Who were the Queen’s cousins?
Samir Hussein / WireImage via Getty Images1/7Princess Alexandra, the Hon Lady Ogilvy
Known to be a close confidante of Her Majesty, Princess Alexandra is the second child and only daughter of the Queen’s paternal uncle Prince George, Duke of Kent and his wife Princess Marina of Greece. Born sixth in line to the throne, she was much loved by the public in her childhood and youth, especially following the tragic death of her father aged just 39 in 1942. While lesser known today, she was one of the most famous (and glamorous) royals in the world in the 1960s and 1970s, with her wedding to Sir Angus Ogilvy in 1963 watched by an estimated 200 million people on television around the world. She was also one of the most active members of the Royal Family, undertaking hundreds of engagements every year, often in the company of the Queen, with whom she has always been close (Her Majesty even hosted her 80th birthday party at Buckingham Palace in 2016). During the pandemic, she made a surprise appearance on a Zoom call paying tribute to NHS staff for International Nurses Day, putting paid to any suggestion that she’s stepping back anytime soon.
Max Mumby / Indigo / Getty Images2/7Prince Edward, Duke of Kent
Prince Edward is the eldest son of Prince George, Duke of Kent and his wife Princess Marina of Greece. He succeeded to the Dukedom aged just seven following the death of his father, and has carried out official royal engagements on behalf of his cousin for his entire life, including abroad. He is most famously the patron of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, giving out the Wimbledon trophy yearly to the winners. He made history when he married Katharine Worsley at York Minster in 1961, becoming the first royal couple to wed there in over 600 years. Sometimes dubbed the ‘reclusive royal’, the Duchess has always retained a low profile, but in 1997 spoke candidly about her experiences of stillbirth and depression, in the hope that it might help others. In 2002, she decided to step back from royal duties, renouncing her HRH title, and instead working as a music teacher. In a sign of her closeness to the Queen, she was allowed to host a party for young children with musical ambitions at Buckingham Palace in 2016, as part of her role as the founder of the Future Talent organisation. The Kents were formerly neighbours of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, living at Wren House at Kensington Palace.
Shutterstock3/7Prince Michael of Kent
The younger brother of Prince Edward and Princess Alexandra, Prince Michael is less of a contemporary of Her Majesty, being 16 years her junior. He is not a working royal but does occasionally represent the Queen abroad, most prominently for events linked to their shared relatives, the Romanovs, the Russian Imperial Family who were murdered in 1917 by the Bolsheviks. These include the 1998 burial of Tsar Nicholas II and his family and the 2006 reburial of Empress Maria Feodorovna. As well as a long military career he also has a consulting business, and has appeared on multiple documentaries about European royal families. His children with his wife Princess Michael, Lord Frederick Windsor and Lady Gabriella Windsor, grew up alongside Princes William and Harry at Kensington Palace.
Max Mumby / Indigo / Getty Images4/7Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester
The younger son of the Queen’s paternal uncle Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester and his wife Lady Alice Montagu Douglas Scott, Prince Richard was not raised for a life of royal duty, being the ‘spare’ and thus unlikely to succeed to his father’s title. However, that all changed when his elder brother, Prince William, died suddenly in a plane crash in 1972, making Richard the heir. With this, his royal duties increased, and he took on his father’s estate upon his death in 1974, putting aside his earlier ambitions to become an architect - though he is a commissioner for English Heritage. Today he carries out hundreds of official royal duties on behalf of Her Majesty and is the royal patron of multiple charities.
Indigo / Getty Images5/7The Hon Margaret Elphinstone, Mrs Rhodes
Sometimes dubbed the Queen’s best friend, her cousin Margaret Rhodes was the daughter of Lady Mary Bowes-Lyon, her mother’s sister, and Lord Sidney Elphinstone. Less than a year older than her cousin, she was a regular companion of the Queen and Princess Margaret when they were growing up, often spending summer holidays together at Balmoral (the Queen Mother reportedly referred to her as her ‘third daughter’). She even lived at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle for a time during World War II, when she was training as a secretary for MI6. She was also one of eight bridesmaids at the then Princess Elizabeth’s wedding to Prince Philip in 1947. She lived in a grace and favour apartment on the Great Windsor Estate until her death in 2016.
Geoff Wilkinson / Shutterstock6/7Lady Mary Leveson-Gower
Another of her Bowes-Lyon relatives who she was close with growing up, Lady Mary was the daughter of Lady Rose Bowes-Lyon (an elder sister of the Queen Mother) and The Hon. William Leveson-Gower. Aged six, she was invited to be a bridesmaid at her aunt's wedding to the future King George VI, but her mother refused on her behalf, considering her too mischievous. She played with her younger cousins Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret at the family seat of Glamis Castle, later revealing charming details of the young Queen-in-waiting, 'She liked to imagine herself as a pony or a horse. When she was doing that and someone called her and she didn’t answer right away, she would then say, "I couldn’t answer you as a pony".' Another cousin who lived on the Great Windsor estate, she was regularly visited by the Queen and was known for her vibrantly hued footwear in her old age when she was confined to a wheelchair. Her funeral was attended by Her Majesty, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Countess of Wessex and Princess Beatrice in 2014.
George Elam / Daily Mail / Shutterstock7/7Anne Bowes-Lyon, Princess Anne of Denmark
Anne Bowes-Lyon was the daughter of the Queen Mother's brother, Patrick Bowes-Lyon and his wife Lady Dorothy Osborne. Almost a decade older than her royal cousin, the two weren't childhood playmates, yet the family connection was strong: Anne's son, Patrick Lichfield, was the official photographer for Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer's wedding, as well as for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Upon her marriage to her second husband, Prince George Valdemar of Denmark, she became a Princess, too.
