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FAMILY BOND

Who were Prince Philip’s parents?

PRINCE Philip was no stranger to royalty before marrying into the British Royal Family.

He was born into Green royalty but who were his parents?

Princess Alice, the mother of Prince Philip, lived in Buckingham Palace for two years before passing away in 1969
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Princess Alice, the mother of Prince Philip, lived in Buckingham Palace for two years before passing away in 1969Credit: Getty - Contributor

He was the youngest child of five and was their only son. 

Philip had four older sisters, Princess Margarita, Princess Theodora, Princess Cecilie, and Princess Sophie, who have all now passed away.

Philip's youngest sister Princess Sophie died back in 2001.

Princess Alice

Princess Alice of Battenberg was born in Windsor in 1885.

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She went on to marry Prince Andrew of Greece, becoming Princess Andrew of Greece.

She was the great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

Princess Alice was born deaf but despite her disability, she learned sign language and became fluent in English, German, and Greek.

In World War I she serves as an army nurse and was awarded the Red Cross by King George V for her work.

After she gave birth to Prince Philip, she suffered a mental breakdown before being abandoned by her husband and being detained in a Swiss infirmary where she was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud believed her symptoms were the result of intense sexual frustration, and recommended "X-raying her ovaries in order to kill off her libido."

She didn't spend much time with Philip when he was a child after being committed to a sanatorium.

When the war ended, she founded an order of nuns and famously wore her nun’s habit at the Queen’s Coronation in 1953.

She was invited by her son and daughter-in-law to live in Buckingham Palace before she died, two years later in 1969, at the age of 84.

Prince Andrew

Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, who was Prince Philip's dad, was born on February 2, 1882, and he was the seventh child of King George I of Greece.

Prince Andrew met Princess Alice during a visit to London for the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902 and they married the following year.

Their first child Margarita arriving in 1905 and last child Philip in 1921.

Prince Philip had a famously turbulent childhood as he was forced to flee Greece in 1922 when Prince Andrew feared he would be executed during a military coup.

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The family fled to France, but were separated, with Philip being sent to the MacJannet American School before moving to the UK to study at the Cheam School.

Andrew was estranged from his wife and son by 1930 and he passed away in Monte Carlo in 1944.

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