Royals in Medals #11: Prince George, Duke of Kent

For Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (1935-) - click here

Prince George, Duke of Kent, Earl of St Andrews
and Baron Downpatrick 

Prince George Edward Alexander Edmund, Duke of Kent, was born on 20 December 1902 at York Cottage, Sandringham, the fourth son and fitfh child of King George V and Queen Mary (then the Prince and Princess of Wales).  He was therefore fifth in line of succession to the throne at the time of his birth.  He was educated privately and at the naval colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth.

Passing out of Darmouth as a Midshipman in 1921, he served in the Royal Navy until 1929 and was then attached to the Foreign Office and Home Office.  He accompanied his brother Edward on his tours of Canada (1927) and South America (1931).  In 1934 he undertook a tour of his own through Africa.  He was designated governor-general of Australia in 1938, but this appointment was cancelled due to the outbreak of war.

During the war he initially served in the naval intelligence section of the Admiralty with the rank of Captain (later promoted to Rear-Admiral), but wanting a more active role, transferred to the Royal Air Force where he took the rank of Group Captain (later Air Commodre)  in the Training Command.  Here he was involved in welfare and morale-raising, visiting many RAF establishments.  He also toured Canada and the USA during 1941.

On 25 August 1942, the Duke was en-route to visit RAF forces in Iceland when his Sunderland aircraft crashed at the Eagle's Rock, near Dunbeath in Caithness.  All 15 people on board were killed.  He was buried at Windsor.

Marriage and Family

The royal wedding November 1934

Prince George married Princess Marina, daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece on 29 November 1934 - to mark this he had been created Duke of Kent, Earl of St Andrews and Baron Downpatrick.  (Princess Marina will have her own 'Royals in Medals' post.)

The couple had three children

• Prince Edward (the current Duke of Kent), b. 1935. 
• Princess Alexandra, b. 1936
• Prince Michael of Kent, b. 1942

The Kents photographed in 1934
by Dorothy Wilding

According to the Dictionary of National Biography, the marriage was a turning point in his life, 'strengthening his character and making his purpose in life more definite'.  Certainly, his lifestyle was less dissolute publicly, and his alleged drug used seems to have stopped; yet he appears to have continued to have affairs.  He is believed to have been bisexual, and those it is claimed he slept with are said to include Jessie Matthews, Barbara Cartland and Noël Coward. 

Orders, Decorations and Medals

Orders



Order of the Garter
Royal Knight (KG), 1923

Order of the Thistle
Extra Knight (KT) 1935










Order of St Michael and St George
Knight Grand Cross (GCVO), 1934

Royal Victorian Order
Knight Grand Cross (GCVO), 1924








 
Most Venerable Order of St John

Decorations

Royal Victorian Chain
1937








Campaign Medals

Prince George's next-of-kin could have applied for campaign medals to mark his service during World War II.  As his medals have never to the best of my knowledge been on display, it is impossible to know whether any medals were issued.  It is also unclear what they would have been.  The following entitlement is therefore my best guess.

1939-1945 Star


Defence Medal


War Medal 1939-1945



Commemorative Medals

 King George V Coronation Medal, 1911



   King George V Silver Jubilee Medal, 1935
King George VI Coronation Medal, 1937

Foreign Awards

• Norway.  Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav
• Denmark.  Order of the Elephant

The (Other) Duke of Cambridge

Field Marshal HRH Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Tipperary and Baron Culloden,  Prince of Hanover and Duke of Brunswick and Lünenburg

Early Life and Connections

Prince George was born on 26 March 1819.  He was the eldest child and only son of  Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, the tenth child of George III, and Princess Augusta, a descendent of George II .   A proper Hanoverian, he was even born there, as his father served as viceroy for his brothers.  The family moved back to England in 1837, when the accession of George's cousin Victoria to the British throne led to the separation of the two crowns.  He succeed to the Dukedom on his father's death in 1850.

His sister, Princess Mary Adelaide ('Fat Mary'), was the mother of Mary of Teck, later George V's queen consort. 

Military Career

George followed his father into the army, moving quickly up the ranks - by 1837 he was a colonel in both the Hanoverian and British Armies.  But his was no honorary position - he was stationed at Gibraltar, in Ireland and in the Ionian Islands.  Prince George was appointed Inspector of the Cavalry in 1852.
 
In 1854 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general, in command of the 1st Division (Guards and Highland brigades), serving in the Crimean War.  He was present at the battles of the Alma, Balaclava and Inkerman (where his horse was shot under him) and at the siege of Sevastopol.  He received the thanks of Parliament.

'The grand charge of the Guards on the Heights of the Alma, Sept. 20th, 1854'

In July 1856, the Duke was appointed general commanding-in-chief of the British Army, a post that was retitled field marshal commanding-in-chief on him gaining that rank in 1862, and commander-in-chief of the forces in 1887.   He served as commander-in-chief for 39 years.  He was finally forced out office in 1895 after years of opposing army reform - 'There is a time for everything, and the time for change is when you can no longer help it.'

The Duke of Cambridge served as colonel-in-chief of the 17th Lancers, Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers; the The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) and King's Royal Rifle Corps; colonel of the Grenadier Guards; honorary colonel of the 10th (Duke of Cambridge’s Own) Bengal Lancers, 20th Duke of Cambridge's Own Punjabis, 4th Battalion Suffolk Regiment, 1st City of London Volunteer Brigade and the Scots Fusilier Guards.   He became governor of the Royal Military Academy in 1862, and its president in 1870.   He was the patron of the Oxford Military College from 1876-1896.

The duke died in London on 17 March 1904, the last surviving grandson of George III.  He is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.

The Duke of Cambridge's tomb in Kensal Green Cemetery

The Orders and Medals

HRH wears his medals in a Victorian way. His campaign medals are up in his collar and his order stars where a modern soldier would put his medals. This isn't just a one-off or due to the constraints of the jacket he is wearing, as can be seen in most portraits of him.

The orders and medals are, along with his field marshal's baton, uniform and other items in the Guards' Museum, Wellington Barracks, London.

The Medals

Cambridge wears the campaign medal for Crimea with four clasps (Alma, Balaklava, Inkerman, Sebastopol), he also has the Turkish Crimea Medal.






The Orders

Following regulations for wear, Cambridge only has four stars in each picture.

In both portraits he wears the blue sash of the the Garter with the star in the 'North' position.  It appears to differ slightly in design from the C19th example shown here.

He was created a knight of the Garter in 1835.




At his neck he wears the badge of a GCMG.  The star is in the 'West' position of the photograph and the 'East' of the miniature.  He was Grand Master of the Order from 1850 to his death in 1904, becoming a GCMG in 1877.




At the 'South' of the arrangement is the star of the GCB (military division).

At the  'East' in the photograph is the star of a KP.

To the 'West' in the miniature is the star of the GCSI.  Cambridge was created a GCSI in 1877.






However, Cambridge had plenty of stars in the box.  He acquired a full set of British orders.  He was

KG: Knight of the Garter
KT: Knight of the Thistle 
KP: Knight of St Patrick
GCH: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order
GCB: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath 
GCSI: Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India
GCMG: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
GCIE: Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire   - He was one of the first seven GCIEs in created June 1887 (previously there had only been CIEs and KCIEs).
GCVO: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order - created 1897 (to mark the Diamond Jubilee?)
KJStJ: Knight of Justice of the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem 

Additionally, he held several foreign orders.