The mysterious death of Prince George, Duke of Kent

This is included in my upcoming royal book: Tragedies in the Royal Court under the "Tragic Death" section.

This is the long-forgotten story of the death of Prince George, Duke of Kent,  the first British Prince to die in 400 years while on active military service.

The circumstances of his death from the plane crash on a sunny weather still puzzle royalists. No accurate details were given and explanations seemed remote. What really happened on the 25th day of August in 1942 during World War II when the Prince was headed to a special mission in Iceland? Was there a cover-up, a conspiracy theory surrounding his death?

Answers to these questions were never given and the incident was concluded as pure accident and nothing else, but considering the events were never fully explained, people could not help but think if there was a cover up.

His Royal Highness, Prince George, the Duke of Kent was 6th in line of succession to the British throne at the time of his death. He was a group captain in the Royal Air Force and became an Air Vice-Marshal shortly before World War II broke out in 1939.

He was the youngest son of King George V and Queen Mary and a younger brother of both King Edward VIII and King George VI. He was married to Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, first cousin of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and had three children, Prince Edward, Princess Alexandra and Prince Michael. At the time of his death, his wife had just given birth to their youngest child, Prince Michael.

His untimely death from a plane crash in 1942 raised speculations on a conspiracy theory due to several misleading information provided to the public. The circumstances of his death and details on why the plane had crashed despite the sunny weather were never fully explained.

Prince George was scheduled to visit the Royal Air Force personnel stationed in Iceland during World War II and because the flight would be carrying a British prince and 6^th in line of succession to the British throne, the crew and companions were carefully selected.

The captain, Flight Lieutenant Frank Goyen, was considered an expert to fly a military boat bomber. The co-pilot was the commanding officer of 228 Squadron, Wing Commander, Thomas Lawton Mosley, one of the RAF’s most experienced pilots. Accompanying the prince were his private secretary, equerry and valet.

On August 25, 1942, they boarded RAF S-25 Sunderland MK III flying boat bomber which took off from Invergordon, Scotland but moment after it went up on air, it exploded and crashed on the hillside of Caithness, Scotland.

When the investigation began, the incident raised many questions. Why the pilot maneuvered the plane over the land when it was a flying boat bomber that supposed to fly over the water? Why did the pilot descend to some 650 feet when he was flying over high land?

When the investigators reached the crash site, 14 bodies were recovered including the Duke of Kent, on his position was a suitcase strapped in his wrist containing hundred kroner notes, no explanation could support this circumstance why the Duke carried notes not valid to his country of destination, Iceland. Kroner is the currency of Sweden.

The only survivor in the tragedy was Andy Jack, the tail gunner who occupied the tail end of the craft and was separated from the group when it blew off and flung to the other side of the hillside.

Jack’s response to the tragedy brought a confusing angle. He had never spoken about the tragedy because he was under oath not to speak. He was also promoted despite the tragedy. Whether he told a confidential retelling of events to the British royal family or to the Duke’s widow, Princess Marina, no one can tell. The story of the Duke of Kent’s death rested in peace and no one ever attempted to reopen it.

Seventy two years later after the incident, the death of Prince George still confusing to the consciousness of the public. The only explanation established at the time of his death was that the Prince was heading to a special mission in Iceland, a special mission that no one seemed ready to explain. It was a surprising circumstance that only Princess Marina got interest to pursue an investigation considering it was the death of a British royal prince and a military officer.

Royal News for December

Mixed news around the royal court of Europe for the month of December. While one Kingdom was shrouded with grief for the passing of their former Queen Consort, another principality is rejoicing for the birth of two royal children.

BIRTHDAY

Princess Catharina-Amalia, the Hereditary Princess of Orange, celebrated her 11th birthday last December 7. She is the future Queen of the Netherlands as the heir-apparent of her father, King Wilhelm-Alexander. Her mother is an Argentinian born former investment banker, Maxima. The future Queen has two younger sisters, Princess Alexia and Princess Ariana.

BIRTH

Hi Serene Highness, Albert, the Sovereign Prince of Monaco, welcomed his heirs yesterday, December 12, as his wife, Princess Charlene, gave birth to fraternal twins, Princess Gabriella, and Prince Jacques, at the Princess Grace hospital in Monaco.

Princess Gabriella was born one minute ahead of her brother, Prince Jacques, but Monaco is still embracing the male-preference primogeniture succession, thus, she will only be second in the line of succession to the Monegasque throne after his brother.

DEATH

Belgium is morning the date of their former Queen Consort, Fabiola, who died last December 6, 2014 at the age of 86. No cause of death had been revealed to the press but the public speculated poor health might be the caused of death of the former Queen.

Fabiola, who was born a Spanish aristocrat, was the wife of King Boudouin of Belgium who died in 1993 of heart attack. She had been Queen Consort from 1960 to 1993, she and the King had no children as all her pregnancies ended up in miscarriages, thus, Boudouin was succeeded by his younger brother, King Albert, to the throne. Albert abdicated in 2013 in favor of his son, Philippe, the reigning King of the Belgians.

Death of Prince Friso of the Netherlands

The man who never wanted to be King died on Monday, August 12, 2013, after nearly two years of being comatose following a skiing accident in Austria.

Prince Friso, younger brother of King Wilhelm-Alexander of the Netherlands, left brain-dead after being hit by an avalanche on February 2012 while holidaying with a friend in the skiing resort of Lech in Austria.

The Dutch royal family led by Princess Beatrix attended the funeral

of Prince Johan Friso last Friday, August 16. The Prince died last August 12

after 18 months of being comatose following a skiing accident in Lech, Austria

He was airlifted to London and confined at a hospital specializing with clinically-dead patients, but he was transferred to the Netherlands last June after doctors said no farther treatment needed for his condition. The Prince remained unconscious and his family decided to bring him to Huis den Bosch Palace in Hague, the new home of his mother, former Dutch Queen, Beatrix. He was continually given medical care at his mother's house until he passed away last August 12. He was 44 years old.

While growing up with his brothers, King Wilhelm-Alexander and Prince Constantijin, Prince Friso made declaration he did not want to become a king so he constantly reminded their playmates "not to kill Wilhelm". As a second son of the reigning Dutch monarch, he treated himself as a "reserve pretender to the throne".

He married in 2004 to Mabel Wisse Smit and because he did not seek permission from the parliament for the approval of marriage (and it was unlikely also that the parliament would approve the marriage due to Mabel's past), he was forced to give up his place in the line of succession to the throne but remained a Prince of Orange-Nassau. The couple had two daughters who took the title of "Countess of Orange-Nassau".

Prince Friso with wife Princess Mabel.

The Prince died on Monday, August 12, 2013

after 18 months of being comatose following

a skiing accident in Lech, Austria, in February 2012.

Prince Friso laid to rest last Friday, August 16, 2013 at 3:00 pm in a private ceremony held in a small church near the grave site mostly attended by close family members. The only foreign royal present was King Harald V of Norway because he was Friso's godfather.

Condolence to Princess Mabel and their daughters and to the whole Dutch royal family. In time of grief, the only consolation we can give is our sympathy and words of wisdom. May Prince Friso rest in peace and may he find happiness in the afterlife.

The Last Surviving Great Grandchild of Queen Victoria

Carl Johan Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg, died last May 5 at the age of 95 due to a lingering heart ailment. He was the last surviving great grandchild of Queen Victoria of England.

Carl Johan was the former Prince Carl Johan of Sweden but he was stripped of his royal title and inheritance when he married in 1946 to a commoner, Elin Wijkmark. In the past all European royals were not allowed to marry a commoner, they will either be stripped of their titles and rights to the throne or declared their marriage illegal.

Carl Johan went to New York City to marry Wijkmark as their marriage was dimmed impossible in Sweden, they lived in London afterwards. In 1987, Wijkmark died and Carl Johan remarried to an aristocrat, Countess Martha Louise Wachtmeister. He had no children in his two marriages but had two adopted children.

In 2007, following the death of Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark (paternal aunt of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh), Carl Johan became the only surviving great grandchild of Queen Victoria. After he lost his princely title he began using the Swedish royal family surname, Bernadotte. He was also given a noble title in 1951, Count of Wisborg, by the Grandduchess of Luxembourg, Charlotte.

Carl Johan was the youngest son of King Gustav VI of Sweden and Crown Princess Margaretha, the former Princess Margarita of Connaught (granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England through her third son, Prince Arthur, the Duke of Connaught). The reigning King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustav, is his nephew while the reigning Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II, is his niece (her mother, Queen Ingrid, was Carl Johan's elder sister). She lost her mother when she was only four years old, his father remarried three years later to Lady Louise Mountbatten, the maternal aunt of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, who would eventually become the Queen of Sweden.

Carl Johan was also considered as the uncle of most current European crown heads, Elizabeth II of Britain and her husband, Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh, Albert II of Belgium, Juan Carlos of Spain and his wife, Queen Sophia, King Harald V of Norway and Grandduke Henri of Luxembourg.

Death of the Last Austrian Crown Prince

For 95 years, he was known as the last Imperial Crown Prince in Europe and had the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary existed today, he could have been the longest reigning monarch in the 21st century, ruling for 89 years.

Otto von Hapsburg, a direct descendant of Archduke Franz Ferdinand whose death in June 28, 1914 precipitated World War I, died last July 4, 2011 at the age of 98. He was the elder son of Charles I, the last Emperor of Austria-Hungary. 

Otto became an Austrian crown prince in 1916 when his father ascended the Austrian throne until the end of World War I in 1918 when the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary was abolished following its defeat against the Allies. The Imperial family was stripped of their titles but retained their style as Imperial Princes and Princesses. Otto married a German Princess, Regina of Saxe-Meiningen (1951-2010) and had seven children together.

Austria-Hungary throne left a reputation of being the World War I aggressor, initiating one of the bloodiest conflicts in world history which did not effectively close until November 11, 1918. In the summer of 1914, the Imperial Prince, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated in Bosnia Herzegovina by a Serbian youth activitist, Gavrilo Princip, the Archduke was travelling with his wife, Sophia, to Bosnian capital of Sarajevo to meet his future subjects when the incident happened, it rattled the very foundation of the political platform of Europe in which the Great Powers trying to rebuild since the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte of France in the famous Battle of Waterloo. It was so provoking and controversial that the three Great Powers which were not directly involved (Britain, Russia, France) tried to mediate to avoid military conflicts.

But the military commanders of the Austrian army, who, for so long had been contemplating a war against Serbia and Russia, were exasperated with the slow progress on the investigation, so they made a proposal to take part in the judicial proceedings, naturally Serbia rejected this plea, several days later, Austrian troops, attacked Serbia on July 19, 1914 which signaled the beginning of World War I....and the rest is history.

After World War I, Emperor Charles I and his family were exiled in Switzerland but he did not abdicate so Otto in sentiment became Emperor on the day his father died in 1922. Until he reached adulthood, he and his family were not allowed to enter Austria so they lived in various places in Europe. He obtained a PhD degree in Political and Social Sciences in the Belgian school, the University of Louvain. Otto became a crusader of peace later, he sternly condemned the Nazi's brutality and even requested the Austrian chancellor at that time to resist Nazi in Austria, he had helped several Jews to flee out of the country during the Second World War. 

His active involvement for peace and international intervention against Nazi almost cost his life, he was sentenced to death by the Nazi but he was able to escape to Portugal and then to the United States where he remained there until the war ended, he moved to France and Spain later but was not allowed to visit Austria because he was believed to be a threat. In the 1960s, after long years of hesitation, he signed a declaration renouncing all his claims to the Austrian Imperial throne to be able to go back to Austria but later it was reported, the crown prince regretted this decision.

He was an advocate of a unified Europe and sat as President of the International Paneuropean Union for 31 years, he had also served as a member of the European parliament for the Bavarian CSU party. He was one of the prime movers of the Pan-European Picnic (a peace demonstration held in the border of Austria) considered to be one of the instruments of the collapse of communism in Cental and Eastern Europe. He was a strong supporter of the rights of European refugees and was famous in his move in 1988 defending Pope John Paul II at the European Parliament when one person shouted at the pope (with his banner) as antichrist, Otto immediately snatched the banner and ejected the man from the chamber. In 2002, he was named as the first honorary member of the European People Party, the center-right politcal group of the European Parliament.

Procession of the Crown Prince's body, his coffin is draped in royal standard

Otto von Hapsburg died peacefully at his home in Germany on July 4, 2011 and in his death, he was treated a royal prince with his coffin draped with Hapsburg flag and decorated with Imperial royal coats of Austria, Hungary and Hapsburg family's coat-of-arms. His body will be brought tomorrow, July 16, 2011 to Viena, Austria where he will be buried at the family's crypt while his heart will be buried in Hungary. His funeral will be attended by European crown heads and some royal family members. King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden, Grandduke Henri of Luxembourg, Prince Hans-Adams II of Liechtenstein are some of the crown heads confirmed to attend the burial. Other "fallen Kings" might attend too: King Michael I of Romania, King Constantine II of Greece and Czar Simeon II of Bulgaria.

The Earl of Harewood

Lord George Lascelles, the 7th Earl of Harewood and his second wife, Patricia, the Countess of Harewood

Lord George Lascelles, the 7th Earl of Harewood, a first cousin to Queen Elizabeth II of England, died last July 11, 2011 at the age of 88. He was the eldest grandchild of King George V of England through his only daughter, Princess Mary, the Princess Royal, who married the 6th Earl of Harewood, Henry Lascelles. Lord Lascelles was 3 years older than the Queen. He was named after his grandfather, King George V.

At the time of his birth in 1923, he was sixth in the line of succession to the British throne but in 2010, after the Queen's grandson, Peter Phillips, had a daughter, Savannah, the Earl became 46th in line. He became the head of the House of Lascelles when his father died suddenly in May 1947. He was best remembered as Chairman of the Board of the English National Opera and had devoted his life to Opera, he also served as editor of the Opera magazine. The Earl also sat as Governor of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and as President of Leeds United Football Club.

He maintained that his sprawling estate, the Harewood House located in Yorkshire should be open to the public for a visit, it is one of the best tourist attractions in England and earns a reputation of being the "St.Petersburg Palace on a Yorkshire Hill" (referring to the beautiful Russian Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia). Lord Lascelles was the first member of the House of Windsor to divorce.

In 1967, he divorced his first wife, Marion Stein, whom he had three children. The Queen reluctantly agreed when he sought permission to remarry in the same year because his mistress, Patricia Tuckwell, was already pregnant. Though the Queen agreed, the Earl paid a high prize, he was forced to resign as Chancellor of the York University and was ostracized in the Britihs throne. The royal court excluded him on the private internment of his uncle, the former King Edward VIII and was not invited to several royal family gatherings until the 1980s. All because he broke the moral code of ethics of royalty--divorcing a wife. Little did the people know that several years later, all the marriages of the first three children of the Queen ended in divorce and so with the Queen's only sibling, Princess Margaret.

The official home of the 7th Earl of Harewood, Lord George Lascelles

The House of Harewood on the Yorkshirehill dubbed as the St.Petersburg Palace in Yorkshire

But the Earl led a remarkable life beyond misgivings of divorce. He was a page of honour at the coronation of his uncle, King George VI (father of Queen Elizabeth II) in May 1937. During World War II, Lord Lascelles, was called to serve the British Army, he was commissioned as a Grenadier Guards Officer and was dispatched to the battlefield. He was severely wounded at the crucial battle of the Allies and the Central Powers and was captured and held prisoner. The British royal court was anxious to find his real condition but his capturer did not reveal his condition until several attempts of the British government. He returned home safely and after the war he started his passion in opera and music.

He was knighted by the Queen in 1986 and became an honorary member of the Order of Australia.

Sources:

BBC news

The Harewood House website

The Royals by Kitty Kelley