The Prince is the grandson of King George V and Queen Mary, and his father was Prince George, the Duke of Kent, who died in a military air crash in 1942.
His brother, Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, is a fixture in royal engagements and is seen annually by handing out the winner's trophies at Wimbledon.
But despite the reputation of his brother, Prince Michael has rarely or never been present in the Court Circular of official engagements carried out on behalf of the Queen.
Commenting on the peculiar tradition is on the Prince's website: "Assignments by Prince and Princess Michael of Kent are not included in the Circular of the Court because they usually do not perform official duties on behalf of the Queen.
"Under fine genitor rules, it is the elder brother of Prince Michael, the Duke of Kent, who performs official duties included in the Court Circular."
As the second son and third child of the fourth son of King George V, Prince Michael was never expected to perform official royal duties, which were instead carried out by his eldest brother, the Duke of Kent.
The Prince has therefore never received parliamentary annuities under the civilian list before it was abolished in 2011 and never received an allowance from the Privy Purse, in contrast to his brother and sister who both make official appointments.
Princess Alexandra would also not usually have undertaken royal engagements as the second child of the fourth son of King George V, but the queen made a special exception for her in the sixties.
The Prince's website notes: "Prince Michael's sister, Princess Alexandra, was asked by the Queen to take on such duties because of a lack of female members of the family in the 1960s."
But despite the fact that he usually did not make official commitments, the prince nevertheless represented the Queen in official duties in the Commonwealth and in the United Kingdom.
He attended state country funerals in Swaziland, Cyprus and India.
The website of the prince also mentions: "Although not categorized as & # 39; officially & # 39; prince and princess Michael perform a large number of charitable and public obligations each year, both in the UK and abroad . & # 39;
But the prince also sharply criticized after it was revealed that he lives with his wife in a palace in favor in Kensington Palace, which was given to him at his marriage in 1978.
In 2002 it was claimed that Prince Michael was obliged to pay only £ 69 per week for the use of his apartment, which caused public outrage.
Buckingham Palace clarified this accusation and stated that the queen paid commercial rates for the apartment on behalf of her cousin.
The palace said: "The queen pays the rent for the apartment of prince and princess Michael of Kent at a commercial rate of £ 120,000 per year, from her own private funds.
"This rental payment by the Queen is an acknowledgment of royal assignments and work for various charities that Prince and Princess Michael of Kent have undertaken at their own expense, without public funding."
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