His mother was Princess Marina, a daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia.

Subsequent tours of duty, during a military career that spanned twenty years, included a number of appointments on the Defence Intelligence Staff.

He has, however, never received a parliamentary annuity or an allowance from the British Privy Purse, unlike both his elder brother, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, and his sister, Princess Alexandra, who both carry out official royal duties.

[23] On 30 June 1978, Michael married, at a civil ceremony, at the City Hall (Wiener Rathaus) in Vienna, Austria, the German noblewoman Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz.

[33] Prince Michael speaks fluent Russian[34] and has a strong interest in Russia, where he is a well-known figure (he is a former recipient of the Order of Friendship).

Michael is the patron of organisations which have close ties with Russia, including the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce and the St Gregory's Foundation.

[38] In his capacity as patron of Children's Fire and Burns Trust, Prince Michael has led fundraising rallies in 1999 and 2003 in Russia to raise money for the charity.

[40] In 2022, HRH Prince Michael of Kent visited Finland again, this time focusing on Tampere, Lempäälä, and Helsinki during the British Week.

Additionally, Prince Michael and the British delegation visited several locations in Tampere, such as the Naistenlahti Powerplant, Nokia Arena, and the Kokkovuori Shooting Center in Lempäälä.

[41][42][43] Prince Michael was a part of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst rowing crew that won the Maiden Fours at Bedford in 1961.

[44] Prince Michael competed for Great Britain in the 1971 FIBT World Bobsleigh Championships but crashed and failed to finish the event.

This rent payment by The Queen is in recognition of the Royal engagements and work for various charities which Prince and Princess Michael of Kent have undertaken at their own expense, and without any public funding.

"[47] Prince Michael has been scrutinized for financial assistance given to him by exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky through offshore companies, with a reported total of £320,000 in payments over the period 2002–2008.

[50][51] Footage from a Zoom call was released of Michael, alongside Simon Isaacs, 4th Marquess of Reading, interacting with undercover reporters posing as business executives seeking to make contacts with the Kremlin.

In the video, he assured the men that his close ties with the country would be of benefit, and that he could introduce them to high-ranking figures within the Russian government in exchange for money.

[50] Marina Litvinenko denounced the prince's actions, saying that it demonstrated that he did not "care about human rights, democracy, about the people who are dying in Russia or what he did to your own citizens on UK soil".

[50] Conservative MP Bob Seely released a statement saying, in part: "We have sanctions against President Putin's regime for good reason.