11th April 2021

I noticed one news item that Harry would return home for his grandfather’s funeral. Whilst the media seized on speculation, I was more struck by use of the word ‘home’. He may think his home is California, but the media infers otherwise. Philip’s mother also understood the meaning of home. In the ‘40s, when Germany invaded Greece, Princess Alice heard of the desperate straits of a Jewish family and offered to shelter them at her own home, where they stayed until liberation. Despite being questioned by the Gestapo, Alice used her deafness to pretend not to understand their questions. Just before she died, Alice expressed her wish to be buried in Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives, a spiritual home. In 1993, the Yad Vashem Museum there correctly bestowed the title of ‘Righteous Among the Nations’ on Philip’s mother. On Thursday, the Jewish people will celebrate their just return to their ancestral homeland.  When Harry lands in London after his own journey, he - like the Jewish people - will have much on which to reflect.