Channel 5 airs a new documentary tonight in the form of Princess Alexandra: The Queen’s Confidante.
The new film delves into the decades-long friendship between Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy.
However, just who exactly is Princess Alexandra?
Born on Christmas Day in 1936, Princess Alexandra is the daughter of The Queen’s paternal uncle Prince George of Kent and his wife, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark.
Her birth was only two weeks after the tumultuous event of her uncle King Edward VIII abdicating the throne and becoming the Duke of Windsor due to his love for American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
When she was born, Princess Alexandra was sixth in line to the British throne, behind five other royals including her cousins Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret.
Much of Alexandra’s childhood was spent in Buckinghamshire before she lived with her grandmother Queen Mary during the Second World War.
She lost her father Prince George of Kent when he died in a plane crash while serving in the RAF in 1942.
After this, Alexandra became the first British princess to be educated at a boarding school and later studied in Paris before doing training at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.
Alexandra served as a bridesmaid at a number of notable royal and aristocratic weddings, but most notably at the 1947 wedding of Princess Elizabeth to Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
In 1963, Alexandra herself got married to British businessman Angus Ogilvy who had proposed with an engagement ring with a cabochon sapphire set in gold and also included diamonds.
The wedding was broadcast worldwide and was witnessed by 200million people, with the event attended by the Royal Family.
Among Alexandra’s bridesmaids was the Queen’s only daughter, Princess Anne.
Angus turned down the offer of an earldom upon his marriage to Alexandra and their children resultantly carried no title.
He was later knighted in 1988 and became a Sir, while Alexandra also boasted the title of Lady Ogilvy.
The couple had two children, James and Marina.
Through her children, Alexandra is the grandmother of four grandchildren.
Sir James Ogilvy died from cancer-related illnesses on Boxing Day in 2004 after a battle with throat cancer. He had earlier had his final public appearance alongside Alexandra on a tour of Thailand.
After 41 years of marriage to Sir James, Alexandra has not remarried since.
Sir James was buried at Frogmore in the grounds of Windsor Castle.
As one of the most active members of the Royal Family, Princess Alexandra completed around 120 engagements each year for decades.
The Royal Family’s website still lists her as a working member of the Royal Family.
It notes: “She is patron or president of over 100 organisations which reflect her wide-ranging interests, from the arts to health care.
“She also supports The Queen in her duties as Head of State, attending ceremonial occasions alongside other members of the Royal Family.”
Alexandra is the patron of charities including her roles as Joint-President of Cancer Research UK, patron of the Florence Nightingale Foundation, Patron of Alzheimer's Society and also as Deputy President of the British Red Cross Society.
The Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex is named after the royal following her opening of the hospital in 1965.
Princess Alexandra remains close to her cousin the Queen and from 2005 took the third position in the Order of Precedence for female members of the Royal Family under the Queen’s orders but only for private events.
She precedes Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall but is behind The Queen herself and Anne, Princess Royal at such events.
*Princess Alexandra: The Queen’s Confidante airs on Channel 5 at 8.30pm on Saturday.
