Related through his grandmother to Tsar Nicholas II, Prince Michael has always had a strong emotional attachment to Russia, which he first visited in 1992, following the collapse of communism. Now Patron of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce, he has returned to the country many times since then on business.

Click here to see how Prince Michael is related to the Russian Imperial family.

He is also closely involved with a number of charity, arts and humanitarian organisations in Russia, including The Children’s Fire and Burn Trust, (which incorporates The Friends of Russian Children) and the St Gregory's Foundation of which he is a particularly concerned and committed Patron.

Prince Michael is Patron of Nochlezhka, a charity for the homeless in St Petersburg. Photograph © David Chancellor

His family background, his knowledgeable interest in Russia and its history and his mastery of the language have all helped to make him a respected figure in that country. In 1998 an honorary doctorate was bestowed on him by the old-established Plekhanov Economics Academy. In 2002 was awarded the International Man of the Year Award by the Plekhanov Economics Academy. And in 2003, His Royal Highness was awarded the 'Glory of Russia' by the Plekhanov Economics Academy.

He attended the formal re-interment in St Petersburg in 1998 of the bones of the murdered Romanov family.

In July 1999, Prince Michael led a Bentley Rally from Brooklands Museum to Moscow, covering the 1,700 miles in ten days and raising more than £25,000 for the Children’s Fire and Burns Trust.

Prince Michael at the end of the Brooklands to Moscow Bentley Rally, July 1999. Photograph © David Chancellor	Prince Michael at the start of the St Petersburg Tercentenary Rally 2003. Photograph © David Chancellor

In 2003, His Royal Highness led a Rally of fifteen vintage Bentleys from Yekaterinburg to St Petersburg, as part of the celebrations for the Tercentenary of St Petersburg, in order to raise funds for the Children’s Fire and Burns Trust and St Gregory’s Foundation, as well as other charities alon the route. The total amount raised was over £120,000.

In May 2005, Prince Michael as Royal Patron, took part in the White Knights Ride in Russia, starting from Vladivostok and finishing at Khabarovsk.

The rally was to raise funds for The Prince Michael of Kent Foundation, set up to benefit health, education, culture and heritage in Russia, and is administered by CAF. The money raised was also donated to the London's Royal Marsden Hospital, in great need of a new rapid diagnostic scanner, and Britain's Charities Aid Foundation Russia (CAF).