The British Royal Born on 4 July Whose Godfather Was President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Report from The Observer on 19 July 1942

Report from The Guardian on 5 August 1942

Report from The Guardian on 13 August 1942

Prince Michael George Charles Franklin of Kent was born during the Second World War on 4 July 1942, at Coppins, Buckinghamshire. Michael was the third child of Prince George, Duke of Kent, a son of King George V and Queen Mary, and of Princess Marina, a daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia. When Prince Michael of Kent was baptised on 4 August 1942, his godparents were King George VI, Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands, King Haakon VII of Norway, US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Duke of Gloucester, Crown Princess Frederica of Greece, Lady Patricia Ramsay (née Connaught), and the Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven.

Michael joined two older siblings: brother Prince Edward (b.1935) and sister Princess Alexandra (b.1936). Prince Michael's father the Duke of Kent was killed in an airplane crash on 25 August 1942: his son was just seven weeks old. Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, raised her three children as a widow; financial circumstances were sometimes tight. Prince Michael attended Eton before enrolling at Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. The prince then went on to have a military career lasting some twenty years.

In 1978, Prince Michael of Kent married Baroness Marie Christine von Reibnitz (b.1943). The couple have two children: Lord Frederick Windsor (b.1979) and Lady Gabriella Kingston (b.1981; née).

We wish Prince Michael many happy returns!

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