ahead for Charlotte as the world has changed so much in the last 50 years

My point was though that William isn’t doing any different to his father, uncles, grandfather, great uncles etc. The outlier previously is the current Duke of Gloucester, but he wasn’t expected to be a full time royal. His brother didn’t go down the military route but the foreign office instead.

Anne, Elizabeth, Margaret, Alexandra, Mary etc all went straight in. We don’t know what’s ahead for Charlotte. I imagine the first difference is that Charlotte is almost guaranteed to go to university

Back in the day (1500s 😂) the Church was also a satisfactory way of using up younger sons... maybe they could earmark a bishop's role for Louis...

I'm joking, just to be clear!