Prince Philip ancestors buried at Athens cemetery

Before marrying heir to British throne, Prince Philip was already a prince as he was born a member of Greek royal family.

Philip left Greece when he was a child because family was forced into exile, but Vassilis Koutsavlis, president of Tatoi Royal Estate Friends Association, said prince still had ties with Greece.

former royal estate at Tatoi just rth of Ans includes a cemetery where many of Philip's relatives, including his far and paternal grandparents, are buried.

Born June 10, 1921, on dining room table at his parents' home on Greek island of Corfu, Philip was fifth child and only son of Prince Andrew, younger bror of king of Greece.

His grandfar had come from Denmark during 1860s to be adopted by Greece as country's monarch. He would become King George I.

Philip's mor was Princess Alice of Battenberg, a descendant of Queen Victoria.

When Philip was 18 months old, his parents fled to France.

His far, an army commander, had been tried after a devastating military defeat by Turks.

After British intervention, Greek junta agreed t to sentence Andrew to death if he left country.

Marie Bonaparte, a family's relative, helped family financially once y made it to France, Koutsavlis said.

Princess Marie is also buried in Tatoi.

Philip's parents drifted apart when he was a child, Alice was diagsed with paraid schizophrenia and spent time in a sanitarium after suffering a nervous breakdown.

"Prince Andrew distanced himself very much from family. He lived his own personal life after dramatic events concerning Princess Alice, his wife, and her treatment in various psychiatric institutions. He was t close to family," Koutsavlis said.

Prince Andrew died in Monte Carlo in 1944.

Princess Alice eventually returned to Greece, founded a religious order and mand to devote much of her life to aiding poor, sick and needy.

During World War II in Nazi-occupied Ans, Alice saved a Jewish family by hiding m in her home.

She gave her villa in Ans suburb of Neo Iraklio to Red Cross, which created one of country's first elderly care centers.

Villa Alice is still in use.

Eventually, Prince Philip would bring his mor, whom Koutsavlis said prince "adored," to Buckingham Palace.

Philip, who has been married to Queen Elizabeth II for more than seven decades, died on Friday. He was 99.