Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (1901-2004)

[Elspeth]

Allowing for the positive spin put on things to do with the royal family by the press office, it sounds as though she's having serious memory problems. I hope she's able to understand what's happening with her grandchildren's weddings. It's like history repeating itself - the present duke was married in his local church rather than in Copenhagen so that the old duke could participate in the wedding since he was too frail to travel.

[HMQueenElizabethII]

Did she attend the Queen Mother's 100th birthday or The Queen's Jubilee?

[Elspeth]

I don't think so. The photo taken on her 100th birthday didn't look like a person who was capable of attending major public functions.

Someone on another thread said that she isn't seen out in her garden any more like she used to be, with her carer, a couple of years ago. Sounds as if she's desperately frail.

[Charles]

Well, the woman is almost 103 years old...

I wonder how well Princess Alice and the Queen Mother got along...

The picture of the two Princesses named Alice is quite extraordinary.

[C.W]

Elizabeth and Alice were two very different people. Elizabeth came from an old scottish family who were rich but not mega rich and where as she enjoyed parties and clothes and jewells Alice did not not as she prefered the countryside and travelling in africa and came from a family with several houses with private train to take them and all of their staff from houses to house depending on the season, and her nephew is still the largest private landowner in the uk( his wealth is all in trust for future generations which includes a fabuous art collection rumured to be worth over £600m). i think they had an understanding and i know the queen mother was most upset that she had a cold and unable to attend Alices 100th birthday celebration at kensington palace, but maybe she wanted Alice to have her day and not over shadow as when ever the late queen made an appearence in public it tended to be the main focus of attention.

[Elspeth]

It sounds as if the Queen Mother and Princess Alice got along a lot better with each other than either did with Princess Marina, if the story is true about Princess Marina calling them "those common little Scottish girls" because she was a princess and they were just daughters of a duke and an earl. The Queen Mother and Princess Alice both seemed to enjoy country life whereas Princess Marina was much more cosmopolitan. Whether the Queen Mother and Princess Alice were particularly friendly is another matter; they'd probably have known each other as youngsters, though.

[Julian]

Interestingly it was the then Duke and Duchess of Gloucester that went to visit the Duke and Duchess of Windsor in France not that long after the Windsors wed there. I think Alice Gloucester may have wanted to make her point about her opinion of that situation, while almost everyone else at court or in British society were shunning the Windsors by that time. I think she may have been better liked within the royal family and among the public that knew them than the late Duke who was said to be the least likable of all his siblings. Anyway, I felt quite sorry for both of them losing their son William, the Duke was said to have never been himself again after that. The way in which William died and the details in the media of the crash were quite awful.

[wymanda]

Mary, Princess Royal & Countess of Harewood also visited her brother the Duke of Windsor in Paris shortly after his marriage.

I always thought both visits a little hypocritical. If they could visit him and his wife then why didn't they attend the wedding. There is nothing so sad as adults who are still so terrified of their mother that the can't follow their consience.

[phrustrated]

"On the way back to England [from Kenya] we stopped off in Paris for one night to see the Windsors. It was Neville Chamberlain's idea, not ours. The Government were still undecided whether to assign the Duke an official role or not, and before reaching a conclusion they wanted some guidance in the form of public reaction in England to news of our visit. The Windsors took us out to dine in some smart restaurant. I did not feel in the least chic, with the red dusts of Kenya hardly out of my hair, but the Duke and Duchess were more than kind. By today's standards there was virtually no Press interest; nevertheless some mention of the meeting did appear in the English papers and a lot of old ladies duly wrote furiously disapproving letters, whcih I found quite upsetting.

Nothing we ever did in the years to come was to prove as controversial as this exploratory visit to the Windsors [...]."

--The Memoirs of Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (1983), p. 117

From this it's clear that Alice wasn't attempting to show her opinion of the matters, she was merely a pawn in the government's game. It also shows to me, though, that she was sympathetic towards the Windsors and their situation.

Natalie

[Elspeth]

And Princess Marina flat refused to meet the Windsors at all, probably causing some problems for her husband, who was the Duke's favourite brother. I suppose that if she considered the Duchess of Gloucester (and the then Queen) common, it's easy to understand why she refused to meet the Duchess of Windsor after her marriage.

The Gloucesters seem to have been more low-profile than the Kents for several generations now.

[Claire]

HRH Prince Alice, Dowager Duchess of Gloucester dies today at the age of 102. My condolences to her family. May she rest in peace.

[Claire]

You can post your condolences at The Dowager Duchess Memorial Site:

http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page3469.asp

[mybags]

How very sad, Princess Alice was one of my favorite royals, despite having not been seen in public in recent years. She will always be remembered.

[Reina]

Here is her memorial page
http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page3455.asp
She was a very good lady

[Elspeth]

Sad news, but not unexpected. It sounds as if she'd been having some memory problems over the last few years, which is hard on the person concerned and the rest of the family and close friends.

She and the Queen Mother were examples of the fact that a non-royal person can become a member of the royal family and make a success of it.

[liv]

will this death have any effect on the Queen´s state visit to Germany which is planned to start on Tuesday?

[grecka]

God bless Princess Alice. I always considered her a paragon of dignity and good-taste.

[Reina]

I wonder will her funeral be televised? or on the internet?

[Martine]

I don't think it will be televised (i'm not sure though), there might be some pics but i think that will be all, it won't be like when Queen Mum died of course