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| National Library of Australia via Wikimedia Commons |
The earliest part of Alice's life was remarkably similar to the Queen Mother's. Just a year apart in age, they were both daughters of Scottish peers and they grew up in the same circles, often meeting. During World War I, both helped out on their father's estates and helped look after wounded men a la Downton Abbey. One key difference, however, was that Elizabeth Bowes Lyon had a somewhat more limited education. Alice actually went to school when she was 12 and studied in Paris before making her debut in 1920. They were both friends of their future husbands' sister Mary Princess Royal. While Elizabeth went on to marry the future King George VI at the age of 22, Alice went around the world. She lived for a time in South Africa, Kenya (even learning Swahili), and India. Along the way, she went on safaris, helped run her uncle's farm, painted watercolors, skied, and even recovered from malaria. It was a jam-packed existence, but by the time she reached her mid-30s, she was ready for something else. In her own words, she felt it was she did something "useful" with her life.
Enter a tall, handsome prince: Prince Henry, The Duke of Gloucester, third son of King George V. Their lives had crossed path many times; she was his sister's friend and he considered her brother his best friend, but in that summer of 1935, something changed. A glittering wedding was planned for Westminster Abbey but the venue was changed to the Chapel Royal at Buckingham Palace when Alice's father, the Duke of Buccleuch died shortly before the day. Nevertheless Alice showed her own sense of spirit and fashion, wearing a pink wedding gown designed by Norman Hartnell. After the abdication crisis of 1936, the Gloucesters took on more royal duties, and did not start their own family until 1941 when their first son Prince William of Gloucester was born shortly before her 40th birthday. Prince Richard of Gloucester followed in 1944. For the next 30 years, the couple raised their children and supported first King George and then Queen Elizabeth in any way they could, spending two years living in Australia, where he served as Governor General. Their domestic bliss was shattered in 1972, when their dashing oldest son was killed in a plane crash.
Less than two years later, the Duke died and the title passed to their younger son Prince Richard, who is still the Duke of Gloucester. Even in widowhood, Alice showed her own style. Under royal protocol, she should have been called HRH The Dowager Duchess of Gloucester, but she didn't care to be called a dowager nor did she wish to be confused with her daughter-in-law, the new duchess. She also wanted to be treated more equally with her royal sister-in-law, The Dowager Duchess of Kent, who was styled HRH Princess Marina (but who had been a princess before she married King George V's youngest son.) She asked The Queen if she could be called HRH Princess Alice. It was unprecedented for someone not born royal, but Elizabeth granted this favor to her beloved aunt. As Princess Alice, she carried at hundreds of royal engagements, well into her 90s. She was 98 when it was announced that she would only keep engagements within the confines of Kensington Palace where she lived her last years with her son and his wife. For her 100th birthday, The Queen and other members of the Royal Family gathered at Kensington to celebrate with a military parade.
For more about Princess Alice, you may read her own memoirs, revised and republished in 1991 as Memories of a Royal Life or visit her biography on The Official Website of the British Monarchy.
The precedent was Marina. Although Marina was a princess of Greece and Denmark, she could not be styled as Princess Marina after marriage. She would have been styled as HRH The Princess George if George had not been created duke of Kent. Yes, the press called her Princess Marina but she was never styled by her own name until after her son's marriage. She did not want to be known as the Dowager Duchess of Kent so she asked the queen if she could be styled as Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent. The queen agreed. After Henry's death in 1974, Alice was briefly styled as the Dowager Duchess of Gloucester. She asked the queen if she could be styled as Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. The queen agreed. Both women were of equal status in the UK, British princesses by marriage. In 1932, the Home office stated that a British citizen could not be styled in the UK by a foreign title. Marina most certainly acquired British nationality, although of course she was born a British national according to the Sophia Naturalization Act, which was superseded by the British Nationality Act (1949) Descendants of Sopnia born after the promulgation of the BNA, do not have the same rights of British citizenship as those born before the act. Philip never had to acquire British nationality. This was realized a few years later when Friedrich of Prussia used the act to prove that he was a British national. The big case was settled in 1956 when the British Supreme court ruled that the Sophia Naturalization remained valid for people born before 1949. Prince Ernst August of Hanover (father of present head) was the one who won this suit.
ReplyDeleteTrue, but Marina had been born a Princess. Do you think she still would have been granted the UK Princess style if she had been born Lady Marina?
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