The Christmas of 1936 was a difficult one for the Royal Family. Just weeks before, King Edward VIII had abdicated, giving up his throne to marry the woman he loved, Wallis Simpson. The decision had shocked his country, his empire and his relations. Days into the reign of the new king, George VI, they were still so shaken, there wasn’t even a Christmas speech.
However, in the midst of this tricky time, a moment of joy brought them all together. On Christmas Day 1936, they welcomed a brand new member. Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent gave birth to her second child, a princess, the first new royal of the new reign. And her middle name was chosen to mark the special day on which she was born.
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The Duke and Duchess of Kent gave their only daughter, Alexandra, the middle name Christabel but it wasn’t the first time this very unusual name had found its way into royal circles.
Princess Alexandra was born on Christmas Day – just like her aunt by marriage, Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester.  Alice’s parents had chosen Christabel to mark their daughter’s festive birthday and the Duke and Duchess of Kent followed suit and gave their Christmas baby the same middle name. Â
Christabel remains generally rare although it seems to be establishing a royal connection as the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester’s youngest daughter, Lady Rose Gilman, named her daughter Lyla Beatrix Christabel in 2010.
Princess Alexandra’s full name is Alexandra Helen Elizabeth Olga Christabel. And, 88 years after her birth, the Royal Family still stopped to mark her big day as Christmas dawned.
