Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy
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| Princess Alexandra | |
|---|---|
| The Hon. Lady Ogilvy | |
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| Spouse | Angus Ogilvy |
| Issue | |
| James Ogilvy Marina Ogilvy |
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| Full name | |
| Alexandra Helen Elizabeth Olga Christabel Ogilvy | |
| Titles | |
| HRH Princess Alexandra, The Hon Lady Ogilvy HRH Princess Alexandra, The Hon Mrs Angus Ogilvy HRH Princess Alexandra of Kent |
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| Royal House | House of Windsor |
| Father | Prince George, Duke of Kent |
| Mother | Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent |
| Born | 25 December 1936 Belgrave Square, London |
| Baptised | 9 February 1937 Buckingham Palace, London |
Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy (Alexandra Helen Elizabeth Olga Christabel Ogilvy; born Windsor, 25 December 1936), is a member of the British Royal Family, a granddaughter of King George V. She was married to the late Sir Angus Ogilvy. Prior to her marriage she was known as Princess Alexandra of Kent.
Princess Alexandra carries out royal duties on behalf of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth II. She is 32nd in the line of succession to the British throne and at the time of her birth in 1936 was sixth.
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[edit] Early life
Princess Alexandra was born on 25 December 1936 at 3 Belgrave Square, London. Her father was The Prince George, Duke of Kent, the fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary. Her mother was The Duchess of Kent (nee Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark), a daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and Grand Duchess Helen Vladimirovna of Russia. As a granddaughter of the British monarch, she was styled as a British princess with the prefix, Her Royal Highness. At the time of her birth she was sixth in the line of succession to the British throne. The Princess was baptised in the Private Chapel of Buckingham Palace on 9 February 1937 and her godparents were: King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Nicholas of Greece, Princess Olga of Yugoslavia, Karl Theodor, Count zu Törring-Jettenbach, Queen Maud of Norway, the Earl of Athlone and Princess Henry of Battenberg.
Princess Alexandra spent most her childhood at her family's country house, Coppins, in Buckinghamshire. She lived with her grandmother, Queen Mary, the widow of George V, during World War II at Badminton. Her father was killed in an aeroplane crash near Caithness, Scotland on 25 August 1942 whilst serving in the Royal Air Force.
She served as bridesmaid at the wedding of her cousins, the then-Princess Elizabeth and The Duke of Edinburgh, on 20 November 1947. Princess Alexandra has the distinction of being the first British princess to have attended an ordinary school, Heathfield School near Ascot.
[edit] Marriage
On 24 April 1963, she married Angus James Bruce Ogilvy (1928-2004), the second son of the 12th Earl of Airlie and Lady Alexandra Coke, at Westminster Abbey. The wedding ceremony was attended by all the members of the Royal Family and was broadcast worldwide on television, watched by an estimated 200 million people.
Since Ogilvy declined the Queen's offer of an earldom upon marriage (although he remained in line to the earldom of Airlie until his death), he remained a commoner. Consequently, the children of the marriage do not have titles. Ogilvy received a knighthood in 1988 and was appointed to the Privy Council in 1997. Princess Alexandra and Sir Angus Ogilvy had two children and four grandchildren, none of whom carries out royal duties:
- James Ogilvy, born 29 February 1964, married 30 July 1988 Julia Rawlinson, and has issue: Flora Ogilvy (born 1994) and Alexander Ogilvy (born 1996).
- Marina Ogilvy, born 31 July 1966 (36th in the line of succession to the British Throne), married 2 February 1990 Paul Mowatt. Her children, Zenouska Mowatt (born 1990), 38th in the line of succession to the British Throne, and Christian Mowatt (born 1993), 37th in the line of succession to the British Throne.
[edit] Royal duties
Since the late 1950s, Princess Alexandra has carried out an extensive programme of royal engagements in support of the Queen, both in the United Kingdom and overseas.
In 1959, she carried out an extensive tour of Australia, and attended the Queensland Centenary Celebrations. She returned to the country in 1967 for a private holiday, but also carried out engagements in Canberra and Melbourne. The Princess represented the Queen when Nigeria gained its independence from the United Kingdom on 1 October 1960, and later opened the first Parliament on 3 October. Later overseas tours included visits to Canada, Italy, Norway, Thailand, Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands.
Princess Alexandra served as Chancellor of Lancaster University since its foundation in 1964, a post she relinquished in 2005 when she also accepted an honorary degree in Music. She is also an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the Royal College of Physicians. She is also the President of Alexandra Rose Day, which was founded in honour of her great grandmother, Alexandra of Denmark.She is the patron of The Royal School, Hampstead, which was founded in 1855.
Princess Alexandra receives £225,000 per year from the Civil List to cover the cost of official expenses; although like the other members of the Royal Family (except the Duke of Edinburgh) the Queen repays this amount to the Treasury. Alexandra lives at Thatched House Lodge in Richmond upon Thames, London a crown property acquired by Sir Angus Ogilvy after their wedding. She also has use of an apartment at St James's Palace in London.
[edit] Family troubles
Although usually a low profile member of the Royal Family, Princess Alexandra and her family have come under media scrutiny at various points in her life. Her husband Angus Ogilvy was a director at a mining company, Lonrho when it was involved in a scandal over the breaking of trade sanctions against British-held Rhodesia. The Prime Minister at the time, Edward Heath criticised the company, and Ogilvy resigned his directorships.
[edit] Titles and honours
| Styles of Princess Alexandra, the Hon. Lady Ogilvy |
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|---|---|
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| Reference style | Her Royal Highness |
| Spoken style | Your Royal Highness |
| Alternative style | Ma'am |
[edit] Titles from birth
- Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra of Kent (25 December 1936-25 December 1960)
- Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra of Kent, GCVO (25 December 1960-24 April 1963)
- Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Mrs Angus Ogilvy, GCVO (24 April 1963-1989)
- Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy, GCVO (1989-2003)
- Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy, LG, GCVO (2003- )
Her full title is Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra Helen Elizabeth Olga Christabel of Kent, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy, Royal Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order.
[edit] Honours
- Lady of the Order of the Garter
- Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
- Canadian Forces Decoration
[edit] Honorary military appointments
- Colonel-in-Chief of The King's Own Royal Border Regiment,
- Colonel-in-Chief of The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada
- Colonel-in-Chief of The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's)
- Colonel-in-Chief of The Light Infantry
- Royal Honorary Colonel of The Royal Yeomanry
- Deputy Colonel-in-Chief of The Queen's Royal Lancers.
[edit] Coat of arms
Princess Alexandra's personal coat of arms were granted in 1961. Her arms are the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, with a five point label- the standard differentiation for a male line grandchild of a British monarch The first, third and fifth labels bear a red heart, the second and fourth labels bear a blue anchor.
| Preceded by: The Lady Gabriella Windsor |
Line of succession to the British throne | Succeeded by: James Ogilvy |
