Descendents of family saved by UK princess meet great-grandson, William
Eve and Philippe Cohen, whose ancestors were saved by Princess Alice in the Holocaust, meet Prince William in Jerusalem; ‘We will always be thankful for her bravery.’
One of the most noteworthy moments during Prince William’s visit to Israel took place at the Prime Minister’s Residence Tuesday when he met with the descendents of a Jewish family saved by his great-grandmother, Princess Alice, during the Holocaust.
“It was a great honor for us, very moving as well and we are very glad and very grateful that this opportunity could take place," the descendents, Eve and Philippe Cohen, said in an interview with Ynet.
Alice, the deaf great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria lived a modest life, struggled with mental illness and saw three of her daughters marry prominent Nazi supporters before establishing an order of nuns. But the mother-in-law of Queen Elizabeth II is particularly lauded in Israel for sheltering persecuted Jews during the Holocaust.
“(She) hid our family in Athens during the Second World War, when Athens was invaded by the Nazis. She hid our family, allowing them to survive. Therefore, we owe our very existence to the courage of Princess Alice,” said Philippe.
“We had a very interesting conversation with Prince William. The thing is with Prince William is that even though it can be a little overwhelming to be in his presence, he has this sense of putting you at ease immediately," he reflected on his meeting. "So even though it was very moving and a great honor, it was very easy to have a conversation.”
The Cohens expressed gratitude for Princess Alice’s courage. “We talked about his family, our family, how they were interconnected and how we are really grateful for his family’s courage, and he seemed to be very interested in that aspect of his family which has not been put into much light.
“He asked about his great-grandmother and his great-grandfather, the King of Greece, and wanted to know more details about how it happened, how they managed to hide the family from the Nazis on an everyday basis because it was a great effort on her part and her life was on the line,” Philippe added.
“I was at the Yad Vashem ceremony with Prince Phillip and Princess Sophie (when Princess Alice received the Righteous Among the Nation’s Award) so we are all aware of the story,” she continued.
Eve concluded by saying expressing her gratitude to Prince William's great-grandmother for her deed. “I think that from generation to generation we will always be thankful for the bravery of Princess Alice who saved our lives and enabled the coming generations.”
Associated Press contributed to this report.
