Middle East Moment William's Moving Visit For Prince Philip

The Duke of Cambridge Honoured His Great-grandma in Jerusalem
 

- Judy Kean

Prince William’s historic visit to the Middle East last week was a big deal for the heir to the throne. He’s the first senior royal to have made an official visit to Israel and Palestine after the British government did an about-face and changed its previous advice to stay away from the area, and Israel in particular, due to the conflict there.

His groundbreaking trip last week was not political, insists Kensington Palace, but intended to shine a spotlight on the people of the region – in particular, the younger generation and their aspirations.

However, it seems there was another reason why William (36) wanted to make the trip to Israel and that was to do something very special for his grandfather Prince Philip. While he was there, the Duke of Cambridge visited the Jerusalem grave of his great-grandmother, Philip’s mother Princess Alice of Battenburg, on behalf of the prince, who has only been to his mother’s final resting place once.

It was a poignant moment for William, who was born long after Alice died in 1969, aged 84. Her remains were originally interred at St George’s Chapel, Windsor – where his brother Harry recently married Meghan Markle – but in accordance with her wishes, they were moved in 1988 to Israel, to the Russian church of St Mary Magdalene, above the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives.

Because of unrest in the area at the time, Philip (97) was unable to visit the grave until six years later and he has not been back since. Prince Charles (69) visited the grave in 2016, when he went to Israel for the funeral of politician Shimon Peres, but his trip there was not an official one.

However, time was set aside for William on his whirlwind trip to Jordan, Israel and Palestine to pay a very personal tribute to a woman who had a difficult life but always thought of others.