Prince Edward, Duke of Kent in the context of "All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club"

The British royal family comprises King Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considered part of the royal family. Members typically support the monarch in carrying out public engagements and take part in charitable work and ceremonial duties.

Senior royals collectively undertake thousands of official engagements across the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, Crown Dependencies and abroad each year, including state visits, national events, and patronage activities. The family also represents the UK on the global stage and contributes to soft power through diplomacy and cultural presence.

Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark (Greek: Μαρίνα; 13 December [O.S. 30 November] 1906 – 27 August 1968), later Duchess of Kent, was a Greek and Danish princess by birth and a British princess by marriage. A granddaughter of King George I of Greece and Queen Olga, she was the daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia. In 1934, she married Prince George, Duke of Kent, the fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary. They had three children: Prince Edward, Princess Alexandra, and Prince Michael. She was widowed in 1942, when her husband was killed in a plane crash while on active service, and remained active in royal duties throughout her later life, attending public engagements across the Commonwealth, including the independence celebrations for Ghana and Botswana. She died in 1968, aged 61.

On 6 February 1952, George VI, King of the United Kingdom, died at the age of 56, at Sandringham House, after a prolonged cancer. His state funeral took place on 15 February 1952. He was succeeded by his daughter Queen Elizabeth II. George VI's coffin lay in St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham, until 11 February when it was carried, in procession, to the nearby Wolferton railway station. The coffin was carried by train to London King's Cross railway station where another formal procession carried it to Westminster Hall where the king lay in state for three days. Some 304,000 people passed through Westminster Hall with queues up to 4 miles (6.4 km) forming.

George VI's funeral began with another formal procession to Paddington Station, the coffin being carried on a gun carriage hauled by Royal Navy seamen, as is traditional at the funerals of British sovereigns. The procession was accompanied by Elizabeth II, George VI's widow Queen Elizabeth (now the Queen Mother), Princess Margaret and four royal dukes: Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor, and Prince Edward, Duke of Kent. Numerous foreign monarchs and other representatives also attended. On arrival at Paddington the coffin was loaded onto a train for the journey to Windsor. Another procession carried the coffin through the town to St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle where a service was held and the king interred in the royal vault.

Field marshal (FM) has been the highest rank in the British Army since 1736. A five-star rank with NATO code OF-10, it is equivalent to an Admiral of the Fleet in the Royal Navy or a Marshal of the Royal Air Force in the Royal Air Force (RAF). A Field Marshal's insignia consists of two crossed batons surrounded by yellow leaves below the Tudor Crown. Like Marshals of the Royal Air Force and Admirals of the Fleet, Field Marshals traditionally remain officers for life, though on half-pay when not in an appointment or retired. The rank has been used sporadically throughout its history, and was vacant during parts of the 18th and 19th centuries (when all former holders of the rank were deceased). After the Second World War, it became standard practice to appoint the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (later renamed Chief of the General Staff) to the rank on his last day in the post. Army officers occupying the post of Chief of the Defence Staff, the professional head of all the British Armed Forces, were usually promoted to the rank upon their appointment.

In total, 143 men have held the rank of field marshal. The majority led careers in the British Army or the colonial British Indian Army, rising through the ranks to eventually become a field marshal. Some members of the British royal family, most recently Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Charles III, were promoted to the rank after shorter periods of service. Three British monarchs (George V, Edward VIII, and George VI) assumed the rank on their accessions to the throne, while Edward VII and Charles III were already field marshals, and two British consorts, Albert, Prince Consort and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, were appointed by their respective queens. Other ceremonial appointments were made as diplomatic gestures. Twelve foreign monarchs have held the honour, though three (Wilhelm II, German Emperor; Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria-Hungary; and Hirohito, Emperor of Japan) were stripped of it when their countries became enemies of Britain and its allies in the two world wars. Also awarded the rank were one Frenchman (Ferdinand Foch) and one Australian (Sir Thomas Blamey), honoured for their contributions in World War I and World War II respectively, and one South African statesman (Jan Smuts).

Prince George, Duke of Kent (George Edward Alexander Edmund; 20 December 1902 – 25 August 1942), was a member of the British royal family, the fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary, and a younger brother of Kings Edward VIII and George VI. He served in the Royal Navy during the 1920s before briefly working as a civil servant, and in 1934 was created Duke of Kent. That same year he married Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, with whom he had three children: Edward, Alexandra, and Michael. In the late 1930s he joined the Royal Air Force, holding staff appointments at RAF Training Command and, from 1941, in the Welfare Section of the Inspector General's Staff. George was killed in an air crash in Scotland in 1942, aged 39, becoming the first member of the royal family in more than four centuries to die on active service.

Kensington Palace is a royal residence situated within Kensington Gardens in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has served as a residence for the British royal family since the 17th century and is currently the official London residence of several royals, including the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, and Princess Eugenie alongside her husband, Jack Brooksbank. The term "Kensington Palace" is often used as a metonym for the offices of the royals who reside there.

Today, the State Rooms of Kensington Palace are open to the public and are managed by Historic Royal Palaces, an independent charity that operates without public funding. The palace's offices and private living quarters remain the responsibility of the Royal Household. Additionally, Kensington Palace showcases numerous paintings and other artifacts from the Royal Collection.