Who is Princess Alexandra? Royal who was born on Christmas Day
The Royal Family has shared birthday messages to the Queen’s cousin on Christmas Day, as she celebrates turning 84.
Princess Alexandra is a working royal, who carries out engagements on behalf of the Queen.
She was born on 25 December 1936, and is the daughter of the late Duke and Duchess of Kent. The Duke of Kent was a brother of King George VI, who was the Queen’s father.
Alexandra is the Queen’s cousin, and is the sister of Prince Michael of Kent.
Her father died when she was five-years-old.
Alexandra went to Heathfield School near Ascot, but attended finishing school in Paris.
When she was 11, she was a bridesmaid for then-Princess Elizabeth, who became Queen in 1952.
The princess married Angus Ogilvy in 1963, and Princess Anne was her chief bridesmaid. While she may be a lesser-known royal now, their nuptials were broadcast to an estimated 200 million people globally.
They had two children, James and Marina, who don’t carry out royal duties. Sir Angus died in 2004.
Her other title, as well as being princess, is The Honourable Lady Ogilvy.
As a senior royal, Alexandra is a patron of nearly 100 charities. During the coronavirus pandemic, she has been keeping in touch with them via phone calls, as she was unable to make in-person visits.
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Although her main royal work is with charities based in the UK, Alexandra has also been abroad to represent the Queen on several occasions.
In 1960, she travelled to Nigeria, representing the Queen at the country’s independence celebrations, and since then has also been to Rome, Gibraltar, the USA and Thailand.
She makes appearances on the balcony with the other members of the Royal Family on occasions including Trooping the Colour and would have been invited to the Queen’s pre-Christmas Buckingham Palace banquet.
The event did not happen in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Her charity patronages include Cancer Research UK and the British Goat Society.
The princess was sixth in line to the throne when she was born, but is now 53rd.
She lives in the royals home of Thatched House Lodge, in the grounds of Richmond Park, in southwest London. The Grade-II listed home has been for royals for hundreds of years, and Princess Alexandra moved in there with Sir Angus soon after their wedding.
According to some reports, she had been preparing to step back as a senior royal last year, but she has carried on working in the wake of the departure of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle earlier this year. The palace had dismissed the rumours.
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She was part of the collective Royal Family efforts to mark International Nurses’ Day during the pandemic.
Once dubbed a “sort of national treasure”, when she began royal duties, she carried out more than 100 every year.
Hugo Vickers, the Queen Mother’s biographer, told The Telegraph: “She has never done anything except royal duties all her life – there were not so many members of the Royal family around when she started working.”
He added: “She is quite royal and holds her dignity.”
Her son James went to school with the Queen’s youngest son, Prince Edward, and the two men are said to continue to be good friends.
Alexandra is now grandmother to four children, as both her children have two of their own.
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