HRH Princess Alice, Countess Of Athlone (1883-1981)

[Hopewell]

Read HRH Princess Alice's autobiography. There are MANY places in there where she demeans Jews [especially regards to a school mentioned for her brother in Germany] and "natives" throughout the world. BUT, as I pointed out--that is not a-typical of her time or class.

[Vasillisos Markos]

Yes, royals hold prejudices, just like the common folk. Do you suppose part of her prejudice against Jews might have been influenced by her brother, who was a contemporary of Adolph Hitler? From what I've read, Alice remained steadfast in loyalty to her brother, but the other Royals dismissed him as a member of the family and were not known to speak of him publicly.

[Iluvbertie]

Anti-semitism was very strong 100 years ago in many parts of Europe reaching its height in the period 1933 - 1945.

It is not therefore surprising that some royals, along with ordinary people, also were anti-semitic.

Even today, when I have travelled through Eastern and Central Europe I get a sense of strong anti-semitism - a Jews and us expression for instance - quite a lot.

[Hereditary Thane]

Princess Alice of Albany, Countess of Athlone was not anti-semitic, neither did she display any public animosity towards her Dutch cousins: she was godmother to the present Queen Beatrix. I recall her from my childhood and teens, I thought she had a devilish sense of humour; she was small but very energetic and had amazingly sparkling periwinkle blue eyes. She was maligned for refusing to repudiate her almost simpleton brother, Charles Edward after he lost his ducal throne and began flirting with the Nazis. The princess thought one should stand by kinsmen who had fallen on hard times. She herself was not pro-German, nor pro-Nazi. As the wife of the Governor General of Canada she was diligent and truly did have the common touch. I recall being shown a letter hand written by her to a Canadian school child during WW II, it was several pages long and must have taken several hours to complete. Just an example of the Camridge's sense of duty and kindness.

[maria-olivia]

Indeed , this Princess was Queen Beatrix's godmother and I think King Leopold III of the Belgians was her godfather. Could someone confirm ? Thanks

[MAfan]

Yes, among Queen Beatrix's godparents were King Leopold III and Princess Alica; the others were Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklemburg-Schwerin, Princess Elisabeth zu Erbach-Schonberg, her uncle Prince Aschwin zur Lippe-Biesterfeld and Countess Allene de Kotzebue.

[maria-olivia]

Thanks MAfan , You know a lot about the RF and those from the past.
In Brussels there will be an exhibition about the 100 years of the beginning of King Albert Ier 's reign. (13 December 1909) from 25/11 until 28/2.
You should keep your previous avatar until 28/2....