The privacy of a member of the British royal family up for auction on eBay? This is the mishap suffered by Princess Michael of Kent, Marie-Christine von Reibnitz, her maiden name. British journalist Richard Eden revealed the information on November 15 in the Daily Mail. Letters exchanged between Lady Gabriella Windsor’s mother and Monsignor Ralph Brown, a prominent priest who died in 2014, have appeared on the auction platform for the modest starting sum of 77 euros each.
Totally unaware of the facts, Princess Michael of Kent was alerted by Richard Eden himself. Her spokesperson immediately said that she “was not aware of the sale of these writings.” No more comments. But what do these missives contain? Dated 1979 and 1980, there are ten of them, signed by Monsignor Brown and all on the same subject: the princess’s marriage!
When she became engaged to Prince Michael of Kent in 1978, Marie-Christine von Reibnitz had been divorced for only a year from Tom Troubridge, whom she had married in 1971. On June 30, 1978, in the presence of the British consul, at the town hall of Vienna in Austria, the Baroness becomes Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent under the eyes of Princess Anne, who has come to represent the Queen of England. Why this civil marriage? The bride is Catholic while the Prince of Kent is Anglican. Although having obtained the annulment of her previous marriage from the Archdiocese of Westminster, she is not authorized to religiously marry her prince. Pope Paul VI is opposed to it. It was ultimately John Paul II who gave his blessing to the couple in 1983.
Before reaching this happy conclusion, Princess Michael of Kent struggled to have her marriage authenticated by the Catholic Church, notably by communicating with Monseigneur Brown, whose letters are now being sold by an unknown person on eBay . There is nothing controversial in the content of the letters since they all deal with the religious problems posed by the marriage of Marie-Christine de Kent, the latter asking the priest to intervene in her favor. It remains to be seen how the seller obtained these writings. “These are indeed originals which had been put up for auction”, he says, but not “recently”, he explains to Richard Eden. Impossible to know more. “I’m sorry,” continues the current holder of the letters. “I don’t have to share my sources.” The mystery remains.
Read also >> Michael de Kent, a life between shadow and light
