The Marina Story
The creative team at Sienna Jones drew inspiration from HRH Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark whose unique style and elegance transcended generations.
Inspired by Princess Marina’s iconic diamond bow brooch, inherited from her mother, which originally belonged to her grandfather Tsar Alexander II Russia.
The collection cleverly interprets her favourite piece of jewellery with playful handbag designs.
Celebrating the legacy of Princess Marina, her great-granddaughters, Lady Marina Windsor and Lady Amelia Windsor, have both endorsed this capsule collection.
Lady Amelia Windsor, Justine Dalby and Lady Marina Windsor at the Launch of Sienna Jones, Debut collection Marina.
Thank you to the girls for their support and for attending the launch
The creative team at Sienna Jones revisited this very modern Royal and cited her as it muse for their debut collection.
Princess Marina (1906-1968) is a fashion muse not only for the way she dressed, but for being a modern woman in an old established world. During the height of the 1930s, Marina turned heads, and made column inches in every fashion book and bible across the globe for her unique style and sophisticated glamour.
Marina was a classic beauty who was very aware of her ancestry. She was regal and imposing, yet never intimidating. “She was beautiful up to the last” said the Queen mother.
The British public quickly took to the new Duchess to their hearts for her outstanding beauty and exquisite taste in dress, displayed for instance at her first great public appearance in the Jubilee procession of King George V, where she was one of the outstanding figures on the day.
Princess Marina was born in 1906. Her father was Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark, who comes for the same Danish House of Oldenberg.
Her mother was Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia, a granddaughter of Tsar Alexander II of Russia. She was the youngest of the couple’s children. One of her paternal uncles was Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, the father of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
During the 1920s she often visited England, and stayed very occasionally at Buckingham Palace.
It was here in London that Marina met George for the first time whilst at a party in 1932. The following year they met again in London, where their romance blossomed and whilst holidaying in Yugoslavia in August 1934 the pair got engaged.
Marina married Prince George, Duke of Kent (b.1902 - d.1942), the fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary in Westminster Abbey on November 29th 1934, the eve of her 28th birthday. It was at their Wedding Prince Phillip met Queen Elizabeth (only aged 8 at the time) for the first time.
They went on to have three children:
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent b. 1935
Princess Alexandra b. 1936
Prince Michael of Kent b. 1942
Princess Marina was elegance and sophistication personified. She kept things simple and understood proportion. On duty or on the ski slopes, she turned heads. She and her husband, Prince George, Duke of Kent, were a couple many tried to emulate.
However she was more than just a fashion icon Marina’s first action on the outbreak of WWII was to enroll herself as a V.A.D at University College Hospital, where she did regular duty two days a week under the nom de guerre of ‘Sister Kay’.
She made beds, washed dishes, cared for the sick and during air-raids helped patients to the shelters.
When the Duke of Kent inspected the hospital, Sister Kay curtsied to him on presentation, most of her colleagues and patients were unaware of who she was.
Even after the death of Prince George, just six weeks after the birth of their youngest child, Princess Marina threw herself into her Royal duties.
She supported numerous charities and military groups. From 1940 until her death, she served as Chief Commandant of the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS). From 1963 until her death, she served as the first Chancellor of the University of Kent at Canterbury and held several honorary military positions.
Princess Marina was a sportswoman too. She liked to ski. She enjoyed the arts, championing some of the up and coming artists of the time. She also played tennis and served 26 years as President of the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
The creative team at Sienna Jones have revisited this very modern royal and cited her as its muse for the Marina range. Taking inspiration from Marina’s famous bow brooch which was inherited by Marina from her mother, which originally belonged to Tsar Alexander II Russia.
“For people my age the loss is great for she was much art of an era and she added so much to the early days. She was always so vividly around, even until now, so that with her going she leaves a great gap.”
Quote from Cecil Beaton