Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone

Yes, she did have three children, but none of them or their descendents have hemophilia.  It's a pretty good bet that May wasn't a carrier, or if she was, she didn't pass it onto any of her children.

Lady May Abel-Smith was a wonderful woman. She was Queen Mary's niece and is fondly remembered as the wife of Sir Henry Abel-Smith, one time Governor of the Australian state of Queensland.

There were several issued as postcards--I think there was an anniversary or a birthday, perhaps.

There were rumors that Maurice was a hemophiliac--probably because of his brother and his early death--but he apparently wasn't. I think it was meningitis (?) that he died of. It was very sudden.

I don't think May was a carrier but she only had the one daughter. At any rate, there's been no hemophilia in that line.

Alice's being a carrier was a given since the daughter of a hemophiliac will always be a carrier because her father can only pass on an X chromosome with hemophilia on it. Because of this, his son, Charles Edward, would automatically be exempt--save for if by some wild chance Helen would've been a carrier.

Lady May Abel Smith had 2 daughters and one son...

Yes, she did. I don't know where I got only one daughter from.  All of her children had children of their own and there hasn't been a sign of hemophilia in any of the families.

I am doing some research in to Princess Alice and came across this site.  I was wondering whether any of you might be able to help me.  I am trying to find out precisely what year it was that Princess Alice was formally presented at court, I haven't been able to get hold of either her autobiography or the book by Theodore A...(not sure of the spelling), it may say in one of them but perhaps you will all come up trumps and save me the trouble?!  I hope so!....

I would hazard a guess at or around 1901 or 1902 making her about eighteen. 

Mary R.

The first picture shows HRH the Duchess of Albany (former princess of Waldeck-Pyrmont), mother of Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone. the second picture shows HRH the Duchess of Albany as a grandmother with her daughter HRH Princess Alice and granddaughter Princess Mary.

I was searching around in a huge collection online from a local newspaper, and I off course searched fore royalty. And that means also the Duchess of Albany. And I found quit some short messages in the local newspaper. Reporting that the Duchess of Albany (sometimes with or without her daughter) is paying a (unofficial) visit to here beloved sister HM Queen Emma (and niece Wilhelmina). HM Queen Emma was doing the same thing, she visited her sister and family very often in England.  Their was also a short report about the wedding of princess Alice, Emma was a guest at that wedding. And the even describe Emma's outfit in detail, which was quit lovely. Emma was also paying a visit to her sister when King Edward VII died. (Must have been a strange situation)
Maybe you think it is a bit silly, me telling all this. But I always wondered if the sisters often saw or visited each other. And my conclusion is 'They shore did'!! I will post some of the short newspaper messages very soon, but I have to translate them in English first! (And sorry fore my sometimes ‘strange’ choose of English)

Wishing all the best from the Netherlands,

RN

Thank you RN for sharing all the wonderful pictures! Princess Helen certainly liked her bracelets!! She appears to be wearing a serpent bracelet, similar to Queen Alexandras, but thicker and less attractive.

The detail captured on these old black and white pictures is just wonderful...

Yes, the sisters did see each other and seem to have been very close. Alice was also close to her Dutch relations. I think there are some photos of them in one of Robert Golden's books. She was also close to the cousins from some of the various other marriages that the Waldeck-Pyrmont children made.

The first picture shows HRH the Duchess of Albany (former princess of Waldeck-Pyrmont), mother of Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone. the second picture shows HRH the Duchess of Albany as a grandmother with her daughter HRH Princess Alice and granddaughter Princess Mary.

I was searching around in a huge collection online from a local newspaper, and I off course searched fore royalty. And that means also the Duchess of Albany. And I found quit some short messages in the local newspaper. Reporting that the Duchess of Albany (sometimes with or without her daughter) is paying a (unofficial) visit to here beloved sister HM Queen Emma (and niece Wilhelmina). HM Queen Emma was doing the same thing, she visited her sister and family very often in England.  Their was also a short report about the wedding of princess Alice, Emma was a guest at that wedding. And the even describe Emma's outfit in detail, which was quit lovely. Emma was also paying a visit to her sister when King Edward VII died. (Must have been a strange situation)
Maybe you think it is a bit silly, me telling all this. But I always wondered if the sisters often saw or visited each other. And my conclusion is 'They shore did'!! I will post some of the short newspaper messages very soon, but I have to translate them in English first! (And sorry fore my sometimes ‘strange’ choose of English)

Wishing all the best from the Netherlands,

RN

I'm glad that snake bracelet topic came up.  They were apparently popular during this time.  The Duchess of Albany received one as a wedding gift, but it appears to be a different bracelet than the one shown in the picture above.  You can find a picture of Helena in her wedding attire (the bracelet is on her left wrist) and some information about her jewellry at http://www.royal-magazin.de/england/albany/albany-snake-bracelet.htm. 

According to the autobiography of Queen Wilhelmina, her mother and Helena did visit each other fairly frequently.  Emma had been closer to her next eldest sister, Marie, but after Marie died in 1882, Emma and Helena seemed to grow closer.  After 1890 especially, they probably found they had a lot in common, both being very young widows with small children.  One one occasion, around 1895, Wilhelmina met Queen Victoria who was, of course, her aunt's mother in law.  Wilhelmina would have been a teenager then.  QV was impressed by the young Queen Wilhelmina.

The Waldeck-Pyrmont sisters have always interested me a great deal.  They were all apparently very bright and extremely well-educated.  Their mother, Helene, was determined to make good matches for all of her daughters, no easy task for a family from an insignificant principality with several daughters.  Nevertheless, Emma's older sister Marie became Crown Princess of Wurttemburg.  She would have become Queen had she not died in childbirth in 1882.  Emma became Queen of the Netherlands and later regent.  Helena's marriage to Leopold, Duke of Albany, was viewed as most favorable.  Although she did not become a queen like Emma, she was the daughter-in-law of probably the most powerful ruler in the world. 

There were also three other Waldeck-Pyrmont sisters.  Sophie, the eldest, died at age fifteen, likely of tuberculosis.  Pauline, the second eldest, married Prince Alexis of Bentheim-Steinfurt.  Elisabeth, the youngest daughter, married Alexander, Prince of Erbach-Schönberg.  Alice of Athlone remembered Elisabeth in her memoirs as a favorite aunt. 

royal_netherlands, would you have any links to the online articles you were reading?  I'd love to see them.

Visits of the two Royal sisters HM Queen Emma of the Netherlands nee princess of Waldeck-Pyrmont and HRH Duchess Helen of Albany nee princess of Waldeck-Pyrmont to each other over the years.



I went threw the archive of a big local news paper and discovered that almost every time our royal family or foreign royal family went on a visit is was announced in the papers. So I focussed on the visits of Queen Emma and her sister Duchess Helen of Albany. And discovered they visit each other quit allot exactly from 1894 almost every year (exceptions are 1896 and the period between the First World War) once or twice. And that are only the visits that where watched by the press. I discovered not al visits where announced in the news papers. So this summary of visits is far from complete, but still it gives a good example of the close band between the Waldeck-Pyrmont sisters and their families.

1882. HM King William III and his wife HM Queen Emma are wedding-guests at the wedding of princess Helen of Waldeck-Pyrmont to HRH prince Leopold son of Queen Victoria.

1883. The King and Queen of the Netherlands are visiting a theatre in London with the Duke and Duchess of Albany, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh  and the furst and furstin von Waldeck-Pyrmont.

1884 t/m 1890 No official visit or at least not written down in the newspapers.

1889. The Queen of the Netherlands (Emma) is presented at the wedding of her younger sister princess Elisabeth of Waldeck-Pyrmont, the Duchess of Albany is also a guest at her sisters wedding.

1891. The Duchess of Albany and her two children are guests of the Queen-Regent of the Netherlands and the young Queen at the Loo palace.

1894. The Duchess of Albany and her two children are staying nine days with the Queen-Regent of the Netherlands and the young Queen at the Loo palace.

1895. The Queen-Regent of the Netherlands and the young Queen Wilhelmina are visiting Queen Victoria and her family in Great-Britain. Many members of the British Royal Family are attending the visit. Here is a royal list with the royal members the met a different occasions starting off course with HM Queen Victoria, the Duchess of Albany and her children, the Duke of Cambridge, the Duchess of Teck (Mary Adelaide), the Duke and Duchess of Fife, Prince and Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, the Duke and Duchess of York, the Duke of Connaught, The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Princess Beatrice, Prince Edward of Saksen-Weimar-Eisenach, The Prince and Princess of Wales, Princess Maud and Princess Victoria.  When Princess Beatrice and her sister Princess Helena visited the young Queen Wilhelmina and the Queen-Regent at their hotel. Wilhelmina had to promise Princess Beatrice she would attend the drawing room Queen Victoria would organise at Buckingham Palace the following day. Wilhelmina promised it and hearty said goodbye to her two royal visitors. Isn’t that a lovely gesture of Princess Beatrice being so nice to the young queen?

1897. The Duchess of Albany was most welcomed by the two Queens at the station at Apeldoorn (near the Loo palace).

1898. The young Queen of the Netherlands and her mother are visiting royalty in France. The visits go to the Duke of Cumberland, the Duke of Nassau, the Grand duke of Baden and the Duchess of Albany. In the same year the Queen of the Netherlands and her mother attend the wedding of the crown prince and princess of Württemberg in Stuttgart. Also present are the crown prince and princess of Romania and the Duchess of Albany. Queen Wilhelmina and her aunt the Duchess of Albany travel to the Netherlands together by train. The Duchess of Albany will stay with her niece fore a couple of days. Queen Emma was left behind socializing in Stuttgart.
 
1899. The Duchess of Albany and her children are staying at the Loo palace as guest of the Queen and the Queen-Mother of the Netherlands.


to be continued...................

Part two.......................................



The Duchess of Albany arriving at a train station and being received with a royal welcome.

1900. The Duchess of Albany is travelling from Windsor towards Sandringham and after that
she travels to the Netherlands fore a visit to her sister the Queen-Mother and her niece the Queen. Later in the same year the Duchess of Albany is bringing another visit towards the Netherlands and she attends an official diner with the royal family.

1901. The Queen Mother of the Netherlands visits her sister the Duchess of Albany in Potsdam and after that she brings a visit to the crown-prince of Erbach.

1902. Princess Alice of Albany and the future duke and duchess of Erbach have attended a ‘dansant te hove’ in Den Haag (the Netherlands) together with the Dutch royal family.

1903. The Duchess of Albany and her daughter have visited the Queen Mother of the Netherlands in her summer palace Soestdijk.

1904. Queen Emma of the Netherlands attends the wedding of her niece princess Alice of Albany to prince Alexander of Teck. She sat directly behind King Edward VII and his wife Queen Alexandra. Queen Emma wore a beautiful dress covered with cream coloured lace. Other royal quest how have attended the wedding are the Queen of Württemberg, the bride’s mother the Duchess of Albany, the prince and princess of Wales and many others. After the wedding the Queen Mother of the Netherlands, the Queen of Württemberg and the Duchess of Albany leave fore Claremont House, Queen Emma will stay fore another couple of days.

1905. The Duchess of Albany visits her sister Emma in the Netherlands together with Sir Robert and Lady Collin.

1906. The Queen Mother Emma leaves April the twenty-third fore a visit in England to her beloved sister the Duchess of Albany. In the same year the Duchess of Albany brings a return visit towards her sister and niece in the Netherlands.

1907. The Duchess of Albany arrives in Den Haag (the Netherlands) fore a visit towards her sister the Queen Mother Emma and her niece Queen Wilhelmina.

1908. The Duchess of Albany arrives at the resident of the Dutch royal family fore a visit towards them.

1909. The Queen Mother Emma her sister the Duchess of Albany and the prince consort (Henry) attend a charity-ball in the Netherlands. In September of the same year the two royal sisters are at the Loo palace in Apeldoorn. The probably have visit  the young Queen Wilhelmina and her young daughter Juliana ( almost five months by then).

1910. Queen Mother Emma leaves in may fore a visit towards her sister the Duchess of Albany and the Queen Dowager of Sweden (Sofia) who is also staying in England. The Queen Mother had just arrived at Queensboro when the news about the death of King Edward VII reached her. Queen Emma at once departed to go to her sister the Duchess of Albany at Esher. The two sisters got visited by the duke and duchess of Saxe-Coburg in the following days. Queen Emma came over from Claremont house with little may (Lady May Abel-Smith) to watch the procession from the roof of the apartment in Henry III Tower.

1911. The Duchess of Albany stays with her sister the Queen Mother of the Netherlands fore ten days in the royal resident.

1912. Prince Henry consort of Queen Wilhelmina visits his aunt in-law in London and afterwards has a lunch with the king (George V) at Buckingham Palace. In the same year Queen Wilhelmina is visiting her mother and aunt the duchess of Albany at Soestdijk palace.

1913. The Duchess of Albany is visiting her sister Queen Emma in the Netherlands at Soestdijk Palace in October.

1914. Queen Emma of the Netherlands is visiting England. At first the duke and duchess of Teck at Windsor and afterwards she travels on to Claremont House fore a stay with her sister the Duchess of Albany.

Because of the First World War their where no visits between the sisters from the year 1915 until 1919. At least no register one in the papers!

1920. The Duchess of Albany has visited her sister at the palace Soestdijk.

1921. The Duchess of Albany has arrived in the Netherlands and a court-car brought her to Den Haag fore a visit towards her sister the Queen Mother. In the same year the count and countess of Athlone and their children brought a visit to the Dutch royal family.

1922. Queen Emma of the Netherlands gets the sad news of the death of her beloved sister the Duchess of Albany. Later that year the duke and duchess of Athlone are presented at a ‘gala-soiree’ at the court in the Netherlands.




Two pictures showing the Athlones visiting their family in the Netherlands. The first picture shows Lady May (Cambridge) Abel-Smith daughter of the countess of Athlone walking out of the palace on the Lange Voorhout in Den Haag together with her great-aunt Queen Mother Emma. The are going fore a daily ride through Den Haag a thing Emma did every day. I must say Emma looks a bit frial in this picture but the year is 1933, the following year the beloved Queen Mother died. The second picture shows Queen Mother Emma her niece the countess of Athlone and her daughter Lady May cambridge at the boulevard in Scheveningen (try to pronounce that ).

I'm now going to dig in the archive fore the visits of the Athlones towards their Dutch relatives.

RN

Thanks RN for taking the time to put that all together. It's nice to know the sisters stayed in contact as much as possible.

Alice mentioins in her memoirs of them being at Arolson in 1895 after the marriage of their brother Fritz to Bathhildis of Schoenburg Lippe. There is also a picture of the sisters and brother mid 1880's I think on Emma's page.



1895 Arolson

Back row - Prince Otto, Grand Duke of Luxemberg, Princess Pauline Bentheim, Prince Bentheim, Princess Bathildis, Prince Frederick, Princess Elizabeth Waldeck, Duchess of Albany

Front row - Wilhelmina, Grandmama Waldeck, Charlie, Alice, Queen Emma

Photo was on both pages of book, so Emma didn't come out all that great in scan.

THANK YOU, royal_netherlands, for posting this!  Did these appear in sources that were available online?  I also noticed one interesting omission - the funeral of Prince Leopold.  Did the King and Queen of the Netherlands attend this in 1884? 

Also, do you have any information on the Pauline, Elisabeth, or Marie of Waldeck-Pyrmont?  I can find little about Helen, but even less about her other three sisters.

You're most welcome eejm and Keith I'm glad you both like my research so much. I also borewed a copy of Alice's memoirs from a public library and much enjoy reading it at the moment.
And to answer you're questions eejm the source I have used is online but can only be used in Dutch and is fore members only. It is a very tricky archive because old dutch spelling is used and I'm not shore it is a great source fore those who do not control the dutch lanquage. But I would be happy to look things up fore you just tell what you wanna know. I'm not shore the King andf Queen attened the funeral of their brother-inlaw, William III was known that he did not like funerals and never talked about hem. When Emma's sister Marie died of tuberculosis in 1882 (she died around the time of Helens marriage). Emma was forbidden by the king to talk about her own sisters death just because he did not like to talk about the subject of death at all. But I will check the archive if their is something about Leopolds funeral and if the attened or not. And will look fore information about the other sisters. I know the dutch royal family was very fond of aunt 'Lily' (Elisabeth of Waldeck-Pyrmont) she was almost the same age as her niece Wilhelmina. Elisabeth's childeren have made visits to their dutch relatives at court. So I hope I have informed you enough fore now eejm and will post my research later on.

Many greetings from the Netherlands.....

RN

It doesn't seem that King William attended and I haven't found mention yet of Queen Emma. Helen's father, the Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont was in attendance though from the time the body returned from Cannes throughout the funeral.

The Duke of Edinburgh and GD Paul of Russia attended a service for Leopold in Athens.