Princess Alice's - Troubled Royal | Biographical Documentary

Princess Alice of Battenberg led a remarkable life. A great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and the mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and therefore Queen Elizabeth II’s mother-in-law.

In her 40s she started to believe she was a saint and the bride of Jesus Christ. She was diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent almost three years in psychiatric hospitals. Freud suggested her ovaries be exposed to x-rays to reduce her sexual frustration!

But she eventually got out to found an order of nurse/nuns in Greece, gave all her possessions away and lived to the ripe old age of 84.
She survived two world wars, multiple Balkans conflicts and exile; she was born in a castle and died in a palace but spent many years living in humble accommodation devoting herself to the poor and vulnerable.
She overcame her deafness and mental illness to find meaning and purpose in life.

Academic References:
Blazer, D. G., & Tucci, D. L. (2019). Hearing loss and psychiatric disorders: a review. Psychological Medicine, 49(6), 891-897.
Bühler, K. E. (2004). Existential analysis and psychoanalysis: Specific differences and personal relationship between Ludwig Binswanger and Sigmund Freud. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 58(1), 34-50.
Danto, E. A. (2009). ‘Perfect in its principles’: Psychoanalytic praxis at Ernst Simmel's Schloss Tegel. Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society, 14(4), 337-349.
Deri, F., & Brunswick, D. (1964). Freud's letters to Ernst Simmel. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 12(1), 93-109.
Eade, P. (2011). Young Prince Philip: His Turbulent Early Life. Harper Collins UK.
Hansson, N., Krischel, M., Södersten, P., Moll, F. H., & Fangerau, H. (2020). “He Gave Us the Cornerstone of Sexual Medicine”: A Nobel Plan but No Nobel Prize for Eugen Steinach. Urologia Internationalis, 104(7-8), 501-509.
Nobus, D. (2020). The madness of Princess Alice: Sigmund Freud, Ernst Simmel and Alice of Battenberg at Kurhaus Schloß Tegel. History of Psychiatry, 31(2), 147-162.
Schultz, U., & Hermanns, L. M. (1987). Das Sanatorium Schloß Tegel Ernst Simmels–Zur Geschichte und Konzeption der ersten Psychoanalytischen Klinik. Psychother. Med. Psychol, 37, 58-67.
Sills, E. S. (2021). The scientific and cultural journey to ovarian rejuvenation: background, barriers, and beyond the biological clock. Medicines, 8(6), 29.
Steinach, E. (1920). Künstliche und natürliche Zwitterdrüsen und ihre analogen Wirkungen. Archiv für Entwicklungsmechanik der Organismen, 46(1), 12-28.
Vickers, H. (2002). Alice: Princess Andrew of Greece. Macmillan.

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The primary purpose of this video is educational. I have tried to use material in the public domain or with Creative Commons Non-attribution licences wherever possible. Where attribution is required, I have listed this below. I believe that any copyright material used falls under the remit of Fair Use, but if any content owners would like to dispute this, I will not hesitate to immediately remove that content. It is not my intention to infringe on content ownership in any way. If you happen to find your art or images in the video, please let me know and I will be glad to credit you.

Images
Wikimedia Commons
Wellcome Collection
Images and Video from “The Crown” Season 3 (Netflix)
Bundesarchiv
Paintings at the National Gallery, London

Public Domain or used on Fair Use basis for education purpose

Music
Handel: Zadok the Priest, Coronation Anthem, HWV 258, performed by St Matthew's Concert Choir and Orchestra, dir. Damien Giromella CC3.0 Via Wikimedia Commons.
Handel: Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra, November 2006 Roxanna Pavel Goldstein, Musical Director; Elias Goldstein, Orchestra Manager CC2.0 Via Wikimedia Commons.
Handel: Keyboard Suite 1, no. 2 in F major, HWV 427 European Archive Music Via Musopen. Public Domain.
Schoenberg: String quartet number 2 op. 10 By Arnold Schoenberg, fourth movement, played by the Carmel String Quartet. Public domain.
Sound effects: Power spark by qubodup via Freesound.

Video produced by Professor Graeme Yorston and Tom Yorston.