Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and late husband of late Queen Elizabeth, died on April 9, 2021. While much of his life was lived within the palace walls, Philip was born into royalty in his own right and lived out a childhood plagued by instability and tragedy.
Philip was born on the Greek island of Corfu eight years after his grandfather, King George I of Greece, was assassinated. His father was sent into exile when Philip was just over 1 year old, and the family was helped by England's King George V, his father's cousin. Philip and his family escaped to Italy and then moved to Paris.
His mother was later diagnosed with schizophrenia and was committed to an institution. Her children, including Philip, went on to live with her family during this time.
Princess Cecilie was Prince Philip's third-oldest sister. She married Georg Donatus, the Grand Duke of Hesse, and quickly gave birth to two sons and a daughter. With the exception of the young daughter, the family was traveling to London from Germany for a wedding in November 1937 when all of their lives were tragically cut short.
On the airplane with her husband, two sons, her mother-in-law, and the plane's crew, Cecilie went into labor. The pilot rerouted the plane to land in Brussels, Belgium, but inclement weather forced him to attempt a landing in Ostend so the princess could give birth. That attempt seems to have been what sealed the family's tragic fate. The plane hit a factory chimney and crashed, killing all on board.
Adopted by other royals, Cecilie's young daughter died two years later of meningitis.
Cecilie's story includes another dark chapter: Both she and her husband were members of the Nazi party. Prince Philip was even photographed in between two men who were wearing Nazi attire at Cecilie's funeral.
Princess Cecilie is reportedly not the only member of Philip's family who was enthusiastic about supporting the Nazi Party. A documentary titled Prince Philip: The Plot To Make a King includes footage in which another of Philip's sisters, Princess Sophie, referred to Adolf Hitler as a "charming and seemingly modest man."
Sophie married Prince Christoph von Hessen, who ended up working as a director for the Third Reich’s Ministry of Air Forces. While Sophie claims to have later changed her beliefs, she still thought fondly of the Hitler years later when she wrote about him in her memoir, which remains unpublished.
The Daily Beast reports that Sophie wrote, "I have to say here, that, although Chri [Prince Christoph] and I changed our political view fundamentally some years later, we were impressed by this charming and seemingly modest man, and by his plans to change and improve the situation in Germany."
To her credit, Prince Philip's mother, Princess Alice, took a decidedly more profound and important stance when it came to Nazis. Princess Alice is regarded as "Righteous Among the Nations" at the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem for helping to hide Jewish families from Nazis who occupied Greece during World War II.
