Prince Michael of Kent - Marriage

Marriage

On 30 June 1978, Prince Michael was married, at a civil ceremony, at the Rathaus, Vienna, Austria, to Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz, the only child of the Silesian nobleman Baron Gunther Hubertus von Reibnitz, and his Hungarian-born wife, Maria Anna Carolina Franziska Walpurga Bernadette, Countess Szapáry de Muraszombath, Széchysziget et Szapár.

At the time of the marriage, the Baroness was not only a Roman Catholic, but also a divorcée. She was previously married to banker Thomas Troubridge; they separated in 1973, divorced in 1977, and had their marriage annulled by the Roman Catholic Church a year later, two months before her marriage to Prince Michael. Under the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701, which governs in each realm the laws of succession to their respective thrones, Prince Michael forfeited his place in the lines of succession through marriage to a Roman Catholic.

However, his wife became, and remains, Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent (not Princess Marie-Christine, since she is not a princess in her own right, but only by right of marriage). Prince and Princess Michael of Kent have two children, both of whom remain in line to the throne because they are not Roman Catholics, having been raised as members of the Church of England:

• Lord Frederick Windsor, born 6 April 1979; married, 12 September 2009, Sophie Winkleman and 39th in the Line of Succession to the British throne. Educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford. Now with JP Morgan in Los Angeles
• Lady Gabriella Windsor, born 23 April 1981; and 40th in the Line of Succession to the British throne. Educated at Downe House and Brown University, US. Now studying for an MPhil in Anthropology at Oxford University.