Princess Michael is married to the Queen’s cousin, Prince Michael of Kent, and lives on the Kensington Palace estate. Like her husband, she is not a working royal and does not receive any public funds, but sometimes attends royal events. Princess Michael is a professed “animal lover”, and like many members of the Royal Family, has an interest in conservation.
Prince William is even featuring in his own ITV documentary, ‘Prince William — A Planet for Us All’, where he will speak to key influential figures about how to address climate change and conservation.
However, Princess Michael attracted a great deal of criticism when she spoke out about animal rights back in 2015, when promoting one of her novels.
She said: “I’m a great animal lover and I’m involved in a lot of conservation but animals don’t have rights.
“They don’t have bank accounts. They don’t vote.
“We have obligations. We have an obligation to animals, but to say they have rights?
“They don’t have rights. You only have rights if you pay your taxes. You earn your rights.”
Comedian and prominent animal rights activist, Ricky Gervais, tweeted in response: “Animals might not pay taxes but they certainly work harder than this f*****g waste of space.”
His comment was quickly supported by Elisa Allen, the associate director of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, also known as Peta.
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This is not the first time Princess Michael has become entangled in a controversy.
She has been up against animal rights campaigners for wearing fur coats for years, while other royals — such as the Queen and Camilla Parker Bowles — have stopped using fur altogether.
Princess Michael is also thought to find it difficult getting along with her fellow royals.
Her spat with Princess Diana is believed to have taken place when they both lived at Kensington Palace.
In 2014, Princess Michael described this experience and said: “Like probably many people of little education who find themselves, like pop stars or film stars, suddenly lauded by the whole world, it is very difficult if you have not had a mother bringing you up who was quite stern and strict.
“She [Diana] did not have a mother bring her up, and she did not have much education, so it is much harder to cope with eulogy.”
Princess Margaret’s son, David, also reportedly once said that he would only wish “dinner with Princess Michael of Kent”, upon his worst enemy.
