It happens every time a member of the royal family announces they’re pregnant. There’s a frenzy with people trying to guess what the baby will be called, and when it comes to girls names, there’s one that always seems to emerge as a favourite: Alice.
Yet it hasn’t been bestowed as a first name on a royal baby girl for nearly 140 years – and the reason for that may be because the very first princess given the name was considered to be cursed.
Princess Alice Maud Mary, the third child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, was born into great privilege but her life was beset by tragedy. And sadly, many of her descendants also endured terrible trauma, with three of them being assassinated.
Alice was a surprise choice of name for Victoria’s second daughter, who was born on April 25, 1843. The name had been around since the 12th century but had never been given to a royal before. Alice was close to her older siblings, firstborn
