Royal You Should Know About: Princess Alexandra
Official Title: Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy
Place in Order of Precedence: Princess Alexandra is 53rd in line for the UK throne. She is the Queen’s first cousin, the daughter of Prince George, Duke of Kent and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark (who is also Prince Philip’s first cousin). When she was born, she was sixth in line.
Romantic History: She was married to Sir Angus Ogilvy from 1963 until he died in 2004, the second son of the 12th Earl of Airlie and Lady Alexandra Coke, at Westminster Abbey. The wedding ceremony was attended by the royal family and was televised with around 200 million people watching.
Children: Princess Alexandra and Sir Angus had two children, James Robert Bruce Ogilvy (born 29 February 1964 who is married to Julia Caroline Rawlinson and have two children. Marina Victoria Alexandra Ogilvy was born 31 July 1966 and married Paul Julian Mowatt in 1990 and divorced in 1997. They also have two children.
Work and Key Patronages: She is patron or president of over 100 organisations which reflect her wide-ranging interests, from the arts to health care, and since the late 1950’s has been a working royal, carrying out around 120 engagements per year. She has significantly scaled back on public appearances due to arthritis.
Some of her key causes are centered around healthcare (including a focus on the blind and alzheimers), the arts and academics:
Joint-President of Cancer Research UK with The Duke of Gloucester.
Patron of the Florence Nightingale Foundation since 1957, which provides scholarships for nurses, midwives and health visitors. She is also Patron of St. Christopher's Hospice, Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service, MIND and the Mental Health Foundation.
Deputy President of the British Red Cross Society and Patron of Alzheimer's Society.
Known for her work on behalf of the blind, she is Patron of Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and of Action for Blind People as well as being President of Sightsavers (I expect that the Countess of Wessex, who also works to end preventable blindness may take over some of the patronages in the future).
President of Alexandra Rose Charities, founded in 1912 by King Edward VII's wife Queen Alexandra initially to raise money for hospitals through the sale of roses. Today the charity promotes and assists projects for the welfare and development of children and young people in London through the Rose Voucher Scheme, whereby mothers on low incomes can be helped to feed their young children healthy food.
Patron of the Chopin Society, the English National Opera, and the London Philharmonic Choir.
Academic: Chancellor of the University of Lancaster from 1964-2004; She has honorary law doctorates from Queensland, Hong Kong, Mauritius and Liverpool Universities, an honorary doctorate of music from the University of Lancaster. 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.
Why You Want to Have Tea with Her:
Princess Alexandra is a true old-fashioned royal - she has noble blood from several sides of her family and multiple countries, she has served quietly and loyally for years, and as a result has a number of very high profile patronages. She and her brothers, the Duke of Kent and Prince Michael of Kent, are the Queen’s cousins, who along with cousin the Duke of Gloucester are all working royals. When she was christened, her godparents were King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of England, the Queen of Norway (her grand-aunt), Princess Nicholas of Greece and Denmark (her maternal grandmother), Princess Olga of Yugoslavia (her maternal aunt), Princess Beatrice (her paternal great-grand-aunt), the Earl of Athlone (her paternal grand-uncle), and Count Karl Theodor of Törring-Jettenbach (her maternal uncle by marriage). What a royal line up!
She was the first British princess to attend a normal school and also studied in Paris. She currently lives at Thatched House Lodge in Richmond, London, a Crown property purchased on a 150-year lease from the Crown Estate Commissioners by Sir Angus Ogilvy after their wedding in 1963, and in an apartment at St. James Palace, which is also the London residence of Princess Anne and Princess Beatrice. Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla are based at the nearby Clarence House, which is part of the complex.
The Princess has represented the Crown around the world, taking official visits to Thailand and Brunei, Rome, Gibraltar, Norway, the United Arab Emirates and the USA and Canada. She is one of the Queen’s most trusted family members, and in addition to being a bridesmaid at her wedding, was also a bridesmaid at the 1962 wedding of Prince Juan Carlos of Spain (who is now their disgraced king) to her second cousin, Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark.