Princess Alice was very much a British princess, living in the UK all her life, apart from short periods when her husband, HSH Prince Alexander of Teck (The Earl of Athlone) was Governor General of South Africa and Canada.
Behind this however was a deep emotional upset, her only brother, Charles Edward had been sent to Germany as a young boy to take over duties as the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, taking over from his uncle, Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh. This meant that during both world wars, Princess Alice and her brother, Karl Eduard, found themselves on different sides. Karl Eduard suffered because of his birthright, while Princess Alice was feted as one of the most popular British princesses.
Karl Eduard found himself imprisoned after WWII and was eventually released. He settled in one of his properties and led a fairly quiet life. He was able at last to receive visits from his sister but his health had really suffered and he died in 1954. All he ever wanted was to be the British Prince was he was born to be.
Princess Alice enjoyed meeting up with her many relatives, many of whom had ascended various European thrones, including her first cousins, Queen Ena of Spain, Queen Marie of Roumania, Queen Maud of Norway, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany to name but a few.
The Earl and Countess's daughter was born Princess May of Teck, but when she died she was known to the British public as Lady May Abel Smith. Lady May and her husband also lived a life dedicated to duty to the Crown and could often be seen on the balcony of Buckingham Palace at events such as the Trooping of the Colour.
Princess Alice is in the front row on the left in this photograph and her husband is third from the left.
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment