Prince William pays tribute to lesser-known royal during moving Holocaust ceremony

Prince William spoke of his late great-grandmother, Princess Alice (Image: Getty)

Prince William made sure to pay tribute to one very special person when discussing those "who risked their own lives to help and save others" at the Holocaust ceremony on Monday evening.

With a surprise appearance from the Princess of Wales, William gave a moving speech at the ceremony, which marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

William made a special mention of his great-grandmother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, the mother of William's late grandfather, Prince Philip.

Princess Alice, whose remarkable life was played out in Netflix's The Crown, had been living—at the time of World War II—in the Athens palace of Prince George of Greece.

Yesterday, William said: "On this, the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, we also recall those who risked their own lives to help and save others. They risked death, torture and persecution to defy the aggressors. I was recently reminded of my great-grandmother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, who lived in Athens during the Second World War."

Prince William was joined by the Princess of Wales on Monday (Image: Getty)

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He then went on to recount an extract from the book Heroes of the Holocaust. William said: "This is an extract from the book Heroes of the Holocaust: 'In the early days of German occupation, conditions deteriorated rapidly as food ran out when an estimated 300,000 people died.

"Conditions were particularly severe in Athens and its port, Piraeus. Alice worked tirelessly for the Red Cross, helping to organise soup kitchens, opening shelters for orphaned children, and setting up a nursing system for poor areas of the city. It was at this time that Princess Alice gave refuge to a Jewish widow, Rachel Cohen, and two of her five children to save them from deportation to the death camps."

Alice had returned to Greece following a period of exile and, by 1941, Greece was occupied by Axis forces.

In 1942, following the death of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, Athens was completely under the control of the Nazi regime.

William's great-grandmother, Princess Alice of Battenberg pictured in 1965 (Image: Getty)

As per Holocaust Centre North, Haimaki Cohen was a Greek member of Parliament and well-known to the Royal Family.

Alice then made it her mission to help his widow, Rachel Cohen, and their children. However, after their sons made the decision to join the exiled Greek Government in Cairo, Alice then sheltered Rachel and her daughter, Tilde, at the palace.

The pair were later rejoined by Rachel's sons. Due to her bravery, Rachel's family survived the Holocaust - in which 60,000 Greek Jews were killed.