Skip to content
VitrineRoyal Houses of Europe
Sign in

Prince Michael of Kent

b. 1942

Born
4 Jul 1942, Coppins
Country of birth
United Kingdom

Living person. The family sees only the name, dates and photo; everything else stays private unless they choose to share it.

facts
6
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

A life in time

  1. Born · Coppins

    Birth, Coppins

  2. Child born: Lord Frederick Windsor

    Birth, St Mary's Hospital

  3. Child born: Lady Gabriella Windsor

    Birth, St Mary's Hospital

What was it like?

The world around Coppins, 1942: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Prince was born the same year as Stephen Hawking, Paul McCartney, and Jimi Hendrix.

Born the same year

  • Stephen Hawking

    British theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author (1942–2018)

  • Paul McCartney

    English musician and member of the Beatles (born 1942)

  • Jimi Hendrix

    American guitarist (1942–1970)

  • Amitabh Bachchan

    Indian film actor (born 1942)

  • Aretha Franklin

    American singer, songwriter, and pianist (1942–2018)

  • Muhammad Ali

    American boxer (1942–2016)

Fashion

Turbans served as safety and style

The turban, initially a safety device to protect hair from factory machinery, became popular everyday wear that also disguised unkempt hair during the war.

Wartime siren suits for air raids

The siren suit was an all-enveloping, zip-up boiler suit that people wore over pajamas for quick dashes to air raid shelters during the war.

Music

Civic celebrations and improvised instruments

To celebrate victories, civic bands often led parades through city centers, although this tradition was more common in northern industrial regions than in others. Fans traveling to major events also used improvised instruments like mouth organs, tin whistles, and rattles to provide music.

Community singing at FA Cup matches

At FA Cup football matches, thousands of fans participated in formal community singing of popular songs and the hymn Abide with me, beginning in 1927. The stadium atmosphere during the hymn was described as having a moving intensity comparable to the silence at the Cenotaph on Armistice Day.

Getting around
Around 1937–1939

Train travel speeds increased significantly

The Coronation Scot express service between London and Glasgow covered 401 miles in 6.5 hours, an improvement from the previous 8.25-hour duration.

Short branch line train travel times

A local branch line train between Oxenholme and Windermere stopped at three intermediate stations over a 10-mile distance, with the journey taking 25 to 30 minutes.

Daily life

Limited Home Amenities and Rationing

Many homes lacked bathrooms and indoor toilets; families often used a portable tin bath in the kitchen and an outside toilet. To save fuel, authorities advised limiting bath water to a depth of five inches, a rule famously adopted even at Buckingham Palace.

Schooling and Classroom Life

Schools often lacked lunches, so children in winter brought a potato marked with their initials to be baked in the school coal-oven. Pupils were taught using rote learning, and in smaller schools, might start by writing in trays of sand before using chalkboards or expensive pencils.

Food

Strict Wartime Food Rationing Limits

During wartime rationing, each person was typically limited to one fresh egg per week, 2oz of butter, 4oz of margarine, and 8oz of sugar. Many families supplemented their meals by growing their own vegetables in gardens or allotments through the Dig for Victory campaign.

Scarcity of Sweets and Exotic Fruits

Exotic fruits like bananas were unavailable during the war, leading mothers to create mock versions using parsnips. Sweets and chocolates were also heavily rationed, and their scarcity led to a failed attempt to de-ration them in 1949.

Prices and wages

Wooden-soled shoes to save coupons

To supplement rationed footwear, people could buy wooden-soled shoes with a hinge for bending, which did not require spending clothing coupons.

Around 1938–1938

Cost of bread and bacon in 1938

In 1938, bread typically cost about 8.5 pence for a 4-pound loaf, while bacon cost roughly 1 shilling 3.5 pence per pound.

Work

Wartime Work Roles and Random Selection

During World War II, young men were randomly selected by ballot to become miners, known as Bevin Boys, if their National Service numbers matched the drawn digits. Additionally, about 6,000 women joined the Women's Timber Corps to work in sawmills and chop timber, earning the nickname lumberjills.

Around 1920–1939

Common Jobs and Wages for Young Workers

In the 1920s, coal mining was a major industry for men, while over 1.5 million women worked in personal service as domestic servants, housekeepers, or charwomen. Many children began full-time work at 14, often earning about 10 shillings a week for a 45-hour work week.

News and letters

Telegram delivery times increased after 1939

Before the Second World War, an inland telegram typically took just over 30 minutes to reach its recipient, but by 1946, this had increased to approximately 70 minutes.

Around 1946–1946

Telegram delivery times increased significantly

While pre-war telegrams averaged just over 30 minutes to deliver, by 1946 the average time had increased to about 70 minutes.

During their lifetime

  1. 1948

    Creation of the NHS in 1948

    In 1948, the National Health Service (NHS) was created to provide healthcare, following the 1942 Beveridge Report.

  2. 1954

    Food rationing ends in 1954

    Food rationing, which began during World War II, finally ended in 1954.

  3. 1958

    First motorway opens in 1958

    Britain opened its first motorway, the Preston bypass, in 1958.

  4. 1971

    1971 Immigration Act passed

    The 1971 Immigration Act restricted rights for Commonwealth migrants, effectively ending the Windrush era.

  5. 1971

    Decimal currency introduced in 1971

    The UK switched to a decimal currency system in 1971.

  6. 1994

    Channel Tunnel opens in 1994

    The Channel Tunnel, linking Britain and France, officially opened on 6 May 1994.

Family

Parents

Spouses

Children

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.