Prince Philip's Mother, Princess Alice, Saved A Jewish Family From Persecution In World War II

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Fans are familiar with Prince Philip's extended family, which include Queen Elizabeth II, his kids and grandkids. However, the prince's immediate family is not usually talked about.

The prince came from a very normal background and although his parents were not vey popular people, they engaged in some significant roles around the world. 

Take for example Prince Philip's mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, who risked her life to save a cluster of people from harm's way during the Second World War.

Read below for more details.

She is known as the mother of Prince Philip and mother-in-law of Queen Elizabeth II. Alice was a Queen Victoria's granddaughter, who was born and bred in Windsor Castle, United Kingdom. 

She grew up under the protection of the Battenberg family and was congenitally deaf from birth. In 1903, she got married to prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and adopted his family traits and name.

Although she was diagnosed with schizophrenia  at a young age, it did not stop her from engaging in charity work of helping people the best way she could during and after the war.

The princess and Prince Andrew, who was the fourth son of King George I of Greece and Olga Constantinovna of Russia, first met each other during King Edward VII's coronation in 1902. 

The next year, the duo were first married in a civil manner at Darmdtadt. However, the next day, teo religious weddings were held in honor of the couple. One took place at the Evangelical Castle Church while the other, a Greek Orthodox wedding, took place in the Russian Chapel.

In the course of their marriage, the duo had five children, who alter had children of their own.

After her schizophrenic diagnosis, Alice had to stay in the Swiss sanatorium for two years. At that time, her husband had left her for another woman.

After her release from the sanatorium, she travelled to Greece far from her daughters who were married to German princes and her only son who lived in the United Kingdom.

When Greece was taken over by Nazi forces during the Second World War, Alice helped a Jewish family known as the 'Cohens' hide in her house. During that time, one of her daughters came to visit and had some suspicions, but Alice pretended with the use of her deafness.

During the war, she had to live with the fact that her female children had married princes from Germany, but she decided to stay strong for the Jews who were being persecuted. 

Till date, Alice is still celebrated by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum situated in Jerusalem, for her part in making sure that a Jewish family made it to safety in the midst of Nazi persecution. 

In the later days of her life, Alice went to Buckinham Palace, England, to live with Prince Philip and his wife Queen Elizabeth II. She died on December 5, 1969.