#Alice Duchess of Gloucester

[pretty-little-fools]

[kingedwardviii]

Is there much info on how The Duchess of Windsor's sisters in laws felt about her, I mean there is no shortage of info on her and Elizabeths relationship, but Princess Mary, Marina of Kent and Alice of Gloucester? Ik Marina refused to receive her (but she seemed to have issues with lots of people) and Mary visited them quite a bit. Outside of that there isn't much.

There's not a ton of info about Wallis's relationships with the other sisters-in-law, at least not compared to the amount of information we have about her and Elizabeth's well-known mutual dislike. But we do have some details (and photos) of her encounters with them.

But here's what I've found (primarily using Duchess of Windsor by Greg King as a source):

Princess Mary was definitely the most tolerant and met Wallis very publicly in NYC in 1953, even allowing the press to take photos of them together which was something she probably easily could've avoided. It's hard to say whether she genuinely had a warmer view of Wallis than her sisters-in-law or it was just that she and David were very close and had been since childhood and she wanted to maintain a relationship with him. Mary had been the first member of the royal family to visit David during his initial exile in Austria (while he had to be separated from Wallis) after the abdication. According to most sources, she was genuinely upset when David wasn't invited to Elizabeth and Philip's wedding in 1947 and didn't attend herself in solidarity, though the family publicly used illness as an excuse. I do think the dynamic there was just fundamentally different than with David's brother's wives because she grew up with him and was always close to him and therefor had greater empathy for David that she also extended to Wallis. Plus there were some strange class politics between the brothers' wives in that Marina allegedly didn't like being outranked by her "common-born" (though aristocratic) sisters-in-law Elizabeth and Alice that may have played into all of them looking down on Wallis but wouldn't have effected Mary as a born royal. But it's also interesting that her first encounter with Wallis post-abdication was after she and David had just been told their mother was dying and they were about to leave to attend to her death bed. Perhaps her decision was influenced somewhat by the knowledge that her mother was no longer in a position to object. She apparently visited them in New York on subsequent trips and her son George Lascelles developed a relationship with them as well. When Mary died in 1965, David and Wallis both attended a memorial service for her in London.

Alice, interestingly enough, seems to have been the sister-in-law who, next to Elizabeth, disliked Wallis the most but also ended up being the first one to meet her after the abdication. Prior to the abdication Alice and Henry went to Fort Belvedere at least one weekend when Wallis was there, which Alice described as "awkward" because she and Henry "were unhappy with the liaison" but they went anyway out of a sense of family obligation to David. In 1938, Henry and Alice visited David and Wallis when they happened to be in Paris. This was not entirely of their own initiative, though; Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain believed that the optics of the royal family feud were bad and that, as the family wanted David to continue living abroad for the foreseeable future, they needed to compromise by having some form of public rapprochement. Because Henry and Alice happened to have a reason to be in Paris around that time, they got to be ones to do it even though Henry was probably the sibling David was the least close to. Alice wrote in her memoirs of the visit: "It was Neville Chamberlain's idea, not ours." But Alice would later meet Wallis on several occasions in the 1960s in the company of both of their husbands, as the royal family as a whole became less estranged with the Windsors.

Princess Marina was probably the sister-in-law who spent the most time with Wallis prior to the abdication, as her husband was the brother David was closest to and she was a regular guest at Fort Belvedere. She and George also invited Wallis to their country estate Coppins. David was also very friendly with Marina's sister Olga and her husband. Wallis was comfortable enough with George and Marina that in November of 1936 when David unexpectedly couldn't go with her to a Sunday tea at Coppins, Wallis went on her own. In Marina's branch of the family there were situations involving divorce, morganatic marriage, and live-in girlfriends so it would make sense that, prior to the abdication, she might've been the most inclined to be tolerant of Wallis's presence. But that doesn't mean she saw Wallis as an equal or was supportive of David marrying her and after the abdication, as with many in royal/aristocratic circles her attitude towards Wallis seemed to have soured significantly. In September of 1937 she refused to accompany George when he was supposed to visit David and Wallis in Austria. But this was perhaps not purely Marina's doing as she was put in a very difficult position by her in-laws. Queen Mary apparently had "warned" Marina not to meet Wallis, and though Bertie initially was supportive of the visit, he changed his mind at the behest of his wife and mother. Had this visit happened, it would've been the first time anyone in the royal family received Wallis post-abdication. When George died in 1942, David and Wallis's condolence letter was lost in transit (not an uncommon occurrence during WWII) and Marina interpreted their lack of communication as a deliberate slight which further soured her on Wallis. But Marina did eventually make up with the Windsors in 1965 when David was in London having eye surgery. Marina even hugged Wallis, and promised David that her children would come visit them in Paris, which they did do. After the ceremony to reveal a plaque honoring Queen Mary that Wallis famously attended in 1967, David and Wallis had lunch with Marina and her family. When Marina died in 1968, David attended her funeral without Wallis; I'm not sure why she didn't attend but it probably had something to do with either Wallis's health or remaining tension with the royal family at large.

[missmarymaywindsor]

among her daughters-in-law alice duchess of gloucester, queen mother aka duchess of york, princess marina duchess of kent.

with whom she had the best relationship?

i know she disliked simposon duchess of windsor

Hi @abigaaal !

You are certainly correct! I think we can all agree without a shred of doubt that QM did NOT like Wallis Simpson!

As for the rest of her daughters-in-law I do believe she liked and got on well with all of them. I know Elizabeth and Alice referred to QM as ‘darling Mama’ though I have not seen Marinas letters, and I think referring to your mother-in-law as ‘mama’ in such high society circles was fairly common. I know Princess Mary also referred to her own M-I-L in such fashion, as did QM with Queen Alexandra.

From what I have read, my opinion is that Alice of Gloucester was her favourite, followed by Elizabeth then Marina - however I think the margin between all of them was very small. She had things in common with all them though I think she found Alice the most down-to-earth.

She had certainly known Elizabeth the longest as she married Bertie in 1923, and Alice and Marina didn’t appear on the scene until the early to mid 1930s respectively. Elizabeth as I understand it was the undisputed favourite of George V, though this may be because he died so early into the marriages of his two younger sons. Though in the days Bertie was proposing to Elizabeth (3 times!! so yes I do mean days - if not months and years) QM as I understand was very very keen for Elizabeth to say yes as she thought she’d be a fantastic match for Bertie. And much later on she knew undoubtedly that Elizabeth would be a wonderful Queen.

We know Alice and QM were close only I think because of the memoir written by Alice (which is FABULOUS btw - if you haven’t read it I would absolutely recommend it). Marina however doesn’t have the luxury of being as well written about unlike her sisters-in-law, with one being a Queen of England and the other as I’ve mentioned writing her own story, though by all means Alice was still discreet. So when it comes to Marina I’m afraid we know a little less about her relationship with QM. I also have to confess I’m not much of an expert when it comes to Marina, if anyone else has any light to shed on it please do comment!

Ultimately, I think she liked each D-I-L for who they were and how happy they made her sons (and of course they were of the appropriate marrying variety unlike Simpson).

Hope this helps! ♥️

[thepastisalreadywritten]

PART 1

Never-before-seen photo of four royal mothers, including Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret with their newborn babies, as a personal token to doctor who delivered them to go on display at Buckingham Palace

By Rebecca English, Royal Editor and Mark Duell

16 May 2024

—

It is a remarkable and never seen before snapshot of royal motherhood.

The image, taken by Lord Snowdon, shows Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret, Princess Alexandra, and the Duchess of Kent holding their newborn babies in 1964.

It was captured by Princess Margaret's celebrated photographer husband as a personal token of thanks for Sir John Peel, the royal obstetrician who delivered all four babies within two months — Prince Edward, Lady Sarah Chatto, James Ogilvy, and Lady Helen Windsor.

And it will be one of the highlights of a new exhibition Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography, opening tomorrow at The King's Gallery, Buckingham Palace.

The charming picture will be displayed along with a handwritten letter from Princess Margaret to her sister, asking her 'Darling Lilibet' to sign a print 'as a souvenir of an extraordinary two months of delivery.'

The new exhibition — the first to be held at the The King's Gallery since it was renamed following the death of Queen Elizabeth — will also include The Queen Mother's personal copy of her daughter's Coronation portrait and the earliest surviving colour photographic print of a member of the Royal Family.

It charts the evolution of royal portrait photography from the 1920s to the present day through more than 150 items from the Royal Collection and Royal Archives.

The photographs presented in the exhibition are vintage prints – the original works produced by the photographer – most of which are on display for the first time.

Alessandro Nasini, curator of Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography, said: 'The Royal Collection holds some of the most enduring photographs ever taken of the Royal Family, captured by the most celebrated portrait photographers of the past hundred years – from Dorothy Wilding and Cecil Beaton to Annie Leibovitz, David Bailey, and Rankin.

Alongside these beautiful vintage prints, which cannot be on permanent display for conservation reasons, we are excited to share archival correspondence and never-before-seen proofs that will give visitors a behind-the-scenes insight into the process of creating such unforgettable royal portraits.'

'Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography' is at The King's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, from tomorrow (May 17) until October 6, 2024.

[royal-confessions]

“Duchess Alice of Gloucester resembled those beautiful actresses of the 1930s, but without the extravagance and scandals. Prince Henry of Gloucester was a lucky man to have found her.” - Submitted by cenacevedo15

[collarsncrowns]

Members of the British Royal Family attend the coronation of King George VI and Queen Consort Elizabeth, 1937.

[theroyalhistory]

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester at Remount Depot, Arborfield, March 1936

[davbertieloml]

OTD in 1901, Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester was born in Montagu House, London ✨️

Alice Christabel Montagu Douglas Scott was born on Christmas Day 1901 as the third daughter and fifth child of John Montagu Douglas Scott, Earl of Dalkeith and his wife, the former Lady Margaret Alice "Molly" Bridgeman, daughter of the 4th Earl of Bradford.

Lady Alice married Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, on 6 February 1935 in the Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace. A much more elaborate wedding was originally planned at Westminster Abbey but after the bride-to-be's father died of cancer on 19 October 1935, and due to the King's failing health, it was decided that the wedding should be reduced to a more private one. The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester later had two children, Prince William and Prince Richard of Gloucester.

The new Duchess of Gloucester had many activities, one of which was the launch of HMS Gloucester on 19 October 1937. From 1945 to 1947, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester lived in Canberra, where the Duke served as Governor General of Australia.

In 1972, she lost her eldest son, Prince William, who died at the age of 30 in a plane crash while participating in an amateur air show competition. Her husband, the Duke of Gloucester, died on 10 June 1974 at the age of 74.

On 21 August 2003, Princess Alice surpassed the Queen Mother's record as the oldest person in the history of the British royal family by reaching the age of 101 years 238 days. On 20 September 2003, at the age of 101 years and 269 days, she was certified by Guinness World Records as the longest-lived royal of all time, surpassing Leonilla, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn.

Princess Alice died on 29 October 2004 in her sleep at Kensington Palace, aged 102 years and 309 days. She was buried next to her husband, Prince Henry, and eldest son, Prince William, at the Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore.

[postcard-from-the-past]

Royal wedding of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester

British vintage postcard

[heavyarethecrowns]

[catherinetheprincessofwales]

Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands invite the British Royal Family to a banquet at Carpenters' Hall in the City of London, UK, 13th April 1972. From left to right, Prince Richard of Gloucester, the Duchess of Gloucester, Prince William of Gloucester, the Queen Mother, Prince Bernhard, Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Juliana, Princess Alexandra and Princess Margaret. 

[littlemuoi]

The essence of being a royal.

From Memories of Ninety Years by Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester

[thepastisalreadywritten]

BORN ON THIS DAY:

Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard Alexander Walter George; born 26 August 1944) is a member of the British royal family.

He is the second son of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, the youngest of the nine grandchildren of George V, nephew of Edward VIII and George VI, and first cousin of Elizabeth II.

He is 31st in the line of succession to the British throne and the highest person on the list who is not a descendant of George VI.

At the time of his birth, he was 5th in line to the throne.

[grandmaster-anne]

14 May 1958 President Giovanni Gronchi state visit day two: Royals arriving at the Italian Embassy, Grosvenor Square, London © ITN

[royal-confessions]

“Im just going to say if you think that Kate and Meghan have the worst sister-in-law relationship, look at the queen mother and wallis simpson, they call each other mean name in front of them and their husbands. Marina and the queen, and Alice, Marina always put down these two because they were earl's daughter, while she was a prince' daughter. Alexandra and Maria alexdrovna, hated each other, because MA think her family is more powerful then her Alex's family, and called each other mean name.” - Submitted by Anonymous