Princess Michael of Kent

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

 

Baroness Marie-Christine Anna Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz was born on January 15, 1945, in Carlsbad, then in the German-controlled Sudetenland, now known as Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. Her father was Baron Günther von Reibnitz and her mother was Countess Maria Anna Szapáry von Muraszombath, a descendant of the House of Windisch-Grätz. Marie-Christine has an older half-sister Margarita from her father’s first marriage and an older brother Friedrich. In 1985, Princess Michael acknowledged that her father had been a member of the Nazi party and held the rank of Major in the SS (Schutzstaffel).

After her parents divorced, her father moved to Mozambique where he became a farmer and big game hunter, and her mother took Marie-Christine and her older brother to Sydney, Australia where she ran a hair salon. In 1968, Marie-Christine settled in London, England where she worked in architecture, carpentry, and advertising. She studied the history of fine and decorative art at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and ultimately had her own successful interior design company, Szapar Designs.

On September 14, 1971, Marie-Christine married English banker Thomas Troubridge, the younger brother of Sir Peter Troubridge, 6th Baronet. The couple separated in 1973, divorced in 1977, and the marriage was formally annulled by the Roman Catholic Church in May 1978. On June 30, 1978, Marie-Christine married Prince Michael of Kent, a grandson of King George V and a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, in a civil ceremony at the Rathaus (City Hall) in Vienna, Austria. On June 29, 1983, the couple married in a Roman Catholic ceremony, at the Archbishop’s House in London after receiving the permission of Pope John Paul II.

 

Because his wife was Roman Catholic, Prince Michael forfeited his place in the line of succession under the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701. When the Succession to The Crown Act 2013 went into effect, eliminating the exclusion of anyone who marries a Roman Catholic, Prince Michael was returned to his place in the line of succession.

Upon marriage, Marie-Christine’s style and title became Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent. Traditionally, all wives of male members of the British Royal Family take the style and title of their husbands. Princess Michael could not be called Princess Marie-Christine, as she is not a princess in her own right. See Unofficial Royalty: Their Royal Highness Prince and Princess

The couple had two children, who were raised in the Church of England, and therefore retain their place in the line of succession to the British throne:

 

Neither Princess Michael nor her husband have official royal duties or receive public funds. However, they occasionally represented Queen Elizabeth II at events abroad. Princess Michael works as a writer, historian, lecturer, interior designer, and art consultant. She has authored three non-fiction books: Crowned in a Far Country: Eight Royal Brides, Cupid and the King – Five Royal Paramours, and The Serpent and The Moon – Two Rivals for the Love of a Renaissance King and two novels: The Queen Of Four Kingdoms and Agnès Sorel: Mistress of Beauty.

 

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