The girl who made the prince languish for 10 years: Alice, Duchess of Gloucester

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

She was an amazing woman. Alice Montagu-Douglas-Scott always knew exactly what she wanted from life and did not allow anyone to interfere with her plans. Even if it was about the prince himself. Almost dying as a teenager, she promised herself to help people. As an adult, she set herself a goal and confidently walked towards it, forcing Prince Henry to wait for their marriage for more than 10 years. Having reached a very respectable age, she became the oldest member of the British royal family.

A vow to be helpful

She was born on Christmas Day 1901, for which she received her middle name - Christabel. The family's estates were located in different parts of the UK, and the girl traveled between houses throughout her childhood, most often visiting Eildon Hall, located in Melrose (Scotland), which was considered a home base.

She was 14 years old when Alice nearly drowned, caught up in the current in Solway Firth. Feeling that she could not resist the water and her strength was leaving her, Alice began to pray, asking for a miracle that would save her life, and in return she promised to devote herself to public service. Many years later, Princess Alice will talk about how she suddenly felt the surface of a rock under her feet. She was able to get up and take a breath. The rock turned out to be a reef through which the girl moved into shallow water. And she intended to keep her word, devoting herself to some useful goal.

Alice Montagu-Douglas-Scott attended a private girls' school in West Malvern, after which she spent a year in Paris before being introduced to the court, practicing skiing, horse riding and hunting, but her talent as a painter deserved special attention. Subsequently, Alice's paintings will help her pay for travel on her own, and one of them will become part of the royal collection.

Waiting list

Around the time Alice Montague-Douglas-Scott was first introduced to the court, she met the third son of King George V, Prince Henry. He fell in love with her almost at first sight, but the girl, despite her own sympathy for a member of the royal family, did not intend to destroy her own plans for knowing the world.

She wanted to visit different places of our amazing planet, so she preferred travel to a romantic hobby. She has been to Africa and India, secretly crossing the border of Afghanistan. She reflected her impressions of travel on paper using watercolors, and these paintings were successful in London, which allowed the future princess to be financially independent. She later recounts all her adventures in an autobiographical book, published in 1981.

Perhaps her travels would have continued further, but in 1935, she learned that her father's health was deteriorating, and hastily returned to the UK. It was then that she agreed to the offer of Prince Henry to become his wife.

Later, she will write in her memoirs that in her life she did not have situations when she could fulfill her vow to be useful, but she was sure that by becoming the wife of the Duke of Gloucester, she would be able to benefit her country. That is why Alice Montague-Douglas-Scott decided to give up her passionately beloved freedom and still get married. Moreover, Prince Henry was so persistent in his courtship and so constant in his love for the girl. On November 6, 1935, the wedding of Prince Henry and his beloved Alice took place in a private chapel at Buckingham Palace.

When the newlyweds left Buckingham Palace for the train station, a crowd of millions saw them off, despite the fact that the day was rather cold. Alice wore a modest dress decorated with artificial orange flowers, a veil and an ermine cape.

After the marriage, the wife of Prince Henry began to be called the "Winter Princess", but she will receive the real title of the princess, as an exception, only after the death of her husband. Despite a distant relationship with Charles II, Alice was nevertheless considered a commoner, precisely because this connection came from the illegitimate son of James Scott, the first Duke of Monmouth.

Non-public duchess

The Duchess of Gloucester did not like increased attention to her person, but she took all the duties of a member of the royal family seriously. She appeared at events without the slightest hint of displeasure and irritation, never complained of fatigue and was always friendly and welcoming with those around her.

The Duchess did not manage to become a mother right away. Her two pregnancies ended in miscarriages before their sons, William and Richard, were born.

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester traveled extensively after the wedding. But during the trips, they continued to fulfill their duties, held meetings with officials from different countries. During World War II, the Duchess began to actively interact with the Red Cross and other organizations that helped people. As a member of the royal family, Alice of Gloucester has held a variety of positions in several units of the British Armed Forces and rose to the rank of Air Chief Marshal in the RAF, was the patroness of the Maiden Day School Trust and Queen Margaret College.

In 1972, the eldest son of the Gloucester couple, William, died in a plane crash. Alice, like any mother, was very upset by the death of her son, and later admitted that her life had changed a lot after the tragedy, she was completely stunned. Since then, she has never been the same as before.

In 1974, the Duchess was widowed, at the same time she was given the title of princess in order to avoid confusion in titles after her son Richard became Duke of Gloucester, and the title of Duchess was awarded to his wife Birgitta van Derse. Princess Alice did not leave her duties as a member of the royal family until the age of 98, when she retired from all positions and retired. The last public event that Princess Alice appeared at was her own 100th birthday.

In recent years, she suffered from forgetfulness, but she never refused to receive visitors, even when she almost did not get up from her chair. Until the last day, Princess Alice patronized the Veterans' Association and the Royal Institute of Nursing. She believed that this is how she fulfills her promise to serve people.

Princess Alice did not live just two months before her 103rd birthday and passed away in October 2004.

History is filled with examples when persons of royal blood created families and lived not at all as they would like. As a rule, all marriages that were concluded between famous representatives of their families were based on political, military, religious or other beliefs, but not on love.