Prince Charles laid flowers on his grandmother Princes Alice's tomb during his first visit to to Palestine occupied territories. Alice, Prince Phillip's mother, lived at Buckingham Palace in her final years and died in 1969, when Charles was 20. Today the Prince made a personal pilgrimage to tomb on the Mount of Olive in east Jerusalem and witnessed for the first time how it has been transformed with a Greek flag which he had made in London. HRH made a private visit there in 2016, and at the time a Greek royal standard covered her coffin, which the prince though was was so “moth-eaten and tatty” he it sent back to London, where he commissioned a replacement. A source close to the prince, said: “He said, ‘we will do a bit better for granny'.’” Extensive research was carried out, including consultations with members of the Greek royal family, to make sure the colours were right. Princess Alice, who was famous for sheltering Jews during World War Two, was buried in St George’s Chapel, Windsor. It was not until 1988 that her final wish, to be buried at the Russian Orthodox church of St Mary Magdalene where her aunt Ella was buried, was finally fulfilled. The prince laid flowers on her tomb, which is in a vault beneath the church, while nuns sang a prayer of repose for the dead. The flowers were picked in the morning from the garden of the British consul general in Jerusalem. His son Prince William also made the journey during his maiden visit to the country in 2018. Father Roman Krassovsky, head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, said: “[The standard] was moth-eaten, it was really old. “I asked His Royal Highness if he could possibly send a new one, and he did. It looks lovely. “He has the old one which we sent to him. He hung it up in his house over his staircase. He said he has both standards of both grandmothers now there, next to each other.” He said Charles’s visit to his grandmother’s tomb was “the one legal of his trip that was personal”. He added: “He comes here and he can say a prayer. He knew Princess Alice very well.” During a visit to Bethlehem today the prince told how he is 'heartbroken' that there is so much 'suffering and division' in the district. The Prince began his historic first visit to the West Bank with a gesture of unity - walking through Bethlehem with Muslim and Christian leaders. He later addressed clerics, telling them how he hoped for peace in the district, and sent a strong message of support for the plight of the Palestinian people. Prince Charles makes poignant trip to lay flowers on grandmother's tomb Prince Charles, Prince of Wales,Royal Family
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