Princess Michael of Kent is understood to be seriously ill after suffering a stroke, with the royal being left “bedridden”.

Marie Christine, 81, who is married to Queen Elizabeth II’s first cousin, Prince Michael, suffered a health setback in what has been a tough period for the princess.

A friend of Princess Michael told the Daily Mail: “Her Royal Highness suffered a stroke. Sadly, she is now bedridden.”

She attended King Charles’s pre-Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace in 2024, with wrists in splints after a fall at Kensington Palace, where she resides with her husband.

Princess Michael of Kent has suffered a stroke

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The princess was carrying several overcoats as she lost her footing on the stairs and fell.

While the coats supported her landing, she broke several small bones when she put out her hands to stop the fall.

The injury left her unable to complete simple activities such as brushing her teeth, with doctors warning that any wrong movement could hinder her recovery.

The fall happened less than a year after her heart surgery, which left her needing frequent rest.

The 81-year-old attended King Charles’s pre-Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace in 2024, with wrists in splints

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Princess Michael celebrated her 81st birthday in January, having spent nearly five decades as part of the British Royal Family.

The former Baroness Marie Christine von Reibnitz wed Prince Michael at Vienna Town Hall in 1978, just a fortnight after her divorce from English banker Thomas Troubridge was finalised.

Prince Michael required the late Queen Elizabeth II’s blessing to marry, given his bride was both Catholic and previously married.

Lord Mountbatten of Burma, Prince Philip’s uncle and a distant relation of the monarch, acted as intermediary to secure royal approval.

Princess Michael celebrated her 81st birthday in January

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The Queen granted permission on one condition: Prince Michael would relinquish his position in the line of succession.

The couple went on to have two children, Lord Freddie Windsor, now 46, and Lady Gabriella Kingston, 44.

When Lord Mountbatten presented the Baroness’s impressive aristocratic heritage to the Queen, laying on details of her descent from Charlemagne and various European monarchs, the sovereign offered a wry response: “Well Dickie, she sounds a bit too grand for us.”

Princess Michael later addressed this remark in a 2000 interview with W magazine, explaining Lord Mountbatten, an enthusiastic genealogist, had “laid it on a bit thick” when describing her lineage.

Prince Michael and Princess Michael of Kent have two children

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She maintained of all those who had married into the Royal Family since Prince Philip, she possessed more royal blood than any other bride or bridegroom.

“I was not born a Royal Highness, so technically I am a commoner, but I happen to have a lot of royal blood,” she stated.

The princess suggested Lord Mountbatten had found the Queen’s quip amusing and repeated it, allowing the story to be weaponised against her.

Five years after that interview, Princess Michael found herself offering an apology to the Queen following a damaging newspaper sting operation.