Everything about Princess Alice Duchess Of Gloucester totally explained
Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (born
The Lady Alice Christabel Montagu-Douglas-Scott;
25 December 1901 –
29 October 2004) was the wife of Prince
Henry, Duke of Gloucester, the third son of
George V and
Queen Mary. She was thus the
sister-in-law of
George VI and
Edward VIII, and the mother of the current
Duke of Gloucester. She was an aunt of
Queen Elizabeth II through her marriage to the Queen's paternal uncle.
Early life
Lady Alice was born, in
Montagu House,
London, on
Christmas Day 1901 as the third daughter of
John Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, and his wife, the former Lady Margaret Bridgeman. She is therefore a descendant, in an unbroken male (though illegitimate) line, of
Charles II. She spent much of her childhood in her family's country homes:
Boughton House in
Northamptonshire,
Drumlanrig Castle in
Dumfries and Galloway, and
Bowhill in the Scottish Borders. She attended St James's boarding school,
West Malvern,
Worcestershire and later travelled to
France and
Kenya. The Duchess' niece,
Princess Alexandra of Kent, who was likewise born on Christmas Day, shares the name Christabel in honour of their shared birthdate.
Marriage
In August 1935, Lady Alice became engaged to
Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, third son of George V. They were married in a private ceremony, in the chapel of
Buckingham Palace, on
November 6 of that year. The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester initially lived at
Aldershot, where the Duke was taking the Army staff course. The Duke of Gloucester left the army to take on more public duties following the abdication of
Edward VIII in December 1936. In 1935, she took a trip to open the new grounds of
The Lady Eleanor Holles School.
The couple received a
grace and favour residence at York House,
St James's Palace, London and, in 1938, they purchased
Barnwell Manor in Northamptonshire. The Duke and Duchess had two sons:
The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester travelled extensively to perform their royal duties. During
World War II, the Duchess worked with the
Red Cross and the
Order of St. John. She became head of the
Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) in 1940, was given the honorary title of Air Chief Commandant WRAF in 1945 and promoted to
Air Chief Marshal in the Royal Air Force in 1990. She also served as deputy to Queen Elizabeth, the consort of
George VI as Commandant-in-Chief of the Nursing Corps. From 1945 to 1947, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester lived in
Canberra, where the Duke was serving as
Governor General of Australia. The Duchess of Gloucester served as
Colonel-in-Chief or deputy Colonel-in-Chief of a dozen regiments in the
British Army, including the
King's Own Scottish Borderers, the
Northamptonshire Regiment, the
2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's Own Royal Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire),
the Royal Anglian Regiment, the
Royal Hussars, and the
Royal Irish Rangers (27th Inniskilling).
Change of Title
British Honours
GCB: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, 2 April 1975
CI: Companion of the Crown of India, 9 June 1937
GCVO: Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, 1948
GBE: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire, 11 May 1937
DGStJ: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of St. John, 1936
Royal Family Order of King George V, 1935
Royal Family Order of King George VI, 1937
Royal Family Order of Queen Elizabeth II, 1952
Foreign Honours
Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown, 1938
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Virtues (Nishan al-Kamal), 1950
Grand Cross of the Order of the Queen of Sheba, 1958
Sources
==
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