Grace Thompson
Princess Alice of Battenberg, Prince Philip's mother, was an Orthodox nun who founded the Christian Sisterhood of Martha and Mary, a religious order of nuns, in 1949. She was born congenitally deaf in 1885 at Windsor Castle and was committed to a Swiss sanatorium in 1930 after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. She was treated by Sigmund Freud, who believed her illness was caused by sexual frustration and recommended X-raying her ovaries to suppress her libido. Princess Alice later escaped the sanatorium and returned to Athens, where she hid Jews during World War II, despite members of her family being involved with the Nazi party. She died in 1969, leaving a note for her only son, Prince Philip, which said, You will always find me when you need me most.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name | Princess Alice of Battenberg |
| Birth Year | 1885 |
| Birthplace | Windsor Castle |
| Husband | Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark |
| Children | Five children, four daughters and one son, Philip |
| Religion | Deep religious faith |
| Nun | Yes, founded her own religious order of nuns |
| Death | 1969 |
| Awards and Honours | Righteous Among the Nations, Hero of the Holocaust |
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What You'll Learn
Princess Alice of Battenberg was a nun
Princess Alice of Battenberg, mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was a nun. She was born Victoria Alice Elizabeth Julia Marie at Windsor Castle in 1885, a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She married Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark in 1903, becoming Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark. The couple had five children: four daughters and one son, Philip.
Princess Alice suffered from mental health issues, including paranoid schizophrenia, and was treated by Sigmund Freud, who believed her problems were caused by sexual frustration. She was committed to a sanatorium in Switzerland, where she remained for several years. After escaping the sanatorium, she returned to Athens and during World War II, she sheltered Jews, even as members of her own family were involved with the Nazi party.
Princess Alice was a deeply religious person and founded her own religious order of nuns, the Christian Sisterhood of Martha and Mary, in 1949. She sold many of her possessions to raise money for her order, which was dedicated to helping the poor and sick. In 1953, she attended the coronation of her daughter-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II, wearing a nun's habit.
In 1967, when military rule was imposed in Greece, Princess Alice was brought to England to live with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace. She died in 1969, having lived a remarkable life of tragedy and charity work. She was posthumously honoured as "Righteous Among the Nations" for her efforts to shelter Jews during World War II.
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She founded the Christian Sisterhood of Martha and Mary
Princess Alice of Battenberg, Prince Philip's mother, was born in the Tapestry Room at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, in the presence of her great-grandmother, Queen Victoria. She was the eldest child of Prince Louis of Battenberg and Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine. She was a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and a Hessian princess by birth. Princess Alice met her husband, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, in 1902 at the coronation of King Edward VII, and they married a year later. The couple had five children, four daughters, and one son, Philip.
Princess Alice founded the Christian Sisterhood of Martha and Mary, a nursing order of Greek Orthodox nuns, in 1949. The sisterhood was inspired by the Gospel passage of Christ's meeting with Lazarus' sisters, Martha and Mary. The passage goes: "Martha, Martha, you take care of a lot of things, but one of them is needed" (Lk 10:41). The order was also modelled after the convent that Princess Alice's aunt, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, had founded in Russia in 1909. The Martha and Mary Convent was founded to assist sick, wounded, and maimed soldiers in their recovery, and to provide for the needs of the poor and orphans.
Princess Alice sold many of her possessions to raise money for the Christian Sisterhood of Martha and Mary. The nuns in the sisterhood wore a monastic style with a grey woolen veil and a cross made of cypress wood around their necks. They were obliged to attend Vigil and Liturgy at the Chudov Monastery on the feast days of the holy hierarch St. Alexis of Moscow, and they wore white cotton robes on Sundays and feast days. The sisterhood was the first of its kind in Greece, which was then dominated by the more politically oriented male brotherhood "Zoe".
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Princess Alice was Prince Philip's mother
Princess Alice of Battenberg, born Victoria Alice Elizabeth Julia Marie, was the mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, mother-in-law of Queen Elizabeth II, and paternal grandmother of King Charles III. She was born in 1885 at Windsor Castle and grew up in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Malta. A Hessian princess by birth, she was a member of the Battenberg family, a morganatic branch of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt.
Princess Alice was congenitally deaf. She met her husband, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, in 1902 at the coronation of King Edward VII, and they married a year later. The couple had five children: four daughters and one son, Philip. They lived in Greece until the exile of the Greek royal family in 1917. During this time, Princess Alice served as a nurse during the Balkan Wars of 1912-13, setting up field hospitals and assisting with surgeries on wounded soldiers.
After the exile, Princess Alice and her husband settled briefly in Paris, while their son Philip went to live in England. Princess Alice began to experience mental health issues, including religious delusions, and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. She was treated by Sigmund Freud, who believed her issues were caused by "sexual frustration" and recommended X-raying her ovaries to reduce her libido. This treatment is believed to have caused early menopause and lifelong health problems.
Princess Alice was committed to a sanatorium in Switzerland, where she remained for several years. She eventually escaped and returned to Athens, where she founded an Orthodox order of nuns, the Christian Sisterhood of Martha and Mary, in 1949. The order was dedicated to charitable work, including training nurses and caring for the poor and sick. Princess Alice was also honoured for her efforts during World War II to shelter Jews, even as members of her own family were involved with the Nazi party.
In 1967, when military rule was imposed in Greece, Princess Alice was brought to England to live with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace. She died in 1969, leaving behind a legacy of resilience, charity, and a commitment to her faith.
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She was a heavy smoker and an embarrassment to Philip
Princess Alice of Battenberg, Prince Philip's mother, was a heavy smoker and an embarrassment to her son, despite her remarkable life of charity and humanitarian work. She was born congenitally deaf in 1885 at Windsor Castle and grew up across the United Kingdom, Germany, and Malta. In 1903, she married Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, with whom she had five children: four daughters and one son, Philip. The family was exiled from Greece in 1917, and Princess Alice began to suffer from mental health issues, leading to a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. She was treated by Sigmund Freud, who recommended X-rays of her ovaries to reduce her libido, a treatment now believed to have caused early menopause and lifelong health issues.
Princess Alice was committed to a Swiss sanatorium, where she remained for several years. She eventually escaped and returned to Athens, where she founded an Orthodox order of nuns, the monastic society of Martha and Mary, in 1949. The order was dedicated to charitable work, including training nurses and caring for the poor and sick. During World War II, Princess Alice sheltered Jews, even as members of her family were involved with the Nazi party. Her actions were recognised posthumously when she was honoured as "'Righteous Among the Nations'" in 1994.
Despite her deep religious faith and humanitarian efforts, Princess Alice was an elderly chain-smoking nun who embarrassed her son. In an episode of The Crown, Philip refers to her as only his "technical" mother, saying, "It means she gave birth to me." This episode explores the complicated relationship between Philip and his mother, who had a turbulent childhood due to her mental health issues, the exile of the family, and the death of his sister. Princess Alice's fascinating character, with her eccentricities and mysterious nature, captured the interest of The Crown writer Peter Morgan, who found her story to be "beyond what any scriptwriter could come up with."
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Princess Alice was treated by Sigmund Freud
Princess Alice of Battenberg, mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was treated by Sigmund Freud. Princess Alice was born congenitally deaf in 1885 at Windsor Castle. She married Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark in 1903 and had five children, four daughters, and one son, Philip. In 1917, the family was exiled from Greece and settled in Paris. Prince Philip was sent to live in England, while Princess Alice was diagnosed with schizophrenia and committed to a Swiss sanatorium in 1930.
Princess Alice was removed from her family against her will and sent to two sanatoriums in quick succession, both run by protégés of Sigmund Freud. The first was in Berlin, belonging to psychologist Ernst Simmel, who performed psychoanalysis on Princess Alice. However, she was openly hostile, and little progress was made. Princess Alice was then transferred to Kreuzlingen, Switzerland, where she was under the care of Dr Ludwig Binswanger. Both Simmel and Binswanger consulted Freud regarding Princess Alice's treatment.
Freud believed that Princess Alice's religious epiphanies and conversations with Jesus Christ were the byproduct of sexual frustration. He recommended X-raying her ovaries to kill her sex drive and induce early menopause. Princess Alice was trapped at Kreuzlingen for two years before being transferred to a clinic in Merano, a village in northern Italy. She repeatedly attempted to escape, maintaining her conviction that she was sane.
Princess Alice eventually reunited with her family in 1937 at the funeral of her daughter Cecilie, who had died in a plane accident. She returned to Athens in 1938, where she continued her charitable work with the poor and underprivileged. During World War II, Princess Alice hid a Jewish widow and her two children in her home, pleading ignorance during Gestapo questioning due to her deafness. In 1949, she founded the Christian Sisterhood of Martha and Mary, a nursing order of Greek Orthodox nuns.
In 1967, due to political turmoil in Greece, Princess Alice was invited to live at Buckingham Palace with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. She passed away in 1969, having led a remarkable life marked by tragedy and dedicated charity work. Princess Alice's story, including her treatment by Sigmund Freud, was depicted in the fourth episode of the third season of the Netflix series "The Crown," titled "Bubbikins."
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Frequently asked questions
No, Princess Alice of Battenberg was an Orthodox Christian nun.
Princess Alice was a member of the Orthodox Christian Church.
Princess Alice founded her own religious order of nuns, the Christian Sisterhood of Martha and Mary, in 1949.
Princess Alice was committed to charitable and humanitarian work. During World War II, she sheltered Jews despite members of her family being involved with the Nazi party. In 1994, she was posthumously honoured as "Righteous Among the Nations" for her actions.
Princess Alice had mental health issues and was estranged from her son for much of his life. However, in her later years, she lived with him and the Queen at Buckingham Palace, where she died in 1969.
