| Biography | Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone GCVO GBE GStJ (Alice Mary Victoria Augusta Pauline; née Princess Alice of Albany; 25 February 1883 3 January 1981) was a member of the British Royal Family. She was the longest-lived Princess of the Blood Royal of the British Royal Family and the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria. She also a Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and a "Duchess in Saxony" from birth, as well as a Princess of Teck by marriage, until 1917 when she was ordered to give up all German titles by the Letters Patent of George V.
Princess Alice was born 25 February 1883 at Windsor Castle. Her father was Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, the youngest son of Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince Consort. Her mother was Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont. She had one brother, Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany (18841954) who was reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (19001918). As the granddaughter of the Sovereign through the male line, she was a Princess of the United Kingdom and a Royal Highness. As the daughter of the Duke of Albany, she was, therefore, styled Her Royal Highness Princess Alice of Albany..On 10 February 1904, at St George's Chapel, Windsor, Princess Alice of Albany married her second cousin once-removed, Prince Alexander of Teck, the brother of Queen Mary. After their marriage, Princess Alice was styled HRH Princess Alexander of Teck.
Prince and Princess Alexander of Teck had three children:
Lady May Cambridge 23 January 1906 29 May 1994 Married 1931 to Henry Abel Smith; had issue
Rupert Cambridge, Viscount Trematon 24 April 1907 15 April 1928 Died in a car crash
Prince Maurice of Teck 29 March 1910 14 September 1910 Died in infancy
Princess Alice was one of the carriers of the gene for haemophilia which arose with Queen Victoria. Princess Alice inherited the gene from her father who himself was a sufferer. Her eldest son, Rupert, inherited the disease from her; this led to his early death following an automobile accident.
When the British Royal Family abandoned all German titles by Letters Patent issued by King George V in June 1917. , Prince Alexander of Teck gave up the title "Prince of Teck" in the Kingdom of Württemberg and the style Serene Highness, and took the surname Cambridge,. For a short time he was known as Sir Alexander Cambridge, then the Earl of Athlone. Their two surviving children also lost their Württemberg princely titles.
Princess Alice gave up her titles of Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duchess of Saxony, but her brother Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who held a commission in the German Army, did not and was stripped of his British titles instead. Alice stayed, a Princess of Great Britain and Ireland and a Royal Highness in her own right, as granddaughter of Queen Victoria in the male line. From June 1917 until her death, she was styled Her Royal Highness Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone.
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