Princess Adeline, Duchess of Clarence

Chapter Fifty-Nine: Princess Alice of Battenberg

5th of December 2019 - Church of Mary Magdalene, Gethsemane, Jerusalem

It had been a great honour for Prince Philip to ask them to visit his mother's grave on his behalf the 50th anniversary of her passing; a trip that was widely being reported since the Clarences had arrived in Jerusalem. 

Princess Alice had been devoted to charity work most of her life after spending time in a sanatorium in Switzerland in 1930. 

She stayed in Athens during the Second World War, sheltering Jewish refugees, for which she is recognised as "Righteous Among the Nations" by Israel's Holocaust memorial institution, Yad Vashem. 

After the war, Princess Alice stayed in Greece and founded a Greek Orthodox nursing order of nuns known as the Christian Sisterhood of Martha and Mary. 

Standing outside the Church of Mary Magdalene at the Russian Orthodox convent of the same name on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem; it was rather surreal to think of the woman that her great grandmother had been. 

Adeline held the flowers that she had brought with her, the cameras following her every move as she contemplated the woman that her great grandmother had been. 

Of course, Princess Alice had been highlighted to the world in recent shows like The Crown; Adeline had done her best to stay away from the dramatized show of her own families life. 

Some people seemingly taken everything the show said a fact, that everything that was shown in the show actually happened and Adeline felt a sense of dread when it came to the show coming closer to present time. 

No doubt the next season would cover her own marriages doomed marriage, with six seasons planned and Adeline hated to think what Peter Morgan would do when it came to such matters. 

The show would certainly lean into the cult of Diana, people that seemed to think that her mother could do no wrong and that the fault for the breakdown of the marriage lay firmly at the feet of the Royal Family and her father. 

Simon stood beside his wife, it was strange to think that they were here honouring Prince Philip's request that someone could for the anniversary of his mother's passing. 

It was strange to think such a private moment was to be filmed, that the press were right behind them as they stepped into the tomb were Princess Alice had been laid to rest in 1988. 

Adeline stepped forward and carefully placed the flowers upon the tomb, making sure that they were perfectly places before she stepped back from the tomb where her great grandmother had been laid to rest. 

Simon bowed his head in respect to the woman, a moment of silence passing between the couple as they paid their respects to Princess Alice. 

Once they had paid their respects, the couple made their exit; the cameras following their every move, the world watching the couple as they presented a united front with everything else going on. 

"Have you spoken with your sister-in-law?" a reported yelled to the couple, the cameras following their every move as Simon reached out and took his wife's hand. 

Neither of them reacting to the question that had been heckled at them, they would give no response unless necessary but they would not bow to the press wanting statements from them about the Sussexes. 

Simon squeezed her hand, he knew that this wasn't easy and this was just the beginning but he wanted his wife to know that she wasn't alone in this; that whatever happened next he was by her side. 

Simon honestly wished he had punched Harry harder, he didn't know what the man was thinking and he would never understand his need to do what he had done.