Little-known 'unsung heroine' of Royal Family in Charles' official portrait

09 May 2023 , 11:50
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Princess Alexandra (right) joined the King and Queen for the official portrait (Image: PA)
Princess Alexandra (right) joined the King and Queen for the official portrait (Image: PA)

Traditional portraits have been released to mark King Charles and Queen Camilla's Coronation, with one group shot showing the entire working Royal Family together.

The woman stood between the Duchess and Duke of Edinburgh, on the ride side of the newly-crowned King and Queen, may be unrecognisable to many - but she was once called the 'unsung heroine' of the Royals.

Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy, was one of Queen Elizabeth II's first cousins and closest friends, throughout the duration of her reign as monarch.

Alexandra, 86, served as a bridesmaid at a number of royal and aristocratic weddings, but most notably, at the late Queen's wedding to Prince Philip in 1947.

Little-known 'unsung heroine' of Royal Family in Charles' official portrait eiqrqirkitqinvThe Princess stands between the Duchess and Duke of Edinburgh on the right (Hugo , Burnand/Buckinham Palace)

Alexandra Helen Elizabeth Olga Christabel was born on Christmas Day in 1936, and was sixth in line to the British throne.

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She is the daughter of the late Queen's paternal uncle, Prince George of Kent, and his wife, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark.

Much of Alexandra's childhood was spent in Buckinghamshire before she lived with her grandmother, Queen Mary, during the Second World War.

She lost her father, Prince George of Kent, when he died in a plane crash while serving in the RAF in 1942.

At the age of 11, Alexandra became the first British princess to be educated at a boarding school, and later studied in Paris before doing training at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

Little-known 'unsung heroine' of Royal Family in Charles' official portraitShe was once called the 'unsung heroine' of the Royal Family and the 'hardest working' (PA)
Little-known 'unsung heroine' of Royal Family in Charles' official portraitAlexandra was sixth in line to the British throne when she was born in 1936 (WireImage)

In 1963, Alexandra got married to British businessman, Angus Ogilvy, at Westminster Abbey.

The ceremony was broadcast worldwide and was witnessed by 200 million people. Amongst Alexandra's bridesmaids was the Queen's only daughter, Princess Anne.

The couple had two children, James, born in 1964, and Marina, born in 1966, though neither carry royal titles.

In 2004, Sir James Ogilvy died after a battle with throat cancer. He had his final public appearance alongside Alexandra on a tour of Thailand.

Little-known 'unsung heroine' of Royal Family in Charles' official portraitShe was one of eight bridesmaids at Queen Elizabeth II's wedding in 1947 (PA)

Sir James was buried at Frogmore in the grounds of Windsor Castle, and Alexandra has not remarried since.

As one of the most active and hardest working members of the Royal Family, Alexandra has completed around 120 engagements each year for decades.

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The Royal Family's website still lists Alexandra as a working member of the Royal Family.

It notes: "She is patron or president of over 100 organisations which reflect her wide-ranging interests, from the arts to health care.

Little-known 'unsung heroine' of Royal Family in Charles' official portraitShe was a close friend of the late Queen and remains part of the Royal Family (Getty Images for Ascot Racecourse)

"She also supported Queen Elizabeth in her duties as Head of State, attending ceremonial occasions alongside other members of the Royal Family."

Alexandra is Joint-President of Cancer Research UK, patron of the Florence Nightingale Foundation, Patron of Alzheimer's Society and also as Deputy President of the British Red Cross Society.

The Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex is named after the royal following her opening of the hospital in 1965.

Today she is as regal, hard-working, engaging and as everlastingly chic as she's always been - by far worthy of a place in the official portrait of working royals.

Nia Dalton

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