FYI: Princess Alice Of Greece From 'The Crown' Wasn't Actually Greek At All
Fans of the hit Netflix show The Crown are soaking in the amazingness that is season three, including—get this—the real-life royal family. Besides a whole new cast (I see you, Olivia Colman!), viewers also get to meet a new character and member of the royal family this season. In episode four, titled "Bubbikins" (which, lol), the series gives a glimpse of Prince Philip's mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg (played by actress Jane Lapotaire).
The episode centers around the mother and son's strained relationship, and how Princess Alice—whose nickname for Philip is "Bubbikins" (again, lol)—ended up living at Buckingham Palace during her final years.
Princess Alice of Greece wasn't actually Greek—like, at all.
Even though Alice was a Grecian princess, she was actually British. Born at Windsor Castle on February 25, 1885, Alice was, in fact, the great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. In 1903, she married Prince Andrew of Greece, and had four daughters and one son, Philip.
Her royal life was derailed by political strife.
The family lived in Greece, but by 1916, the country was in political turmoil. They were forced to leave in 1917 when Andrew's brother, King Constantine I, abdicated the throne over disagreements on whether Greece should enter World War I.
Despite some mental health difficulties, Princess Alice was a talented linguist.
Btw, Alice was deaf, but was able to speak three languages—English, German, and French, according to The Journal of Education for Upper Canada. She also supposedly suffered from schizophrenia and was forcibly committed to a sanitarium in Switzerland, per CNN. She was briefly a patient of Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud, who's considered the founder of psychoanalysis.
She later dedicated her life to caring for others.
Alice recovered and went on to help protect a Jewish family during World War II, according to Yad Vashem. She founded an order of nuns later in life (and started wearing a habit herself), and eventually ended up leaving Greece for good.
She moved into Buckingham Palace for two years until her death at the age of 84.
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