Princess Alice 1885

Diagnoses

Lifestyle

Notable

Family

British-Greek royalty, the granddaughter of Queen Victoria and the eldest daughter of Louis Alexander Mountbatten and Princess Victoria of Hesse. She married Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark (1882-1994) and became the mother of four daughters and Prince Philip. When Turkey occupied Greece the year after Philip's birth, Prince Andrew was jailed and marked for execution. Deaf since early childhood but able to communicate in four languages which she had taught herself by reading lips, Princess Alice contacted influential relations around the world begging for help. England's George V responded, sending a warship to Greece to take the royal family to safety. The exiled family settled in France on an estate at St. Cloud, outside of Paris. They were poor but comfortable, thanks to the generosity of Andrew's brother, Prince George, who had married the heiress Princess Marie Bonaparte. In 1930, Andrew abandoned the family to live with his mistress on her yacht in Monte Carlo. Alice, already emotionally fragile, had a complete breakdown. She was sent to Switzerland to recover and afterwards, became a nun, founding a religious order dedicated to helping the poor. Her four daughter were already married and Philip was sent to boarding school in England. He married Princess Elizabeth on 11/20/1947 and took his mother's surname, Philip Mountbatten. Link to Wikipedia biography