| Princess Michael: In Her Own Words |
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| Written by Joanne Leyland | ||||||||||||||||
| Saturday, 04 March 2006 | ||||||||||||||||
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Programme: Wogan: Now And Then Guests: Princess Michael of Kent, comedian Rory Bremner and actress Sue Johnston Original Date of Broadcast: 28th February 2006 TV Channel: UK Gold  TERRY WOGAN: "It's been nineteen years since my next guest first appeared on Wogan. Back then she expressed concern with the growing Press interest in the Royal Family and what it might lead to." "Now since then, as the Windsors have dealt with divorce and tragedy, she herself has been the victim of many a tabloid headline. But despite the bad Press, she's carved a career as a successful author specialising in the scandal and intrigue of past royals. Her latest book, The Serpent & The Moon looks at the tragic love story between a King and his mistress in 16th century France. Please welcome Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent." TERRY WOGAN: "Now thank you for coming, I'm glad you're here because I know some members of the Royal Family have expressed some disquiet about anybody in the Royal Family appearing on television." PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Really?" TERRY WOGAN: "No I wouldn't lie to you". PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Erm, I'm not aware of that." TERRY WOGAN: "Are you the rebel?" PRINCESS MICHAEL: "I'm not a rebel. I'm a writer." TERRY WOGAN: "Yeah but, you've stood up for yourself haven't you? Maybe they don't like that." PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Does that make me a rebel?" TERRY WOGAN: "Yeah. I think it does, I think it probably does in the context of the Royal Family."  PRINCESS MICHAEL: "When I married I was an interior designer. I was a very good interior designer, not because I was particularly clever but because I was on time and within estimate, and that made me a very good interior designer. So when I came back from my honeymoon I was surprised to learn that this was an 'inappropriate' profession — nearly thirty years ago we're talking — for a member of the Royal Family. So I said 'well, what happens now?' So I made two babies and I made two houses and I was doing charity work, of course. And I said to my mother 'look, you know, I've got to do something else.' She said 'well they'll probably let you write or paint, provided you wrote history', and she said 'knowing the way you paint I think you should go for the history'." (laughter) TERRY WOGAN: "And so you have. Your latest book is based on Henry The Second, {a} real life story." PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Well it's not the basis, it's the story, actually, of a very interesting lady. First half of the sixteenth...how long have you got? The first half of the sixteenth century in France, and a very beautiful lady who was Lady-In-Waiting to the Queen, and when she was eighteen, and the Queen was eighteen, the Queen gave birth to a son. And it was Diane de Poitier, because that was her name, who handed this baby to the Queen, both aged eighteen. And that baby boy was going to become the love of her life, which is a rather strange concept, isn't it? But that's what happened. She'd been married off at the age of fifteen to man of fifty-six. That was normal. You see, marriage was a business arrangement, it was nothing to do with love." TERRY WOGAN: "Is it still, as far as the Royal Family is concerned?" PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Oh no. It's all love now." TERRY WOGAN: "Why do I feel that you've got your tongue in your cheek when you say that?" PRINCESS MICHAEL: (laughing) "You're nowhere near my cheek, you have no idea where my tongue is." TERRY WOGAN: "Alright."  TERRY WOGAN: "Now it's full of scandal and persecution etcetera, and the King, his wife and the mistress. The view of adultery at that time was very different. The view of Kings and Queens was very different, people were not as reverential then as they are now." PRINCESS MICHAEL: "I think what's important to remember, with history, is I try to paint a portrait of the time. Because people haven't changed, no? We love, we hate, we're jealous, we're generous. We're the same. But our circumstances change. The framework of our lives change. And then, marriage was business. Whether you were a farmer's daughter, you didn't get married unless you brought a few cows or fields with you, if you were a silversmith....." TERRY WOGAN: "My wife was the same." PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Yes I'm sure. There you are. A silversmith, let's say. You didn't marry just anybody. No, you married into another silversmith family and you got the clients. The same with Royalty. And you were a bargaining tool, even a Princess was just a bargaining tool for some kind of treaty. So, you know, people say 'what about Catherine in this story?' because it's Diane de Poitier, beautiful older lady." TERRY WOGAN: "Catherine de Medici." PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Catherine de Medici was the wife of the young Prince, Henri. And they married aged fourteen, they'd never met each other before. On the day that they met they married. They had to consummate their marriage in front of at least twenty members of the Court." TERRY WOGAN: "Well so would I. I'd....I....I....." (laughter) PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Yes, yes. But why, why? Because it's a business arrangement." TERRY WOGAN: "Of course." PRINCESS MICHAEL: "And therefore if it didn't happen, no money. She wouldn't have to pay the money. You see?" TERRY WOGAN: "I hope you didn't have to do anything like that?" (laughter) PRINCESS MICHAEL: "We married for love now." TERRY WOGAN: "Ah, good for you. Now when we first met on the original chat show, bless it. 1986 it was. There was a moment when I particularly remember...I'd like to show you this. Let's have a look." PRINCESS MICHAEL:: "Oi." (laughter) CUT TO THE 1986 INTERVIEW  TERRY WOGAN: "Do you feel that the Royal Family will ever suffer from over exposure, that there's been perhaps too much of them. That if we see too much of them we will get tired of them?" PRINCESS MICHAEL: "I don't know, I think it's a double edged sword, isn't it? Because on the one hand there's obviously the demand, otherwise there wouldn't be so many books and magazines and everything, you know, featuring us. If people didn't want to see it then they wouldn't do it, no? I think it's not always pleasant for us, you know?" TERRY WOGAN: "Would it be better if you held yourself a bit more aloof?" PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Well that's how it used to be, wasn't it? And then this new wave came in of seeing us as 'real people', you know." TERRY WOGAN: "When you're not, of course?" PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Of course not, no. I mean (laughter)...we're all made of latex, like on Spitting Image" (laughter) CUT TO THE PRESENT DAY INTERVIEW (Princess Michael is laughing): TERRY WOGAN: "Well you saw the....sort of prophetic element to that, wasn't there? I mean, are you still...are you concerned about your own family, for instance, being in the public eye?"PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Mmmmm......Yes. Yes. But I think I've brought them up to cope. I sent my daughter to America for four years to College, you know." TERRY WOGAN: "Yeah." PRINCESS MICHAEL: "She's rather pretty and....she was sort of followed a bit by the Press, and so, she had four years of time to settle in her own skin and not be bothered with the Press, you know?" TERRY WOGAN: "But it's a worry isn't it, to your children. They're in the glare..." PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Well there's no point worrying about it, you just hope they cope." TERRY WOGAN: "Yeah. Well join me after the break when I'll be talking to Her Royal Highness about the pressures of Royal life..." INTERVAL BREAK TERRY WOGAN: "Hello again and welcome back to our star spangled setting. Glad you're still keeping up. Now in a while I'll be talking to Waking The Dead star Sue Johnston, but at the moment with me, Princess Michael of Kent. And er....we'd better talk about the book" (laughter) PRINCESS MICHAEL: (laughing) "Yes.' TERRY WOGAN: "Now the thing about the book is, it {was} published first in America. I see all the crits {reviews}, which were pretty good, seemed to be from America?" PRINCESS MICHAEL: "It's true." TERRY WOGAN: "What's wrong with Britain?" PRINCESS MICHAEL: "What's wrong with Britain indeed? Well, I shall tell you. I've had two bestsellers you see and so my agents put the proposal out to all the publishers, and it went to auction. And an American publisher won the auction. What can I do?" TERRY WOGAN: "A lot of money?" (laughter) PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Never enough! (laughing) We're waiting for the film, you know. The movie, the movie." TERRY WOGAN: "Yes, that, see...You're not on the Civil List, you and Michael, are you, so I...." PRINCESS MICHAEL: "No." TERRY WOGAN: "....think money is a problem for you both?" PRINCESS MICHAEL: Rolls her eyes and laughs TERRY WOGAN: "Well, I mean, it's not a problem for the rest of the Royal Family, is it?" PRINCESS MICHAEL: Jokingly holds out her hand as if holding a begging bowl (laughter)  TERRY WOGAN: "Oh for goodness sake." (Laughter) PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Well, you know, we're very proud to earn our own living, actually. It's a source of pride. I've always had a job of some kind before I married and, I think it makes you feel good to earn, you know. I really love...I love being professional." TERRY WOGAN: "And they love you in America?" PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Well I don't know." TERRY WOGAN: "Well they do. You go there and you address people and your book is released there." PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Well I'm a lecturer, I'm a professional lecturer." TERRY WOGAN: "What do you lecture on, history?" PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Historical subjects. Look at my website www.princessmichael.com" (laughter) TERRY WOGAN: "We all knew that!" (Laughter) "We all knew that, everybody knew that." PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Forty-seven lectures. A hundred slides in one hour. Brilliant." (laughing) TERRY WOGAN: "Even if you say so yourself" PRINCESS MICHAEL:(Still laughing) "I'm the only person" (Laughing) TERRY WOGAN: "Now, most celebrities have a period when they're criticised, and then the dust settles. But they...it's always been open season on you, hasn't it?" PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Ah well, you know...I'm foreign...I'm Catholic." TERRY WOGAN: "Why? Do you think it's because you're foreign?" PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Catholic doesn't help, I tell you." TERRY WOGAN: "Well excuse me, I started off as a Catholic." (Laughter) PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Yes, I know, but you're not a member of the Royal Family, thank you very much. Not yet, not yet." TERRY WOGAN: "That's right. Put me down." (Laughter) "Yeah. So...I just..."  PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Well I think also, listen, I mean, you know. This is not something that one should get worried about, as such. Erm...I don't recognise the person they're writing about. My family doesn't recognise the person they're writing about. And, of course it's hurtful. Don't....I won't lie to you and say it's not hurtful. It is hurtful. I try not to read it. I try not to think about it, and get on with my life because, as you and I know, looking at these clippings, life goes very quickly and you've got to pack a lot in and I've got a lot of books to write, and I've got a lot of things that I want to do still." TERRY WOGAN: "Yeah" PRINCESS MICHAEL: "And I've just got my OAP train pass." (laughter) TERRY WOGAN: "Good heavens." PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Yes." TERRY WOGAN: "They're giving it to 45 year olds now are they?" (laughter) PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Well, you know..." (Laughing, points at Wogan) "Don't you love him?" TERRY WOGAN: "I was going to say to you that...it just, you seem a little accident prone. Because, the last thing, that scene in America for instance, when you were accused of making racist comments. I mean was that because the Press..." PRINCESS MICHAEL: "And I've almost got an Indian son-in-law, for heavens sake!"  TERRY WOGAN: "Yeah. I mean what was that about?" PRINCESS MICHAEL: "I don't know. I mean, well...there are speculations, shall we say, that it was about getting publicity for some people who needed publicity for their music, whatever. I don't know. But...you know, having lived in Africa, and having this gorgeous Indian boy with my daughter. I mean...I'm the last person. But never mind, we don't talk about that because it's just stupid...stupid." TERRY WOGAN: "No. So you didn't say what you were supposed to have said?" PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Of course not! I'm not...I'm not so stupid, you know?" TERRY WOGAN: "Oh I know you're not." PRINCESS MICHAEL: (Laughing) TERRY WOGAN: "Back in 1986 I asked how you coped, and this is what you said." CUT TO 1986 INTERVIEW TERRY WOGAN: "People like me perhaps have a greater recourse to reposting than you have. You're restricted in the kind of reactions, or how you can reply. And the frustration must build up a great deal, sometimes you must feel like striking out?" PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Well I think you have to deal with it in your own way. I mean, I go home to the country and I fiddle around in my garden, which I love, and my animals and my children and try very much not to pay any attention...to it." TERRY WOGAN: "Are you as calm at home as you are outwardly, I mean? Or do you take it out on the cat or the..." PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Never the cats. Oh never the cats TERRY WOGAN: "Never the cats, because you're keen on the cats aren't you?" PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Cats are very special" CUT TO THE PRESENT DAY INTERVIEW PRINCESS MICHAEL: "I still have all the cats." TERRY WOGAN: "You still have all the cats?" PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Well I mean of different generations, you know." TERRY WOGAN: "Still got the cats?" PRINCESS MICHAEL: (Putting her thumbs up) "Yes!" TERRY WOGAN: "But you're selling the house, so you won't have the garden?"  PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Yes but, you know...I'm afraid both of our backs have gone, and so the riding life is....I've had two back operations, you know. So the riding life has really slowed down, erm...to just quietly hacking, like the two old aged pensioners that we are, And the gardening is a problem because I have to bend over the whole time." TERRY WOGAN: "Oh it's not easy." PRINCESS MICHAEL: "So you see..." TERRY WOGAN: "It's a sad story." PRINCESS MICHAEL: "It's a sad story. And the children don't come any more." TERRY WOGAN: "Why not? What have you done?" PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Well, they're having fun elsewhere. My daughter is in Istanbul at the moment, with the lovely Indian boyfriend. And my son's sort of working, and...you know, they go off and do fun things elsewhere. So the time has come to make a change in one's life, you see." TERRY WOGAN: "Do you know........if I weren't as strong a man I'd burst into tears for you." (Everybody laughs) PRINCESS MICHAEL: "I'm very, you know I'm, I'm...it's OK, it's OK. I'm rather looking forward to having more time to do other things." TERRY WOGAN: "For goodness sake, the years have been more than kind to you." PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Kind, kind, kind!" (laughing) TERRY WOGAN: "Be grateful for how you look and congratulations on the book." PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Aw, thank you."  TERRY WOGAN: "And thank you for joining us." PRINCESS MICHAEL: "Thank you very much." RAPTUROUS APPLAUSE FROM THE AUDIENCE TERRY WOGAN: "Princess Michael of Kent" Please feel welcome to offer your opinions on this and any other royal story by visiting our Royal Forum or via our Comments section below. Comment on this article
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