Over the years I have seen pictures of the Duke and snippets of information about him. But never did I feel that I knew him. With clasped hands behind his back, the Duke reminded me of a proper English butler. And that was all.
The reality of him, as it turns out, is far different. The Duke of Kent is quite knowledgeable in various fields: business, science, aerospace, engineering.
He travelled on Concorde as a prototype before it was put into service. He even was on its very last flight.
Vickers quotes the Duke as saying, "I was connected and much involved with aerospace for many years."
There is a colorful aspect to his personality - a dry wit and he is very self-effacing. I wonder what the PR machines of today's world would make of him.
I am quoting a passage from this book that illustrates his success as a royal.
On page 237, a discussion on trade: R. H. Greenfield wrote in the "Sunday Telegraph"; "The British are still not very good at selling things, especially to foreigners, at getting onto the customer's doorstep, and staying there until he has placed an order. So, with an inspired illogicality that is typically British, we picked a royal duke out of a cavalry regiment to do it for us, and persuade our industrialists to do likewise. Progressives were suitably outraged, our foreign competitors were duly amused...and His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent was astonishingly successful...Those maddeningly incomprehensible British had once again popped an anachronism into the hat, and pulled out a winner."
It's interesting to me that today's media likes to make caricatures of the royals: their fast cars, love of the nightlife, etc. It's good to see a complete portrait of a dedicated public servant in an era when people constantly ask, "Just what do royals do?"
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