Reader\'s Digest Australia & New Zealand - June 2018

June• 2018 | 29

READER’S DIGEST

His 1956 tour of the Commonwealth

wasn’t a junket, but it did mean he

avoided testifying at the divorce hear-

ing of his friend, Mike Parker. he tour

was a complex diplomatic undertak-

ing and was well received. When he

was named Prince in 1957, the oicial

reason was to thank him for his work

with the Commonwealth.

The Prince’s most famous actual

law – his old-school racism – is barely

touched on in the script. he incidents

of snubbing Kenyan chieftains never

happened and represent unlikely

breaches of protocol.

here are, of course, a few moments

that capture the kindness Philip is

known for among family and friends.

When John F. Kennedy muffs his

entire meeting with the Queen, Philip

steps in and puts him at ease, a job

he carried out for thousands of peo-

ple for more than 60 years as the self-

described “world’s most experienced

plaque unveiler”.

PHILIP’S MOTHER, ALICE

T

he first episode of the series

opens with Princess Elizabeth

and Philip’s 1947 wedding. It’s

here that Queen Mary and the Queen

Mother (then Queen) peer over at Phil-

ip’s mother, Alice, Princess Andrew of

Greece and Denmark: “Look at the

mother, just out of a sanatorium,” says

the Queen Mother. “And dressed as a

nun,” sighs Queen Mary. “A Hun nun,”

replies the Queen Mother.

Alicewasdiagnosedwithparanoid

schizophreniain1930andspenttwo

yearsataSwisssanatorium–anissue

returned to in season two. Before her

breakdown,Aliceservedasanurse

in ield hospitals during the Balkan

Wars, was exiled during World War I,

ledGreecewithherhusband,Prince

Andrew, and five children in 1922,

and endured her husband’s philan-

dering during their exile in Paris.

Many commentators suggest her

stayinthesanatoriumwasconven-

ient for her husband.

he Greek monarchy was restored

in 1935, and Alice returned to Athens.

During World War II, far from being

‘a Hun’, she hid a Jewish family on

the top loor of her house in Athens,

near the Gestapo headquarters; an act

for which she was honoured by the

Israeli government.

Philip’smother,Alice,Princess

Andrew of Greece and Denmark

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES