Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy (Alexandra Helen Elizabeth Olga Christabel; born 25 December 1936), is a member of the British royal family. She is the only daughter of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, the only living granddaughter of George V, a niece of Edward VIII and George VI, and a first cousin of Elizabeth II. Alexandra's mother was also a first cousin of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, consort of Elizabeth II, making her both a second cousin and first cousin once removed of Charles III.
Alexandra was married to the businessman Sir Angus Ogilvy from 1963 until his death in 2004. At the time of her birth, she was sixth in the line of succession to the British throne; as of 2026, she is 59th.
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Early life
Alexandra was born at 11:20 am on Christmas Day 1936 at 3 Belgrave Square, London, the second child and only daughter of Prince George, Duke of Kent, the fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary, and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, a daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia. She was named after her paternal great-grandmother, Queen Alexandra; her grandmother, Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia; and both of her maternal aunts, Countess Elizabeth of Törring-Jettenbach and Princess Olga of Yugoslavia. She received the name Christabel because she was born on Christmas Day, like her aunt Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. Her birth was the last at which the Home Secretary was required to be present to verify the arrival of potential heirs to the throne. John Simon attended, and was the final holder of the office to do so.
As a male-line granddaughter of the British monarch, she was styled as a British princess with the prefix Her Royal Highness. At the time of her birth she was sixth in the line of succession to the British throne, behind her cousins Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) and Princess Margaret, her uncle the Duke of Gloucester, her father the Duke of Kent, and her elder brother Prince Edward. She was born two weeks after the abdication of her uncle King Edward VIII.
Alexandra was baptised in the Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace on 9 February 1937, and her godparents were King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (her paternal uncle and aunt); the Queen of Norway (her great-aunt); Princess Nicholas of Greece and Denmark (her maternal grandmother); Princess Olga of Yugoslavia (her maternal aunt); Princess Beatrice (her paternal great-great-aunt); the Earl of Athlone (her paternal great-uncle); and Count Karl Theodor of Törring-Jettenbach (her maternal uncle by marriage). Of her godparents, only the King and Queen and Lord Athlone were present.
Alexandra spent most of her childhood at her family's country house, Coppins, in Buckinghamshire. During the Second World War she also lived at Badminton with her widowed grandmother Queen Mary. Her father was killed in an aeroplane crash in Caithness, Scotland, on 25 August 1942 whilst serving in the Royal Air Force. Alexandra has the distinction of being the first British princess to have attended a boarding school, Heathfield School near Ascot. She later studied in Paris, and received training at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Marriage and personal life
On 24 April 1963, Alexandra married The Hon. Angus James Bruce Ogilvy (1928–2004), the second son of David Ogilvy, 12th Earl of Airlie, and Lady Alexandra Coke, at Westminster Abbey. Ogilvy presented Alexandra with an engagement ring made of a cabochon sapphire set in gold and surrounded by diamonds on both sides. The wedding ceremony was attended by the royal family and was broadcast worldwide on television, watched by an estimated 200 million people.
The bride wore a wedding gown of Valenciennes lace, with matching veil and train, designed by John Cavanagh. Alexandra travelled with her brother, the Duke of Kent, from Kensington Palace to the Abbey. The bridesmaids included Princess Anne and Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria, and the best man was Peregrine Fairfax. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey, conducted the service. Ogilvy declined the Queen's offer to be created an earl upon marriage, so the couple's children carry no titles.
Ogilvy was knighted in 1988 (when Alexandra assumed the style of The Hon. Lady Ogilvy), and was sworn of the Privy Council in 1997. Alexandra and Ogilvy had two children:
James Robert Bruce Ogilvy (born 29 February 1964 at Thatched House Lodge, Richmond Park, Surrey). He married Julia Caroline Rawlinson on 30 July 1988 at St Mary's Church in Saffron Walden, Essex. They have two children.
Flora Vesterberg (née Ogilvy; born 15 December 1994 in Edinburgh, Scotland) who studied History of Arts at the University of Bristol and has a master's degree from the Courtauld Institute of Arts: she runs a contemporary art agency. She married Swedish financier Timothy Vesterberg at Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace, on 26 September 2020 and they renewed their vows the following year. She was diagnosed with autism in 2025. The couple have one child.
Isabel Marina Vesterberg (born 8 July 2026)
Alexander Charles Ogilvy (born 12 November 1996 in Edinburgh, Scotland) who attended Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. He attended Sandhurst and was commissioned a second lieutenant in Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) in August 2025.
Activities
Beginning in the late 1950s, Alexandra undertook an extensive programme of engagements in support of the Queen, both in the United Kingdom and overseas. Taking part in roughly 120 engagements each year, she became one of the most active members of the royal family. She carried out 110 engagements in 2012, but in April 2013 she cancelled her programme due to polymyalgia rheumatica. As of 2022, she remained listed as a working member of the royal family, attending numerous ceremonial and charitable engagements.
In 1959, she undertook a major tour of Australia and attended the Queensland Centenary Celebrations. The "Alexandra Waltz" was composed for the visit by radio announcer Russ Tyson and television musical director Clyde Collins, and was sung for the princess by the teenage Gay Kahler, who later performed under the name Gay Kayler. In 1961, Alexandra visited Hong Kong, including stops at Aberdeen Fish Market, Lok Ma Chau police station, and So Uk Estate, a public housing complex. She returned to Australia in 1967 for a private holiday, during which she also carried out engagements in Canberra and Melbourne. The Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane is named in her honour.
Alexandra represented Queen Elizabeth II, on 1 October 1960 when Nigeria gained independence from the United Kingdom , and she opened Nigeria's first Parliament on 3 October. Later overseas tours included visits to Canada, Italy, Oman, Hungary, Norway, Japan, Thailand, Gibraltar, and the Falkland Islands. In 1965, she launched the New Zealand Leander-class frigate HMNZS Waikato at Harland and Wolff in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She opened the Victoria-to-Brixton section of London Underground's Victoria line on 23 July 1971. In May 1973, she presented the Scottish Cup to Rangers following the 1973 Scottish Cup Final. She again represented the Queen at the celebrations marking Saint Lucia's independence from the UK in 1979.
Alexandra opened the new hospital in Harlow, Essex, named in her honour, on 27 April 1965. The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust was announced by the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, in September 2019 as part of the government's new health infrastructure programme to build a replacement hospital.
She served as chancellor of Lancaster University from its foundation in 1964 until she relinquished the post in 2004, when she also accepted an honorary degree in Music. She was the first chancellor of the University of Mauritius. Alexandra is an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, the Faculty of Anaesthetists of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the Royal College of Physicians. She is president of Alexandra Rose Day, founded in honour of her great-grandmother, Queen Alexandra, and was patron of The Royal School, Hampstead. She served as president of WWF-UK until 2011.
Titles, styles, honours and arms
Titles and styles
Alexandra is often referred to simply as Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra. She has held the following styles officially:
Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra of Kent
Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Mrs Angus Ogilvy
Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy
Honours
1951: Recipient of the Royal Family Order of George VI (the Princess is the final living recipient of this order)
25 December 1952: Recipient of the Royal Family Order of Elizabeth II
2 June 1953: Recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal
25 December 1960: Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO)
6 February 1977: Recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal
23 April 2003: Royal Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter (KG)
1967: Recipient of the Order of the Dogwood
1972: Recipient of the Canadian Forces' Decoration (CD) with 5 Clasps
The Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, Worcestershire, is named after the Princess; she opened it in April 1987.
The Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex, was named by the Princess on 27 April 1965.
The Princess Alexandra Hospital (formerly South Brisbane Hospital) was named by and in honour of the visit by the Princess to Queensland in 1959.
The Princess Alexandra Gardens at Leeds Castle are named after her in honour of her involvement as Patron of the Leeds Castle Foundation.
Academic
1964–2004: University of Lancaster, Chancellor
Ancestry
Since Princess Alexandra's mother was a first cousin of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, she is a second cousin to King Charles III and his siblings, in addition to being their first cousin once removed because her father was Queen Elizabeth II's uncle.