Marie-Christine Anne Agnes Hedwig Ida Freiin von Reibnitz was born at Carlsbad (now in the Czech Republic). She is the only daughter of the late Günther Hubertus Freiherr von Reibnitz and his wife, the late Maria Anna Caroline Franziska Walpurga Bernadette Gräfin Szapáry von Muraszombath, Széchyziget und Szapár. She is a descendant of German and Bohemian nobility. She married firstly Thomas Troubridge (born 26 December 1939) on 14 September 1971 at Chelsea Old Church, London. This marriage was formally annulled by the Roman Catholic Church in May 1978 for undisclosed reasons. She married His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and a first cousin once-removed of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, on 30 June 1978 in a civil ceremony in Vienna. Upon marriage, she assumed the style and title of Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent. After receiving the Pope's permission, the couple married in a Roman Catholic ceremony on 29 June 1983 at the Archbishop House, London.
Since the 1701 Act of Settlement prohibits anyone who has married a Roman Catholic from succeeding to the throne, Prince Michael of Kent (at the time, eighth in the line of succession) lost his succession right upon his marriage to Princess Michael. However, their children retain their rights of succession because they are in communion with the Anglican Church. Prince and Princess Michael of Kent have two children: