This is a claim made by royal biographer Tom Quinn in his book Yes Ma’am, in which he reveals Alice was a smoker, which led to accidental fires in her apartment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Agnes Cooke, who worked in the royal kitchen for a number of years, told Quinn: \u201cWell, there was a lady in waiting who was very friendly with Philip\u2019s mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, when Alice was living at Buckingham Palace, and they used to smoke cigarettes together in Alice\u2019s apartment \u2013 so much so that they regularly set fire to it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201dAnd despite being very grand indeed \u2013 a member of one of Britain\u2019s oldest and most aristocratic families \u2013 this particular lady in waiting used to wander about with a cigarette stuck behind her ear, like a coal miner or a carpenter.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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It is believed that these accidental fires never led to any serious incidents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Alice lived at Buckingham Palace in London until she died in December 1969, aged 84.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n