Talk:Prince George, Duke of Kent

First comments

"On 29 November 1934, the Duke of Kent married Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, the daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and a great niece of Queen Alexandra, at Westminster Abbey. It was the last marriage between a son of a British Sovereign and a member of a foreign royal house to date." - But Lieutenant Mountbatten was born Prince of Greece and Denmark, and a member of a foreign royal house too? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.111.233.109 (talk • contribs) 23:28, 8 March 2005

You answered your own question: "It was the last marriage between a son of a British Sovereign and a member of a foreign royal house to date." The Duke of Edinburgh wasn't the son of a British sovereign, and neither, for that matter, is the present Queen; she's the DAUGHTER of a British sovereign. Morhange 02:43, 22 July 2005 (UTC)

For a little more information, Prince Philip became a British citizen before his marriage to Princess Elizabeth. So he was born a son of a foreign royal house, he lost that designation when he became a British citizen. Hope that helps.Prsgoddess187 15:53, 19 September 2005 (UTC)

Rudolf Hess

For discussion of claims surrounding Hess's flight to Scotland, see Talk:Rudolf Hess.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.42.47.84 (talk • contribs) 14 March 2005

I have removed the following unsubstantiated gossip from the main page:

An unproven claim has been made that British Intelligence assassinated Prince George. One possible reason is given by author Charles Higham, in the second, revised edition of his book The Duchess of Windsor: The Secret Life, as serious concern over the Duke of Kent's lack of discretion and his political dealings with Nazi leadership, with negotiations towards a separate peace, to allow Germany to concentrate on its war with the Soviet Union in eastern Europe. Higham writes that the Special Operations Executive (SOE), worried that the Duke would talk about these matters once he left the British Isles, tampered with the plane before its takeoff, ensuring its crash soon afterward, with the deaths of all but one of the passengers. It should be noted that in another of his books, Errol Flynn: The Untold Story, Higham made similar claims about Hollywood screen actor Errol Flynn, saying that he was a bisexual Nazi spy. These claims were readily debunked by Tony Thomas in his book Errol Flynn: The Spy Who Never Was.

Authors Lynn Picknett, Clive Prince and Stephen Prior in their books Double Standards: The Rudolf Hess Cover-up and War of the Windsors claim that the Duke of Kent's plane stopped to pick up Rudolf Hess, and that it was part of a peace plan that would have ousted Churchill from power—thus leaving the unstated implication that if the Duke was assassinated by British Intelligence, it must have been 'agreed' at the level of Winston Churchill. "The German Ambassador to Portugal, Baron von Hoyningen-Huene, reported to von Ribbentrop that according to the British community in Lisbon, the flying boat was sabotaged in order to kill Kent because he was in favour of peace with Germany". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 218.250.184.63 (talk) 17:35, 8 March 2011 (UTC)

Image

The picture of George is supposedly in the public domain because its author died at least 100 years ago. However, even if the author died immediately after taking the picture, this would make George at the time of the picture aged 4 years. This cannot be correct. Johnleemk | Talk 08:21, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

We are getting close to two years since this issue came up, yet the same picture with the same explanation remains. Should it be taken down? -Rrius (talk) 21:48, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

article needs to be reviewed

I think much of this article makes POV assertions as though they were fact: for example 'the family, who are famously philistine'. Using the verb 'to be' (are) in this sentence instead of a conditional or some kind of hedge such as 'are often regarded as' is inappropriate for an encycopaedia. Other phrases such as 'Given George V's famously dull brain' are not only too colloquial for an encyclopaedia but would be difficult to justify from an empirical point of view. I'm going to ask that this article's listing be reviewed. Daviddariusbijan 21:52, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

GA failed

Reasons given :

• LEAD not long enough and not reflecting the articles depth.
• POV sense to many sections.
• Not enough references plus not enough variety in ref.

Lincher 17:09, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

There is excessive reliance by a previous author or authors on "War of the Windsors: A Century of Unconstitutional Monarchy", which is a cpntroversial source to put it mildly. It is npot sufficient authority for the more contentious statements made in this entry.60.234.48.118 03:27, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

Possible plagiarism?

Much of the content on this Wiki page is very similar or identical to content at http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/royal_nazis.html#George. I don't know which is the original, or if both are taken from someone else.

That page is a copy of this. Proteus (Talk) 11:07, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

The article states that Kiki jumped out of the window, but the Channel 4 documentary clearly states that she took an overdose. I wonder which is true?Luckyles 07:14, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

Neutral point of view/reliability

Much of the body of this article relies on Picknett, Prince, Prior & Brydon, which is not a guarantee of dependability. There should be alternative sources provided for the more unlikely/controversial claims, or they should be described as claims made in that book.Ncox 03:40, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

Kiki Preston

"... although much evidence has been shown to suggest that he had her pushed, possibly though his position in the masonic lodge..."

Since Preston died four years after the Duke's fatal crash, this doesn't sound very convincing to me. Drella Melmoth 02:03, 11 August 2007 (UTC)

Actually, that wasn't referring to the Duke, but to her husband at the time, as being a possible pusher. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.121.153.20 (talk) 12:39, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

I was just reading the article with no prior knowledge of any of the people involved, and it definitely reads (unless one specifically cross-checks dates) as though Kent was implicated in her death. It should be rephrased - it was odd enough for me to come to the talk page to check it out. 86.40.108.159 (talk) 17:18, 19 November 2007 (UTC)

Death?

No cause of death given? 71.194.163.223 (talk) 20:46, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Read the article. Plane crash. ^† DBD 02:18, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

queens lost uncle

> Much of this history was outlined in the documentary film The Queen's Lost Uncle mentioned above. The Duke's bisexuality and drug addictions were explored in "African Nights", a 2004 play written by American playwright Jeffrey Corrick.

Where above? Parrot of Doom (talk) 18:35, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Hoax ?

"It was once proposed that the Duke be made King of Poland, in a move to restore the Polish monarchy much as the Greek monarchy had been restored using imported Royals. In August 1937, the Duke and his wife visited Poland and were well-received. However, due to the invasion of Poland in World War II, the plan was called off.

Supposedly from Picknett, Prince, Prior & Brydon, pp. 142–143.

Seems a hoax or gossip, the monarchists in Poland were a marginal group and had very different candidates for throne. I will post this on Polish noticeboard for comment.--Molobo (talk) 10:55, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

Not in 1939 but during Second World War, not king od Poland but monarchic Central European Federation. Proposed by Sikorski and Herman Lieberman, not monarchists, rejected by Benes. The sources I found though aren't very reliable and I will continue to look for more serious ones.--Molobo (talk) 15:30, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

Styles & Titles

In the article it is written: "12 October 1934 – 25 August 1942: His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent".

Shouldn't this be: "12 October 1934 – 25 August 1942: His Royal Highness Prince George, The Duke of Kent"? 121.73.7.84 (talk) 10:50, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

No, the Dukedom of Kent is a royal dukedom. George was "HRH The Duke of Kent". His son is now "HRH The Duke of Kent" and the Duke of York is "HRH The Duke of York". Of course, George never ceased to be "HRH The Prince George", but "The Prince George" was only used as part of his full title. Surtsicna (talk) 11:34, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

So because it is a royal dukedom it outranks the prince title? So the title of prince is omitted as is the the case with other lesser titles? 121.73.7.84 (talk) 08:36, 17 June 2010 (UTC)

King of the United Kingdom?

Apparently in 1936, during the abdication crisis, the Duke of Kent was supposed to be made King, and Prince Albert had relinquished his claim. However, Albert changed his mind, and took the throne, however he still kept the name "George VI"! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 137.158.152.213 (talk) 10:29, 29 July 2010 (UTC)

I see your source for this was some speculation in the Daily Mail (posted here). So it's bound to be true, then, isn't it?Swanny18 (talk) 15:46, 7 August 2010 (UTC)

Cause of fatal plane crash

One theory is that he was drunk at the controls of that plane, having pulled rank over the pilot.

As his rank was only honorary, the pilot refused at first to hand over the controls, and a radio operator on the ground was able to overhear parts of this argument. The operator was sworn to silence, but revealed the details many years later.

Any verdict on the truth of this one? 86.176.5.37 (talk) 23:08, 22 August 2011 (UTC)

The Duke's body wss found to be chained to an attache case full of 100 Kroner notes so it's unlikely he'd have been able to convince anyone that he could operate the controls. The idea put forward that the Duke wss at the controls has the familiar smell of government disinformation. What was it that Churchill said about history being kind to him because he was going to write it?

I'm surprised that the crash isn't given more attention: 15 passengers set off on the flight; 15 dead bodies were discovered yet 24 hours' later, the tail gunner turned up alive and well. If, as the main article claims, the flight's destination was Newfoundland, why was the Duke taking currency in Kroner there? At the time, a 100 Kroner note would have been the equivalent of a weeks' wage. In the countries where it was legal tender, of course. At the time, Iceland was occupied by the Allies and Denmark/Norway occupied by Germany and none of them were using their own currency.

The survivor was sworn to secrecy. The enquiry blamed the pilot but didn't reveal who the extra passenger was or how he boarded the aeroplane or the missing 25 minutes' when a passenger could, in theory, have been picked up. The real object of the "secret mission" wasn't revealed.

Contrary to the claim in the article about "bad weather", it was a clear day. Whoever wrote the entry about his death has not carried out any in-depth research.

 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 23.16.160.232 (talk) 06:12, 1 March 2012 (UTC)