Marina Grove

In 1969, Ivan Sisarich subdivided the area in the valley below Tothill Street, off Govett Avenue. To celebrate his Greek background he asked that one of the streets be called Marina, after Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, who had recently died.

It celebrated a connection to the British royalty as well, since Princess Marina was also the Duchess of Kent.

Born in 1906, she was related to several European royalties. Her father was Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and her mother, Elena Vladimirovna, was a granddaughter of Tsar Alexander II of Russia.

Unfortunately, her royal lineage was not enough to save her from an early life of relative poverty. Her family was forced into exile in Europe at the overthrow of the Greek monarchy when she was 11.

There was a dramatic change in fortune when she married Prince George, the Duke of Kent, on 29 November 1934.

They went on to have three children: Prince Edward, Prince Michael and Princess Alexandra, all of Kent.

Tragedy struck when her husband was killed in a plane crash in 1942 while on active service for the RAF in Scotland. Princess Marina continued as the Duchess of Kent, fulfilling many royal engagements. She also strengthened her links to British royalty in 1947 as she was a first-cousin to Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, newly married to Princess Elizabeth, our current Queen.

She was president of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, in Wimbledon, for many years. Her royal duties also involved representing the Queen on several state occasions, such as the independence of Ghana in 1957 and the formation of the Republic of Botswana in 1966. The public hospital in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, is known as the Princess Marina Hospital.

She died aged 61 at Kensington Palace from a brain tumour.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.