National Portrait Gallery, 1931
Prince George (1902-42) was born at York Cottage in Norfolk when his grandfather Edward VII was king. George was the fourth son of George V and Mary of Teck, his siblings being Edward (b1894, Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII), Albert (b1895, later George VI), Henry (b1900, later Duke Gloucester) and his sister Mary (b1897, later Countess Harewood). At birth, he was 5th in succession to the British throne.
After private tutoring and prep school, George (13) was sent to naval college preparing for a Royal Navy career, like his brothers. He loathed the naval life, but he remained in the Royal Navy until 1929. He then held Foreign Office posts, then the Home Office.
George was especially close to his brother Edward, the stylish Prince of Wales. From 1929 they lived together in York House in St James’ Palace, sharing an interest in clothes, socialising and sex. Ironically Edward was given the task of limiting George’s drugs.
Fox 1927
The handsome princely bachelors were style arbiters and magazine favourites on both sides of the Atlantic. Given his liking for the nightlife and the arts, George’s preference for a double-breasted style led it to being called The Kent. George played the piano, spoke French and Italian, liked fast cars and preferred sailing to shooting.
Just before marriage, George was made Duke of Kent and Earl of St Andrews. He happily married his second cousin, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark in Nov 1934 at Westminster Abbey then a Greek Orthodox service at Buckingham Palace. NB Marina was Prince Philip’s first cousin.
Christopher Warwick wrote George and Marina: The Duke and Duchess of Kent (1988) . The Duke and Duchess of Kent were very popular with the British public, and their home in Belgrave Sq dazzled London society pre-WW2. George was the most cultivated royal, entertaining the best stars from the arts and theatre.
Just before marriage, George was made Duke of Kent and Earl of St Andrews. He happily married his second cousin, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark in Nov 1934 at Westminster Abbey then a Greek Orthodox service at Buckingham Palace. NB Marina was Prince Philip’s first cousin.
Christopher Warwick wrote George and Marina: The Duke and Duchess of Kent (1988) . The Duke and Duchess of Kent were very popular with the British public, and their home in Belgrave Sq dazzled London society pre-WW2. George was the most cultivated royal, entertaining the best stars from the arts and theatre.
George was said to have a very active sexual life. He fancied an American socialite, producing a son. He liked the bisexual son of Argentina’s ambassador to London, an African-American cabaret star, an English musical star, a banking heiress and a socialite Duchess. Author Barbara Cartland said that he fathered her daughter Raine McCorquodale, Princess Diana’s stepmother.
And George had a 19-year affair with actor-composer Noël Coward. British Security Services reported the two men were parading the London streets dressed as women, but love letters between them were stolen from Coward’s house in 1942. George was also close to Prince of Prussia Louis Ferdinand and art historian-Soviet spy Anthony Blunt.
And George had a 19-year affair with actor-composer Noël Coward. British Security Services reported the two men were parading the London streets dressed as women, but love letters between them were stolen from Coward’s house in 1942. George was also close to Prince of Prussia Louis Ferdinand and art historian-Soviet spy Anthony Blunt.
When WW2 started, Rear Admiral Prince George re-joined the Navy, unhappily serving in Admiralty Intelligence. He had once been a keen pilot so in Apr 1940 he moved to the RAF, working in their Training Command
In Aug 1942, an aircraft from 228 Squadron left RAF Oban, the crew assigned to transport the Prince to RAF Reykjavik Iceland for a regular visit to RAF personnel. Prince George and his crew were killed when the flying boat veered off course, crashing into a mountain in Nth Scotland Rescue crews arrived but only the rear gunner, Flight Sarg Andrew Jack, survived because he worked in the aircraft’s tail end that separated. He was hospitalised with severe burns for weeks, deeply traumatised.
The police and Special Branch sealed the area and warned the press off. A Board of Inquiry was convened but Jack’s refusal to speak was problematic. The Investigation quickly concluded that Flight Lieut Frank Goyen’s pilot error was to blame. Why are the official papers still embargoed?
Conspiracy theories quickly flourished. Why did the plane crash, despite sunny weather? Why did the pilot descend to c650’ when he was flying over highland? Was there a problem on the plane or engine? Why did the pilot manoeuvre the plane over land when it was a boat bomber that was supposed to fly over the water? They noted that Goyen’s flight plan, filed before take-off, totally disappeared! Capt Goyen was an expert flying boat pilot, as was the co-pilot. Who was at the controls? These questions were either not investigated or were not shared publicly.
Andrew Jack's niece later claimed Jack told them Prince George had been at the plane’s controls; that Jack dragged him from the pilot's seat post-crash; and that there was another unidentified person aboard the plane. Princess Marina certainly contacted Andrew Jack a few times, but their conversations were never divulged.
The Prince had a wrist-bag holding 100 Swedish kroner notes. Why did he bring notes invalid in his country of destination? Was George's death caused because he was heading on a special war-time mission in Iceland, and if so, what was his mission? Did George share the pro-Nazi sentiments of his brother, Duke of Windsor? Was he really friendly with Joachim von Ribbentrop, German ambassador in London? George was often with the Duke of Hamilton, so could he have been the real target of Nazi deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess on a flight to Scotland? Could British intelligence, on Winston Churchill’s orders, have caused the crash?
Prince George was buried in the Royal Burial Ground in the Frogmore Estate, alongside Queen Victoria. He left his widow Marina with 3 small children: Edward b1935, the current Duke of Kent; Princess Alexandra b1936, who married businessman Angus Ogilvy; and Prince Michael b1942, still working royals.
The Rake
Princess Marina, only 35, continued to perform official royal duties, including attending the wedding of cousin Prince Philip to her husband's niece Princess Elizabeth, in 1947. Her funeral was in 1968, attended by the royals, but the royal family have NEVER spoken publicly about the Duke.
P.M Winston Churchill honoured the prince in the House of Commons. So a blitz of media coverage was expected, but the Government used its wartime powers to block enquiries. Was the plane crash an accident, suicide, or punishment for Nazi-support, bi-sexuality, promiscuity or drug usage?
See British documentary, The Queen’s Lost Uncle, 2003.
See British documentary, The Queen’s Lost Uncle, 2003.
Daily Express, published in 2017
20 comments:
Prince George at least had a colourful life.
What a colourful life he led. Almost makes Meghan and Harry pale into insignificance.
Earlier on at the Abdication, the royals thought that Prince George might have succeed the throne, instead of brother Edward Prince of Wales. That was because Princess Marina already had a son, a male line of succession which Bertie would never have. And because his brother was rooting around with an American divorcee, Wallis Simpson.
Helen, what might have happened to the royal dynasty, had Prince George become the next king after the abdication? He would certainly not been in a small plane in 1942
This is interesting as I read about this Prince in a different book. The book was about Edward- the abdicated king, but it's interesting to read how his brother had such an alcohol and drug addiction. Your post really adds to what I've read. Happy week ahead. hugs-Erika
Roentare
he wasn't the first male royal to lead a colourful life. I won't even discuss the
early modern kings so let's start with Edward VII, Queen Victoria's son. He was probably the most promiscuous - he apparently had 4 different sex partners a week for his entire adult life. When Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh visited New Guinea in 1956, the army men there received a letter suggesting they protect their wives inside the family home.
Rachel
Meghan and Harry really do pale into insignificance.
Mind you, that doesn't stop every generation of commoners looking at the royals for gossip. Sometimes the evidence is readily available eg photos of a royal with someone else's spouse or is caught smoking dope with a teenager. But sometimes the gossip seems to be based on the flimsiest of evidence.
Joe
I love What If Questions in history. Edward VIII was a totally inappropriate choice for king because of his pro-Nazi views, as well as living with a married woman. But I would have thought he would be followed by his next brother down (Prince Albert), almost automatically.
The Duke of Kent would certainly have been saved from the plane crash, had he become King, but perhaps it would have been an unhappy reign.
I've never heard of him, so I suppose it was a successful cover up. Perhaps he was the last royal to get away with behaviour that went against the moral grains of society.
Erika
Royal usage of drugs and alcohol is usually secret and hard to prove. The Archbishop of Canterbury wrote long hidden letters accusing King Edward VIII of alcoholism. The written accusations might have been nonsense, based on the Archbishop's anger over the King living with a married woman.
With the Duke of Kent, I am not sure if there is any written evidence at all. He was often seen at parties having a great time, but the press were banned from reporting any behaviour that might portray the royal family negatively. And the royals themselves would not normally discuss the Duke's indulgence in cocaine and morphine.
Perhaps the plane crash was intentional, after all.
Hello Hels, My opinion of this George depends mostly on his views and connections with Nazi Germany. Overall, he seems a semi-twin to Edward, pretty much of a lout, and if England really did have to dispose of him, not much of a loss. I am not against a colorful life, and very accomplished people often have such, but after a certain point (I recall your earlier article about Edward and Wallis), it all becomes too sordid.
--Jim
Andrew
people in the Duke's own generation knew him very well, and all of London turned up to his funeral in tears. But for decades after that, no monument was built in his memory and no newspapers mentioned his name. I learned a lot of British history, including royal history, and didn't know _anything_ about the secret plane crash.
If the Duke led the life of a playboy today, probably he would have been noticed and called out. Today there is nowhere on earth to hide, away from cameras, computers and drones.
Parnassus
any normal person would believe that the Duke of Kent's connections with Nazi Germany, if true, were the worst thing he did. Not that George would have been the only royal or politician who wanted peace with Germany... at any cost.
The book Double Standards (2001) wrote the Duke of Kent met Rudolf Hess and Alfred Rosenberg during the 1930s. A report written by Rosenberg for Adolf Hitler in Oct 1935 stated that the Duke of Kent was working quietly "in strengthening the pressure for a reconstruction of the Cabinet and mainly towards beginning the movement in the direction of Germany." And in Feb 1937 a Foreign Office document showed the Duke of Kent had developed a close relationship with Joachim von Ribbentrop, German Ambassador in London.
Duty was never top of Edward VIII's agenda and it seems that his brother was similarly self-indulgent. Some have privilege and rise above it, others seek only to aggrandise themselves.
jabblog
it seems as if the princes had many duties they had to carry out, but after that, they could indulge themselves with whatever made them happy. And if those pleasures were illegal, immoral or dangerous, the princes were above the law in any case.
An autographed half-length formal portrait of the Duke of Kent in Royal Air Force uniform (1941) can be viewed at the Imperial War Museum in London.
Many thanks. Since there is no shrine, monument or museum to the Duke of Kent's memory, do you think the Imperial War Museums collection of photos and paintings makes up for the absence? I hope so.
It is telling that the current Duke of Kent has been a working member of the Royal Family since he retired from the Army in 1976. As the son of Prince George Duke of Kent, being President of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission helps him encourage our grandchildren to remember the sacrifices made in war.
Boa tarde de quarta-feira. Obrigado pela visita e carinho.
Excelente matéria e brilhante aula de história. Matéria cheia de informações.
Luiz Gomes
Luiz
if you are interested in this amazing topic, I recommend you read George and Marina: Duke and Duchess of Kent by Christopher Warwick.
Lets face it the Royal family is and has been a pretty average family in many ways . Some members are a pain and others earn their keep and seems to have a great emotional intelligence and can read the room better than those who seem to have a sense of entitlement or perhaps a transactional view which says "if you want to stare at me and know all about me through the endless press intrusion I have to suffer, then the cost is that I can do what I like " . We get upset at this and so we have the H and M saga unfolding . Personally I find the whole concept of birth dictating your entire life trajectory is crazy and yet it seems to work as we have had a stable democratic system in most of the commonwealth countries. We are a weird bunch !!!
mem
Agreed. Since the royal family is just the same as every other family, and doesn't have better behaviour than anyone else, citing moral values as a reason for getting rid of a wife or killing a duke doesn't make remote sense. In every generation since the Anglo Saxons, the monarch has had many mistresses, has slept with men, took drugs, consorted with the enemy in war time, gaoled their sister for life etc etc
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