We’re alive because of your great-grandmother
DESCENDANTS of a family saved by William’s great-grandmother thanked him for her bravery yesterday.
William spent time with Evy and Philippe Cohen at the residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
They told him how Prince Philip’s mother Princess Alice of Battenberg sheltered Rachel Cohen and her daughter, Tilde, in Athens during the German occupation of Greece.
Mr Cohen said: “We all owe our existence to her courage.”
Philippe, 31, and Evy, 62, are descended from the sons of Rachel, who left Greece to join the resistance once they knew their mother and sister were safely hidden.
Mr Cohen, a lawyer, told the Duke of their “difficult but beautiful” family history.
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He said: “It was extremely moving. Prince William was very proud.”
The Cohens presented him with an engraved copy of a speech made at Israel’s Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, in 1993 when Princess Alice was honoured being made Righteous Among The Nations for her actions.
Mrs Cohen said: “It was very moving. What Princess Alice did was absolutely extraordinary. She risked her own life to take in a family in need.”
The Cohens, who live in Paris, were flown to Israel to share their story.
GETTY/ARTHUR EDWARDS/THE SUN/PA