Prince Michael Of Kent Confirms He Will Return His 'Order Of Friendship' Kremlin Honour
3 min read
Prince Michael of Kent has confirmed that he will be returning the Russian state government 'Order of Friendship' award, one of the Kremlin’s highest honours.
The prince, who has previously been accused of using his royal status to provide access to Putin – he denied the claims – was bestowed with the prestigious award in 2009 at a ceremony in the Kremlin.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who currently serves as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia, presented the honour to Prince Michael for "his contribution to the strengthening of friendship and co-operation with Russia".
On Monday, in a tweet directed at French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, Medvedev warned: “don’t forget that in human history, economic wars quite often turned into real ones.”
In a statement released at midnight on Thursday evening, a spokesperson for Prince Michael told PoliticsHome: "I can confirm that HRH Prince Michael of Kent is returning his Russian Order of Friendship.
"There will be no further comment."
The Prince is among a handful of British public figures to have been awarded an Order of Friendship over the past two decades, including former Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and the acclaimed Scottish architect, Tony Kettle.
Kettle, who designed the St Petersburg building currently housing sanctioned Russian state gas company Gazprom, announced on Tuesday that he will look to return his award.
The architect was presented with it at a ceremony in the Russian Embassy in London last year.
"We work across many countries at Kettle Collective and we are made up of an international team, including Russians and Ukrainians who are directly affected by this dreadful war, and our thoughts remain firmly with them, their families and the many thousands of Ukrainians affected by this senseless invasion,” a spokesperson for Kettle’s architecture firm said.
Former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith told PoliticsHome on Tuesday that public figures in Britain who have received an Order of Friendship should hand back their awards to the Kremlin, with a message to “stick this where the sun don’t shine”.
Iain Duncan Smith said that he “can’t tell” recipients of the prestigious Russian state honour “what to do” but added “given what Russia is doing and their behaviour, these things should be sent back with a simple abrupt message: time to stick this where the sun don't shine”.
PoliticsHome has approached Williams for comment as to whether he intends to return his Order of Friendship, which was presented to him in 2010.
On Monday the former Archbishop told The Spectator: “I completely share the condemnation of Vladimir Putin's aggression and all it has led to.
“If and when I make a decision about the Order (which was certainly not conditional on a support for the Russian Government which I have never shared or expressed) I shall say so.”
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