"Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone" by Theo Aronson (1981)


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Hi Breffney,its a reprint,royal biographer Theo Aronson released it in 1981 and died he in 2003.
 
Hi Breffney,its a reprint,royal biographer Theo Aronson released it in 1981 and died he in 2003.

Thanks, An Ard Ri. It looks really interesting. Wasn't there a TV documentary about her towards the end of her life. ? It showed her waiting for a bus which would bring her into London central. She used to travel frequently by bus. Or am I mixing her up with someone else. ?
 
No I think your right Breffney,I'll see what I can find on that later.
 
Thanks, An Ard Ri. It looks really interesting. Wasn't there a TV documentary about her towards the end of her life. ? It showed her waiting for a bus which would bring her into London central. She used to travel frequently by bus. Or am I mixing her up with someone else. ?


I remember reading about her riding the bus to get around but I can't remember where...


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No I think your right Breffney,I'll see what I can find on that later.

As well as the link to the article that I just posted I came across a number of references to Alice riding around on London buses.
 
I've also ordered the book and am looking forward to reading it over the holidays.


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I read her memoirs several years ago and there is something that has always stuck with me. The quote (and I'm going from memory so bare with me ) I can't find the excerpt online , but she said that royalty was not the lot of the pampered queen bee, and she summed up exactly how arduous the queens job is and ended the part with the family motto of I serve "



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Great book! What I love about her is the British, so very British way-- get on with it, do your duty, don't make a fuss! This very British way is pervasive on every page.
 
I have this book too. I have many great quotes from it. One of my favorite: https://burbankstorylady.tumblr.com...-liberty-and-independence-of-the-modern-young

I will be posting more excerpts from this book. Princess Alice was a very wise woman. She thought deeply. I like what she says about women of her day being chaperoned, and how this made them attached in more personal, profound ways. Today we are detached from each other, to a dangerous point: we dehumanize each other. But things really do cycle back. We see today that the "Me too" movement is having the unintended effect (the road to hell is paved with good intentions) of dividing men & women in the workplace more than ever. Men are terrified; there's no one-on-one with a woman, there must be a witness (a chaperon,let's say) to ensure no accusations can be made and nothing can happen or no one can say something happened. This creates a situation where, far from being treated equally, there is special treatment, tip-toeing, walking on eggshells, and even segregation. Again, more detachment, and even less personal engagement than before.
 
I believe that Queen Juliana was rather hurt by the memoires of Princess Alice. She was rather nasty about Queen Wilhelmina and about prince Hendrik. According to a biographer the catty remarks may have been caused by old resentment as the Dutch court (most notably Queen Emma) refused to consider Alexander of Teck -later Count Athlone- as a marital candidate for Wilhelmina. Itw as also noted that Alice was a name-dropper and that she delighted to boast about her 'rich cousin' (Wilhelmina) and at the same time revelled in telling about her eccentricities.

I believe to have read that some passages have been left out of the Dutch translation of the memoires, on request of Juliana.
 
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