[.ca] Alice: Princess Andrew of Greece (ISBN 0312302398)

Praise for the author:
I was hesitant to order this book as biographies tend to be dry but Hugo Vickers has written a most sensitive and honest account of HRH Alice's life. He had the cooperation of her son Prince Philip who graciously allowed family photos to be published. This is a very good book about a lady who overcame personal problems and, at the same time, always tried to improve the lives of those less fortunate. A remarkable lady.

Poorly written and prejudiced:
Vickers just can't write! He's fantastic in an archive and here has gathered an excellent array of facts from numerous sources. He has also done an excellent job of putting everything together. But he just isn't at all a good writer. His style is awkward and clumpsy - he doesn't know how to effectivel tell a story. How he got as far as he did is a modern wonder. AND the cause of the book, being in effect comissioned by Prince Philip, was also it's death, as it is extremely prejudiced in presenting only what the palace wants us to know and believe. There are numerous unpleasant and controversial facts about the historical characters in the book which are neatly omitted, and Alice is always sympathetically and gallantly focused. No even-handed critique or analysis here - just a nice Windsor-approved glowing tribute, and poorly written.

Great story, so-so writing....:
Princess Alice of Greece is one of the most fascinating of all the royals, but unfortunately, the least known. Perhaps the British Royal Family has kept the lid on this biography because of embarrassment? But Hugo Vickers tells this long repressed story in Alice: Princess Andrew of Greece. Alice was born when royalty was at its zenith, and she was surrounded by some of the most important personalities of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Her great-grandmother was Queen Victoria. Her father was Louis of Battenberg, First Sea Lord and her brother was Dickie Mountbatten, Last Viceroy of India. Alice's sister Louise became Queen of Sweden, and her mother's sister was Tsarina Alexandra. Alice's youngest child and only son is Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and husband to Queen Elizabeth II. Alice topped an idyllic childhood by marrying Prince Andrew of Greece. In a day when most marriages were arranged, this was a love match. There was no familial opposition as Alice was from a morganatic marriage and her groom the 4th son of King George I of Greece. Unfortunately, her married life was marred by sadness, heartbreak and tragedy. The Greek monarchy and the Greek government were as unstable as the weather. On numerous occasions, Alice had to flee Greece with her family for extended periods of time. She lived through two world wars where a good many of her relatives were on the German (enemy) side including her sons-in-law. Her father-in-law was assassinated by a disgruntled Greek, and dozens of Russian relatives, including aunt Tsarina Alexandra and her entire family, were murdered during the Russian Revolution. A plane crash in England in 1937 took the lives of one daughter, son-in-law, two grandchildren, and a Hessian aunt. Perhaps as a result of these many setbacks, Alice succumbed to schizophrenia and had to be institutionalized for a good many years. The story of Alice's subsequent recovery, her conversion to orthodoxy, her becoming a nun and establishing a religious order make for a fascinating saga. Unfortunately, this book is not without some major flaws. First, Vickers writing style leaves a lot to be desired and his run-on sentences are a big distraction. One example can be found on page 77: "Presently the whole party moved to Buckingham Palace, attending a ball at the Russian Embassy and the King's Birthday Parade, in which Andrea \oAndrew\c rode to Horseguards Parade in the procession directly behind the King, little realizing that this would one day be the annual duty of his yet unborn son." The many footnotes (sometimes 3 or 4 per page) are very tiresome and provide more information than we really need. I have no clue how someone could read this book for a book-on-tape. Also, the author could do a better job identifying Russian Royalty. Most Russians are identified by their first name, followed by a patronymic (their father's name followed by "ovich"). For instance, the tsar's name was Nicholas Alexandrovich (Nicholas, son of Alexander). Vickers doesn't follow this rule and when he names a Grand Duke Michael, it is often difficult to know which of the dozen or so Grand Duke Michael's he is referring to. Still, Alice is an interesting book and it was not an easy story to write, as Alice destroyed most of her papers and letters throughout her lifetime. It also includes many never before seen photos of Alice and her extended family, including a poignant photo of her processing in her nun's habit for the coronation of her daughter-in-law. So for readers interested in royalty, suffer through the poor writing and discover the real story underneath.

Excellent work on an exceptional royal:
Vickers outdoes himself in this moving biography on one of royal history's most captivating people. This book explores every faucet of Alice's interesting life, from the moment of her birth until the day she died. An extraordinary woman in her own right, this book does the late princess justice. An excellent read for lovers of history and royalty and highly recommended.

A Life:
This is the story of what happens when a woman from a noble family develops a mental health problem due possibly to the strain of war. It is the story of a woman who had the support of family throughout her long and often heroic life. My own personal estimation of the British Royal Family improved greatly after reading this book. It is a book that took great courage and great love to publish.