Prince George, Duke of Kent (George Edward Alexander Edmund; 20 December 1902 – 25 August 1942), was a member of the British royal family, the fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary, and a younger brother of Kings Edward VIII and George VI. He served in the Royal Navy during the 1920s before briefly working as a civil servant, and in 1934 was created Duke of Kent. That same year he married Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, with whom he had three children: Edward, Alexandra and Michael.
In the late 1930s he joined the Royal Air Force, holding staff appointments at RAF Training Command and, from 1941, in the Welfare Section of the Inspector-General's Staff. George was killed in an air crash in Scotland in 1942, aged 39.
George was born at 7:35 pm on 20 December 1902 at York Cottage on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England. His father was the Prince of Wales (later King George V), the only surviving son of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. His mother was the Princess of Wales, later Queen Mary, the eldest child and only daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Teck. At the time of his birth, George was fifth in the line of succession to the throne, following his father and three older brothers: Edward (later Edward VIII), Albert (later George VI), and Henry.
He was baptised in the Private Chapel at Windsor Castle on 26 January 1903 by Francis Paget, the Bishop of Oxford. His godparents were King Edward VII (his paternal grandfather); Prince Valdemar of Denmark (his paternal granduncle, represented by Prince Carl of Denmark, his paternal uncle and first cousin once removed); Prince Louis of Battenberg (husband of his father's cousin); Queen Alexandra (his paternal grandmother); Empress Dowager Maria Feodorovna (his paternal grandaunt, represented by Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom, his paternal aunt); and Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (his paternal grandaunt).
George received his early education from a tutor and later followed his brother Henry to St Peter's Court, a preparatory school at Broadstairs, Kent. At the age of 13, like his elder brothers, Edward and Albert, he entered naval college, first at Osborne and subsequently at Dartmouth. He was promoted to sub-lieutenant on 15 February 1924 and to lieutenant on 15 February 1926. He remained on active service in the Royal Navy until March 1929, serving on HMS Iron Duke and later on the flagship of the Atlantic Fleet (renamed the Home Fleet in 1932), HMS Nelson. He served on the latter as a lieutenant on the admiral's staff before transferring in 1928 to HMS Durban on the America and West Indies Station, based at the Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda. His father had previously served at Bermuda on HMS Canada and HMS Thrush as a watch-keeping lieutenant.
After leaving the navy, he briefly held posts at the Foreign Office and later the Home Office, becoming the first member of the royal family to work as a civil servant. He continued to receive promotions after leaving active service, being advanced to commander on 15 February 1934 and to captain on 1 January 1937.
From January to April 1931, George and Edward undertook an 18,000‑mile tour of South America. Their outward voyage was on the ocean liner Oropesa. In Buenos Aires they opened a British Empire Exhibition. They continued from the Río de la Plata to Rio de Janeiro on the liner Alcantara and returned from Brazil to Europe on the liner Arlanza, landing at Lisbon. They travelled back via Paris and an Imperial Airways flight from Paris–Le Bourget Airport that landed specially in Windsor Great Park.
On 23 June 1936, he was appointed a personal aide-de-camp to his eldest brother, the new king, Edward VIII. Following Edward's abdication, George was appointed a personal naval aide-de-camp to his other elder brother, now George VI. On 12 March 1937, he was commissioned as a colonel in the British Army and as a group captain in the Royal Air Force (RAF). He was also appointed Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Fusiliers from the same date.
In October 1938, George was appointed Governor-General of Australia in succession to Lord Gowrie, with effect from November 1939. On 11 September 1939, however, it was announced that, owing to the outbreak of the Second World War, the appointment would be postponed.
On 8 June 1939, he was promoted to rear admiral in the Royal Navy, major-general in the British Army, and air vice-marshal in the Royal Air Force. At the start of the Second World War, he returned to active naval service with the rank of rear admiral, serving briefly in the Intelligence Division of the Admiralty.
He was patron of the Society for Nautical Research between 1926 and 1942.
On 9 October 1934, in anticipation of his forthcoming marriage to his second cousin, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, George was created Duke of Kent, Earl of St Andrews, and Baron Downpatrick. The couple married on 29 November at Westminster Abbey. This was followed by a Greek ceremony in the private chapel at Buckingham Palace, which was converted into an Orthodox chapel for the liturgy. They had three children:
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (born 9 October 1935). He married Katharine Worsley on 8 June 1961. They had three children.
Princess Alexandra, The Hon. Lady Ogilvy (born 25 December 1936). She married the Hon. Angus Ogilvy, son of David Ogilvy, 12th Earl of Airlie, and Lady Alexandra Coke, on 24 April 1963. They had two children.
Prince Michael of Kent (born 4 July 1942). He married Baroness Marie Christine von Reibnitz on 30 June 1978. They have two children.
The couple lived at 3 Belgrave Square following their marriage, and it was there that their two elder children were born. George also inherited Coppins from Princess Victoria.
George was rumoured to have had affairs with the musical star Jessie Matthews, the writer Cecil Roberts, and Noël Coward, a suggestion which Coward's long-term partner Graham Payn, denied. During his marriage, he was also said to have had an affair with the socialite Margaret Whigham, later Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, although there is no firm evidence for this claim.
His first significant relationship was with Gladys Jean Combe, younger daughter of Captain Christian Combe of the Royal Horse Guards and Lady Jane Combe, daughter of George Conyngham, 3rd Marquess Conyngham. George met her while serving as a sub-lieutenant on HMS Mackay during one of his trips ashore.