Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester

Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester GCB CI GCVO GBE (Alice Christabel Montagu-Douglas-Scott) (December 25, 1901 – October 29, 2004) was the wife of Prince Henry,Duke of Gloucester — the third son of King George V and Queen Mary. She was thus the sister-in-law of King George VI and King 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.

Change of Title

On June 10, 1974, Prince Henry died and was succeeded as Duke of Gloucester by their second son, Prince Richard. (The couple's elder son and heir, Prince William, had been killed in an airplane crash in 1972.) The duke's widow requested permission from her niece, Queen Elizabeth II, to use the title and style "HRH Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester" instead of "HRH The Dowager Duchess of Gloucester". The Queen allowed her aunt to adopt this title, in part to avoid confusion with her daughter-in-law, the new Duchess of Gloucester (formerly Brigitte Eva Van Duers). Princess Alice also apparently did not wish to be known as a dowager duchess and so followed the example of her late sister-in-law, Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, following the marriage of her elder son in June 1961. However, Princess Marina was a princess by birth. The de facto Dowager Duchess of Gloucester was allowed to be known as Princess Alice as a courtesy from the Queen.

Related Topics:
June 10 - 1974 - Prince Richard - 1972 - Duchess of Gloucester - Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent

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