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....

[NGalitzine]

What ever happened to the jewels of Princess Alice and Lady May? Was there an auction or would they have passed on to Lady May's family. I cant imagine they would have the need for tiaras and other important jewels.

[qzwxec]

She was quite a character. I remember her doing an interview with Robert Lacy many years ago on his BBC production of Majesty. I also heard she liked it in Canada and visited as a guest of the Ottawa government many times after her husbands death.

[Dman]

Princess Alice’s visit to the Kingdom in 1938:
Saudi Gazette - Princess Alice

[CyrilVladisla]

There is a story at the time of Princess Anne's marriage to Mark Phillips in 1973 when Princess Alice refused to ride in the carriage procession to Westminster Abbey saying it was not fitting for a princess of her rank.
She traveled by car instead.

[An Ard Ri]

Princess Alice,Countess of Athlone

Princess Alice of Albany/ Countess Alice of Athlone - YouTube

[Mbruno]

Originally Posted by Marengo

Here a picture of Alice with her daughter May and her aunt Queen Emma of The Netherlands in Scheveningen (try to pronounce that one).

Pic from www.geheugenvannederland.nl, no copyrights.

Princess Alice was the great-grandmother of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (on his mother's side) and also a first cousin to Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, whose mother, Queen Emma, was Princess Alice's aunt as mentioned above.

Princess Alice's husband, the Earl of Athlone, was Governor General of both the Union of South Africa (1924-1930) and Canada (1940-1946). I must say I miss the time when members of the Royal Family used to serve as Governor Generals in the Dominions (now the Commonwealth Realms).

[Mbruno]

Originally Posted by CyrilVladisla

There is a story at the time of Princess Anne's marriage to Mark Phillips in 1973 when Princess Alice refused to ride in the carriage procession to Westminster Abbey saying it was not fitting for a princess of her rank.
She traveled by car instead.

I wonder what the protocol in those circumstances is. Princess Alice was a "princess of the blood" and an HRH as a granddaughter in male line of Queen Victoria. If I remember it correctlly though, when Prince Charles and Prince Andrew got married, only descendants of Queen Elizabeth II, plus her consort, her sister and her mother rode in the carriage procession.

[JR76]

Originally Posted by Mbruno

Princess Alice was the great-grandmother of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (on his mother's side)

Actually that's not true. Princess Alice was the sister of KCG's grandfather the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and not his mother. Adding to that she was the first cousin of his paternal grandmother princess Margareth of Connaught.
His grandfather Gustav XI Adolf first married Margareth of Connaught, then Lady Louise Mountbatten and allegedly proposed to Alice Athlone but the later turned him down on account of not wanting the trouble of becoming a queen in her old age. Had she accepted his proposal GXIA would've been the husband of two first cousins and one of their second cousins... Keep it in the family ey?!



Sent from my iPhone using The Royals Community mobile app

[LauraS3514]

Originally Posted by Mbruno

I wonder what the protocol in those circumstances is. Princess Alice was a "princess of the blood" and an HRH as a granddaughter in male line of Queen Victoria. If I remember it correctlly though, when Prince Charles and Prince Andrew got married, only descendants of Queen Elizabeth II, plus her consort, her sister and her mother rode in the carriage procession.

Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, died in January 1981, a few weeks before the engagement of Charles and Diana. She was 98 and the oldest-ever British Prince or Princess of the Blood. (Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and Princess Alice Duchess of Gloucester lived longer but "married in".)

[gerry]

Originally Posted by 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.

the Princess Alice was also responsible for bringing the Dutch royal family to safety in Ottawa once the Nazi's had settled in The Netherlands. There are many reminders of the Dutch family's stay in Ottawa, including the annual Tulip festival!

[Curryong]

I think Princess Alice was probably quite right-wing and had many of the same prejudices of her English contemporaries towards Jews, although not out and out anti-semitism. She was a woman of her time.

[Curryong]

Princess Alice married Prince Alexander of Teck on the 10th of February 1904. This was the 64th anniversary of the wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Alice's grandparents.

She had two adult bridesmaids, Daisy and Patsy of Connaught. (Daisy later married the Crown Prince of Sweden.) Child bridesmaids were Princess Mary of Wales, (the daughter of the future King George V and Queen Mary) Princess Helen of Waldeck and Princess Mary of Teck, niece to the groom.

[CyrilVladisla]

In 1911 Princess Alexander of Teck attended the horserace in the village of Hawthorn Hill near Windsor.
Prince Alexander of Teck (Queen Mary's brother), with his wife Stock Photo: 169316823 - Alamy