Prince and Princess Michael of Kent to retire from public life

Prince and Princess Michael of Kent are set to retire, months after the Prince severed his ties to Russia.

The Queen’s first cousin, a fluent Russian speaker with a lineage to Tsar Nicholas II, had strong business links with Russia – but his connections to the Kremlin came under scrutiny after the invasion of Ukraine.

In March, the 79-year-old – who along with the Queen is one of King George V’s nine grandchildren – handed back an Order of Friendship award, one of Russia’s highest honours, as well as stepping down as patron of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce.

However, he is understood to have remained an ambassador and shareholder of RemitRadar, a money transfer firm led by Sergey Markov, an ex-KGB officer.

Now, The Telegraph understands that Prince Michael and his wife, Marie-Christine, 77, are stepping down from public life altogether, with an official announcement expected in the coming days.

It is thought the move will coincide with Prince Michael’s 80th birthday on July 4.

A spokesman for the couple refused to comment.

According to the official Royal family website, Prince Michael is “involved in around 100 charities and organisations, including being patron for a large number of these”.

Although classified as a “non-working” royal, each year he undertakes more than 200 public engagements for the not-for-profit sector – funded by his own household, rather than the taxpayer.

As a five-year-old, he was a page boy at the Queen’s 1947 wedding to the Duke of Edinburgh. He is often seen at the monarch’s side at family events, alongside his siblings, Princess Alexandra and the Duke of Kent.

The Royal family website adds: “The charities vary from reflecting his interest in transport, for example being patron of the Brooklands Museum Trust, to his passion for Russia, including his own charity, The Prince Michael of Kent Foundation, which works to benefit heritage, culture, health and post-graduate business education in Russia.”

Mr Markov was named as the head of the foundation on the charity’s Russian website, which was taken offline after Ukraine was invaded on February 24.

Markov's LinkedIn entry suggests he is still "managing director" of the foundation, having first been appointed in 2005.

Prince Michael also holds an honorary professorship from St Petersburg Mining University, presented in 2017 by billionaire Vladimir Litvinenko, Vladimir Putin’s friend and campaign manager in elections in 2000 and 2004.

He is also a patron of the Moscow Academy of Industry and Finance and has an honorary doctorate and Glory of Russia award from Plekhanov Economics Academy.

Princess Michael, who is nicknamed “Princess Pushy” in some royal circles, is “actively involved in around 45 different charities and organisations” according to the website, “including animal and wildlife trusts and health and welfare charities”.

It adds: “Reflecting her interest in the arts, she is also involved in the work of many cultural institutions in various countries, including being patron of the London Arts Orchestra and of The Budapest Festival Orchestra.”

The mother of two, who was born in Sudetenland, now known as Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic, has courted controversy in the past amid allegations of racism and disparaging comments about fellow Royal family members.

A divorcee when she married Prince Michael in Austria in 1978, she and her husband were dubbed the “Rent-A-Kents” after she once opened a Happy Eater restaurant joking: “I’d go anywhere for a hot meal.”

The couple, who have two children, Lord Frederick Windsor, 43, and Lady Gabriella Windsor, 41, were given a grace and favour apartment at Kensington Palace as a wedding present from the Queen. However, in 2002, they faced criticism when it emerged they had been paying a peppercorn rent of £69 a week for the five-bedroom, five reception room property, despite not being official working royals.

In response, Buckingham Palace said the monarch would allow them to continue living rent-free and foot the annual £120,000 bill from her own private income for seven years, before the Kents were asked to pay the rent themselves.

In 2009, just months before they were saddled with the financial burden, the couple sold a series of family heirlooms at Christie’s, including informal photographs of Queen Victoria and the last Tsar, a Coronation chair and Prince Michael’s silver christening set.

It emerged in 2012 that Prince Michael had received at least £320,000 from exiled oligarch Boris Berezovsky over six years to assist with staff costs. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing.

Princess Michael once suggested older members of the Royal family were “boring”. She caused a stir when she said Diana, Princess of Wales was “uneducated” and had found it hard to cope with her royal status having grown up without a mother.

Princess Michael, whose father was a major in the Nazi SS, was forced to apologise in 2017 after wearing a blackamoor brooch, depicting the bust of a black person with an opulent gold crown and bust, to a Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace.

The gesture prompted controversy as the event was attended by the future Duchess of Sussex, who is bi-racial.

It came after an episode in a New York restaurant in 2004, when she was said to have told a group of African-American diners to "go back to the colonies". She attempted to repair her reputation with an interview, which only exacerbated the controversy.

"I even pretended years ago to be an African, a half-caste African, but because of my light eyes I did not get away with it, but I dyed my hair black," she told ITV.