The Duke of Cambridge today made a ‘profoundly moving’ visited the tomb of his great-grandmother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, on the final day of his historic tour of the Middle East.
William visited the Church of St Mary Magdalene, a golden-domed Russian Orthodox church on the Mount of Olives above the Old City in east Jerusalem which is situated in the Garden of Gethsamane.
The Duke was welcomed to the church by Archimandrite Roman, Father Roman, the head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, and Abbess Elizabeth.
William visits the grave of his great-grandmother Princess Alice of Battenberg during a visit to the Mary Magdalene Church
William was making a pilgrimage to the Mary Magdalene church where his great-grandmother Princess Alice is buried
William followed in the footsteps of Alice’s son the Duke of Edinburgh and grandson the Prince of Wales, who have visited
Before entering the church, Father Roman and William paused to take in the magnificent views from the church, overlooking the Dome of the Rock on Temple Mount.
At the entrance to the church, in keeping with Russian Orthodox tradition, William took bread and salt. Once inside the church, William laid flowers at the sarcophagus of St Elizabeth, where candles were lit and he paused for a moment of private reflection.
William then made his way down the church steps to Princess Alice’s crypt, where he laid flowers on her sarcophagus, picked from the garden of Philip Hall, Britain’s Consulate General in Jerusalem.
Father Roman then recited a ‘prayer for the reposal of Princess Alice’s soul’, while William, eyes closed in prayer, bowed his head and prayed for several minutes.
William was then shown several photographs of Princess Alice and her family tree. ‘It’s absolutely fascinating to hear about the family history,’ said William.
Father Roman and Abbess Elizabeth then presented William with several gifts for him and his family, a 19th century Russian cross, and a glass Easter egg for the Duchess of Cambridge. William was also given small crosses and wooden Easter eggs for Princes George and Louis and Princess Charlotte.
Before entering the church, Father Roman and William paused to take in the magnificent views of Jerusalem
William walks with Father Roman Archimandrite during a visit to the Mary Magdalene Church in East Jerusalem today
‘These are crosses for their rooms, so that they have a blessing for Jerusalem,’ said Father Roman. William replied: ‘Thank you, that’s very kind, they’ll love them.’
William was also given an album about the convent, written in Russian. ‘No worries, I’ll find a Russian translator somewhere.’
Princess Alice of Greece (pictured in 1912) was the wife of Prince Andrew, and the mother of the Duke of Edinburgh
William then presented Father Roman with a gift – a facsimile of an icon, placed, in 1913, by St Elizabeth Romanova at the grave of her maternal grandparents, Queen Victoria and and Prince Albert at the royal mausoleum at Frogmore House. ‘This is to go with my great-grandmother,’ he said. Father Roman said he would hang it in Princess Alice’s crypt.
Ending his visit to the church, William walked with Father Roman through the Garden of Gethsamene. As they shook hands, Father Roman told him: ‘Please send our best wishes to your grandfather and your father, and let them know that we are taking care of Princess Alice and we pray for her.’ ‘I will do,’ said William. ‘Thank you so much.’
Earlier this week, William met Evy and Philippe Cohen, the descendants of a Jewish family who survived the Holocaust after being sheltered by Princess Alice during the Nazi occupation of Greece. Father Roman said that the Cohens were due to visit him at the church this afternoon.
After the visit, Father Roman said: ‘I told him all about the history of the church. We spoke about Princess Alice’s relics, and how she came to be buried here and we prayed together.
‘He said he found it profoundly moving, he was certainly moved to learn more about his family history and pay his respects to his great-grandmother in such a holy place. Because this is the personal part of his visit, this is his family. Everything else on this trip has been so official and public, this was half an hour of totally personal peace.
‘We also shared a little joke. When I was showing him the family tree with the Russian links, I told the Prince that I’d read somewhere that someone once asked Prince Philip if he had ever been to Russia, and that he had said ‘they murdered half my bloody family, so maybe I’ll go, maybe not.’ The Prince laughed and said: ‘He would say that.’
The Duke of Edinburgh visit St Mary Magdalene Church on the Mount of Olives in 1994 to see his mother Alice’s grave
Princess Alice (left) is pictured standing with a young Prince Charles (centre) and Princess Anne (right) in 1964 in Greece
Princess Alice was declared Righteous Among the Nations for protecting Jews in her Athens home during the Second World War. During a speech this week, William said of his great-grandmother: ‘Her story is a matter of great pride for my whole family.’
A great-grandaughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Alice had a troubled life. Born deaf, she married Prince Andrew of Greece, and was cast into exile when the Greek royal family was overthrown.
Princess Alice married Prince Andrew of Greece, and was cast into exile when the Greek royal family was overthrown
She later suffered from a mental breakdown, and was abandoned by Prince Andrew and detained in a Swiss sanatorium, diagnosed with schizophrenia.
After the war, she founded an order of nuns and famously wore her nun’s habit at the Queen’s Coronation in 1953. She eventually moved into Buckingham Palace with to live with Prince Philip and the Queen, and died in London in 1969, aged 84.
For many years, her remains lay in the royal vault at St George’s Chapel, Windsor. But it had always been her wish to be buried in Israel near her aunt and mentor, Elizabeth Feodorovna, the Grand Duchess of Russia, who was interred in St Mary Magdalene.
In 1988, Princess Alice’s remains were moved from Windsor to the church on the Mount of Olives.
Political unrest at the time prevented the Duke of Edinburth from attending that burial, and he was not able to visit his mother’s grave in Israel until 1994.
During a ceremony that year where a tree was dedicated to Princess Alice’s memory at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Centre in Jerusalem, Prince Philip said: ‘I suspect that it never occurred to her that her action was in any way special. She was a person with deep religious faith and she would have considered it to be a totally human action to fellow human beings in distress.’
The Prince of Wales also paid his respects at his grandmother’s grave during a private visit in 2016 following the state funeral of Shimon Peres.
He too, has spoken of her work in public, telling Holocaust survivors in Austria last year: ‘My father’s mother took in a Jewish family during the war and hid them. She was amazing, my grandmother. She took them in during the Nazi occupation. She never told anybody, she didn’t tell her family for many years.’