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Prince Andrew and Princess Alice/Andrew: Children


Figure 1.--Here we see Prince Andrea (Andrew) and Alice of Greece with their children in 1928. From left to right: Margarita, Philip, Cecilia, Sophie, and Theodora. This is a rare photograph of the entire family all together. Alice and Andrew separated after fleeing from Greece. The sisters married and Cecile died within a decade.

Prince Andrew and Princess Alice had five children, four girls and one boy. Most of their children like themselves are largely lost to public attention. There was, however, one exception--Prince Philip. Prince Andrew and Princess Allice played a major role in raising the girls who all married Germans. Prince Philip was, however, younger than his sisters and after the family had to flee Greece, largely abandoned by his partents. Many of his early yeatrs were spent in Germany. Many royals were attracted by the NAZIs. Prince Philip from an early age, however, wanted nothing to do with them. The girls even thouhj older did not share their little brother's concerns. After the War, none of Philip's sisters were invited to the wedding because of their husbands' NAZI ties.

The Family

The girls were all raised together while the royal family was still in power. Princess Alice is often criticised for being a poor mother to Philip. I think this was not the case with the girls while still in Greece. After being forced from power, Prince Andrew and Princess Allice separated. Also she began to suffer from mental problems. Prince Philip who was very young was thus not raised with his sisters. The girls married and he stayed with them, especially with Theodorac in Baden. Contacts were much reduced after the NAZIs seized power. Philip left Germany at age 12 for England. All the sisters married at about the same time. All except Theodora married other descendants of Queen Victoria. (Sophie did so twice). The sisters attended Earl Mountbatten's wedding as bridesmaids. All Philip's sisters married Germans, including some with NAZI contacts. As a result of British feelings toward Germans at the time, Philip's sisters did not his wedding to Princess Elizabeth (1947). As the animosdities declines, they were family visdits, but they were given little or no publicity. Margarita, Theodora, and Sophie attended Queen Elizabeth's coronation. Philip's mother Princess Alice, her daughters, and their husbands were in the procession of Phillip's family at the coronation.

The Children

While a great deal of information is available on Prince Philip, we know relatively little about his sisters.

Princess Margarita of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg (1905-81)

Family photographs show Pricesses Margarita, Theodora and Cecile, as young girls wearing traditional Greek costumes. Margarita finally maried in 1931 to Prince Gottfried (Friedel) (1897-1960) of Hohenloeh-Langenburg. He was also related to Queen Victoria. They had twins. Prince Kraft (1935- ), on of the twins, had three sons and two daughtrs.

Princess Théodora (1906-69)

Theodora married Bertold Margrave of Baden (1906-63). Prince Philip spent more time with Theodora in Baden thann his other sisters. Philip was enrolled in Salem, the progressive private school with a Jewish headmaster--Kurt Hahn. [Vickers, p. 271.] I'm not sure who chose the school. Hahn apparently warned Theodora and Bertold to stay away from the NAZIs. Hahn after leaving Germany set up a new school in Scotland --Gordontoun. Prince Philip went on to attend the school. There were three children: Naragrita (1932- ), Max (1933- ), and Ludwig (1937- ). Margarita married Prince Tomislav (1928-2000) of Yugoslavia.

Princess Cecilie (1911-37)

Cécile married in 1931 to her cousin, Prince George Donatus of Hesse, Ernie's son. They had three children, two boys and a girl, all of whom died in childhood: Ludwig (1931-37), Alexander (1933-37), and Johana (1936-39). Princess Cecilie and Prince George (Don) brought the two boys (4 and 6 years of age ) with them. They were to be pages in the marriage of Ernie's son Lu with Maragret Geddes. Their Belgian Sabena airliner got lost in fog and hit a chimley as they descended out of the fog. They were all killed. [Vickers, pp. 272-273.]

Princess Sophia of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg (1914- )

Sophia was the youngest siister, but still several years older than Philip. She was called "Tiny" in the family. She married at a young age, only 16 years. Sophia's husband was Prince Christoph of Hesse-Kassel (19??-43). He was an early and enthusiastic supporter of the NAZI Party. He joined the Party (1931) and the SS (1932). [Vickers, p. 271.] He became a SS colonel attached to Heinrich Himmler's personal staff. He was appointed to head the Forschungsamt. This was a security service Hermann Göring controlled which attempted to feret out anti-NAZIs. Sophie and Christopher named their eldest son Karl Adolf after Hitler. When the War began, he sought out active service. He was was in a Jagdeschwader (fighter squadron in Tunisia and Sicily) flying missions to suppress the British bastion at Malta (March 1942). By this time he had become disenchanted with the SS and told his mother that Heydeich's assasination was good news. When the Allies invaded Italy his squadron was stationed at Castelgandolfo near Rome. He was recalled to Germany, but his plane crashed (October 7, 1943). [Vickers, p. 301.] There is some suspision about the crash. Sophie had five children and helped care for the four children of her brother-in-law Philipp after he was arested by the Gestapo. (I"m not sure what this all about. I know that he was also on active service. After the war he was interned for denazification and was only released in 1948). After the War, Sophia married Prince Georg Wilhelm of Hanover (1915- ) with who she had two more sons and a daughter.

Prince Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh (1921- )

Prince Philip was much younger than his sisters. Soon after his birth, the royal family was forced to free Greece. As a boy growing up, Philip was largely abandoned by his partents. He bounced around Europe (mostly England and Germany) being cared for by relatives. His sisters were old enough to be aunts and Philip mihht have been raised in Germnany. At age 12 after Hitler seized power, however, he decided he wanted nothing to do with the Germans, and went to England. Philip as Duke of Edinburgh has never been particularly notable for his mind or political acumen, but as a 12 year old boy he made a profound judgement. Once in England as a boy. his grandmother Victoria and Uncle Georgie and his wife Nada looked after him. He served with destinction in World War II (his German uncles fought in the Wehrmacht). After the War he married Princess Elizabeth who as a young girl had falled head over heels in love with him. Although Alice was the mother of the Duke of Edinburgh she was little heard of in Britain.

Sources

Vickers, Hugo. Alice: Princess Andrew of Greece (St. Martin's Press: New York, 2000), 477p.






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Created: 4:35 PM 12/9/2004
Last updated: 10:18 PM 7/30/2008