Member of the British royal family (1901?2004)
Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester
(born
Lady Alice Christabel Montagu Douglas Scott
; 25 December 1901 ? 29 October 2004) was a member of the
British royal family
. She was the wife of
Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester
, the third son of
King George V
and
Queen Mary
. She was the mother of
Prince William of Gloucester
and
Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester
.
The daughter of the
7th Duke of Buccleuch
, Scotland's largest landowner, she became by marriage a princess of the United Kingdom, and a sister-in-law to
Edward VIII
and
George VI
. She was thus an aunt by marriage to
Elizabeth II
. Princess Alice was extremely well travelled, both before and after her marriage. At the time of her death at age 102, she was the
longest-lived member
of the British royal family.
Early life
[
edit
]
Alice Christabel Montagu Douglass Scott was born in
Montagu House, Whitehall
,
London
, on
Christmas Day
1901 as the third daughter and fifth child of
John Montagu Douglas Scott, Earl of Dalkeith (later Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry)
, and his wife, the former Lady Margaret Alice "Molly" Bridgeman, daughter of the
4th Earl of Bradford
.
[1]
Her brothers
Walter
and
William
and her nephew
John
were all
Conservative
MPs. Her first cousin,
Marian Louisa, Lady Elmhirst
, was the paternal grandmother of
Sarah, Duchess of York
, former wife of Alice's great-nephew,
Prince Andrew, Duke of York
.
Alice was a descendant, in an unbroken male line, of
Charles II
through his eldest but illegitimate son,
James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth
, himself a major political figure during the years leading up to the
Glorious Revolution
. As she was born on Christmas Day, she was given the middle name of Christabel.
[2]
Alice spent much of her childhood travelling "between splendid houses":
[3]
Boughton House
in
Northamptonshire
,
Drumlanrig Castle
in
Dumfries and Galloway
, and
Bowhill in the Scottish Borders
.
[2]
Eildon Hall
, in
Melrose, Scottish Borders
, was more or less home base.
[4]
[5]
An experience of nearly drowning at the age of 14 awoke Alice to a keen sense of making the most of every day.
[2]
Caught in a current in the
Solway Firth
, she was convinced that she was going to die and she prayed to God, begging for a miracle to save her life in exchange for her devoting herself to public service:
The next instant my feet touched rocks. I was able to stand up and get my breath back. I had been carried quite a way down the coast?some houses had come and gone on my left?but the rocks proved to be a reef and I was able to scramble through them back to shallow water without further mishap.... In return for my life I had promised to dedicate it to some useful purpose; but there never seemed to be anything that required my help or that I was any use at. So when, through a series of unforeseen circumstances, I one day found myself allotted a life of public duty in the service of my country, a very secret pledge was honoured.
[2]
[5]
Alice attended the independent
St James's School for Girls
, in
West Malvern
,
Worcestershire
, and later travelled to
France
,
Kenya
and
India
.
[2]
After school in West Malvern, she spent a year in Paris "before returning home to be presented at Court in 1920".
[6]
Alice enjoyed skiing, horse-riding and hunting and was also an accomplished watercolourist.
[7]
[8]
[5]
A painting by her, done near
Archers Post
in Kenya, is today part of the
Royal Collection
.
[9]
In Kenya, where she stayed for over a year, from about 1929?1931, she stayed in the area typical of the so-called
Happy Valley set
and encountered many of the personalities of said clique, including
Evelyn Waugh
.
[2]
[3]
Marriage
[
edit
]
Bernard Tussaud finishes the wax figure of Lady Alice Montagu Douglas Scott and the Duke of Gloucester, 16 October 1935
In 1935, Alice returned to the United Kingdom when she learned that her father's health had been deteriorating.
[5]
In August 1935, Lady Alice became engaged to
Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester
.
[10]
They were married in a private ceremony, in the Private Chapel,
Buckingham Palace
, on 6 November of that year.
[10]
A much more elaborate wedding was originally planned for
Westminster Abbey
; but after the Duke of Buccleuch died of cancer on 19 October 1935, and in consideration of the King's own failing health, it was decided that the wedding should be scaled down to a more private setting.
[10]
Although the day was cold and wet, a crowd estimated to be over one million people lined the streets from the Palace to the railway station to see the couple off on their honeymoon. She was often referred to as the "Winter Princess" from then on.
[4]
Life in the royal family
[
edit
]
The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester with their two sons William (standing) and Richard in Canberra
Initially the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester lived at the
Royal Pavilion
in
Aldershot
, where the Duke was taking the Army staff course.
[11]
The Duke of Gloucester left the army to take on more public duties following the abdication of
Edward VIII
in December 1936.
The couple received a
grace and favour
residence at
York House, St James's Palace
,
[6]
London, and, in 1938, they purchased
Barnwell Manor
in Northamptonshire.
[11]
The Duchess suffered two miscarriages,
[5]
before giving birth to two sons:
[11]
The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester travelled extensively, undertaking various engagements. The public appearances of the Duchess included launching
HMS
Gloucester
on 19 October 1937.
[12]
During
World War II
, the Duchess worked with the
Red Cross
and the
Order of St John
.
[13]
[14]
She became head of the
Women's Auxiliary Air Force
(WAAF) in 1939 as Senior Controller, changed to Air Commandant on 12 March 1940,
[15]
and appointed Air Chief Commandant on 4 March 1943, when she took over as director until August 1944. When the WAAF became the Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) in 1949, she was appointed an Air Chief Commandant (equivalent to Air vice-marshal) in the new service on 1 February 1949.
[16]
She was promoted to
Air marshal
on 1 September 1968,
[17]
and to
air chief marshal
in the
Royal Air Force
on 23 February 1990.
[18]
She also served as deputy to
Queen Elizabeth
, the consort of
George VI
, as Commandant-in-Chief of the Nursing Corps.
[14]
The Duchess of Gloucester in her WAAF uniform, with Air Marshal
W. Sholto Douglas
From 1945 to 1947, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester lived in
Canberra
, where the Duke was serving as
Governor-General of Australia
.
[14]
[19]
The Duchess of Gloucester served as
Colonel-in-Chief
or deputy Colonel-in-Chief of a dozen regiments in the
British Army
, including the
King's Own Scottish Borderers
, the
Northamptonshire Regiment
, the
2nd East Anglian Regiment
(Duchess of Gloucester's Own Royal Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire),
the Royal Anglian Regiment
, the
Royal Hussars
, and the
Royal Irish Rangers
(27th Inniskilling); also, the
Royal Corps of Transport
.
[20]
She was Patron of the
Girls' Day School Trust
and from 1940 until her death Patron of
Queen Margaret College
in
Edinburgh
.
[14]
In 1965, while returning from
Winston Churchill's funeral
in their vehicle, the Duke suffered a stroke which resulted in a car crash, with the Duke being thrown out of the car and the Duchess "suffering facial injuries".
[3]
[5]
On the occasion she wrote "I was sitting beside him to grab the wheel or put my foot on the brake if he fell asleep and lost control, but on that occasion I must have dozed off myself. Apparently the Rolls swerved off the road (and) ended upside down in a field of cabbages. Prince Henry had luckily been thrown through the open door...into (stinging) nettles and brambles".
[2]
In 1972, the Duchess's elder son,
Prince William
, was killed in a plane crash while participating in an amateur air show race.
[21]
Her husband was in such poor health at the time of their son's death that the Duchess hesitated whether to tell him, later admitting in her memoirs that she did not but that he may have learned of William's death from television coverage.
[2]
The Duke of Gloucester died on 10 June 1974 at the age of 74.
[22]
Later life
[
edit
]
In 1975, Princess Alice was the first woman to be appointed a
Dame Grand Cross
of the
Order of the Bath
.
[23]
In 1981, she first published her memoirs under the title
The Memoirs of Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester.
In 1991, she released a revised edition as
Memories of Ninety Years
.
In 1994, after the Gloucesters had to give up
Barnwell Manor
for financial reasons, Alice moved from Barnwell to
Kensington Palace
, where she lived with the current Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.
[24]
She officially retired from public duties at the age of 98.
[8]
In 1999, the Duke issued a press release announcing that due to physical frailty, his mother would no longer carry out public engagements outside the environs of Kensington Palace. In July 2000, the Duke said in another statement that his mother had become "increasingly forgetful."
[24]
In December 2001, the royal family held a ceremony to acknowledge Princess Alice's 100th birthday.
[25]
This was Princess Alice's last public appearance (as well as the last public appearance of
Princess Margaret
, the Queen's younger sister, who died on 9 February 2002).
[25]
On the death of
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
at age 101 in March 2002, Princess Alice became the oldest living member of the
British royal family
.
[26]
On 21 August 2003, Princess Alice surpassed the Queen Mother's record as the oldest person in the history of the British royal family by reaching the age of 101 years and 238 days.
[25]
[27]
On 20 September 2003, at the age of 101 years and 269 days, she was certified by
Guinness World Records
as the world's longest-lived royal of all time, surpassing
Leonilla, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn
.
[28]
Death
[
edit
]
Princess Alice died in her sleep on 29 October 2004 at
Kensington Palace
, at the age of 102 years and 309 days.
[25]
[29]
Following her death, the
Union Jack
flew at half mast at Buckingham Palace.
[24]
Her funeral was held on 5 November 2004 at
St George's Chapel, Windsor
, and she was interred next to her husband, Prince Henry, and her elder son, Prince William, in the
Royal Burial Ground
at
Frogmore
.
[13]
[30]
The funeral was attended by Elizabeth II and other members of the British royal family.
[13]
A memorial service was held at
St Clement Danes
on 2 February 2005, which was attended by her son and his family and representatives of organisations Princess Alice was involved in;
[31]
the service was co-ordinated by the Royal Air Force in respect of Princess Alice's role as Commandant-in-Chief WRAF.
Contrary to royal tradition, Alice's will was not sealed after her death. Her estate was valued at £569,849 (or £906,099 in 2023 when adjusted for inflation).
[32]
Legacy
[
edit
]
Hugo Vickers
called Princess Alice "a very private person who was not widely known to the general public" despite being the third-
highest-ranking
lady in the royal family at the time of her marriage.
It was well known she disliked large parties.
Peter Townsend
said of her: "She possessed classic, serene good looks and sincerity shone from her mild face. But she was painfully shy, so that conversation with her was sometimes halting and unrewarding, for you felt that she had so much more to say, but could not bring herself to say it."
[33]
Alice herself wrote in her autobiography: "I was very shy and rather plump, ... I made a miserable debut at a dance at Windsor for
Princess Mary
's birthday, uncomfortably squeezed into a white satin frock."
[5]
Although generally a woman of few and soft-spoken words, Princess Alice was known for her dry humour.
[3]
Soon after her marriage, when the couple moved to
York House
, they were warned that the drawing-room floor would not stand the weight of more than twenty people. "So we made a party list", recalled the Duchess many years later, "of the twenty-one people whom we disliked most".
[34]
The Queen Mother said of Princess Alice after her son's death in an aircrash in 1972: "The tragic accident was a great shock to all the family, but I feel desperately for his dear little mother. She has the courage of a lion, and has suffered so many cruel blows in the past few years...".
[35]
Alice herself later admitted that following her son's death "I was completely stunned and have never quite been the same since."
[24]
Titles, styles, honours and arms
[
edit
]
Coat of arms of Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester
Titles and styles
[
edit
]
- 25 December 1901 ? 5 November 1935: Lady Alice Montagu Douglas Scott
- 6 November 1935 ? 10 June 1974:
Her Royal Highness
The Duchess of Gloucester
- 10 June 1974 ? 29 October 2004:
Her Royal Highness
Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester
On 10 June 1974, Prince Henry died, and was succeeded as Duke of Gloucester by their second son,
Prince Richard
(the couple's elder son, Prince William, had been killed in an aeroplane crash in 1972). As a widow, she requested permission from her niece, the Queen, to use the title and style
HRH
Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, instead of adopting
HRH
The Dowager Duchess of Gloucester. The Queen allowed her aunt to adopt this title, in part to avoid confusion with her daughter-in-law, the new
Duchess of Gloucester
(formerly Birgitte van Deurs Henriksen).
[11]
Honours
[
edit
]
British honours
[
edit
]
Military appointments
[
edit
]
- UK
- Colonel-in-Chief
, the
King's Own Scottish Borderers
[20]
[42]
- Colonel-in-Chief, the
Northamptonshire Regiment
[20]
[42]
- Colonel-in-Chief, the
2nd East Anglian Regiment
(Duchess of Gloucester's Own Royal Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire)
[20]
- Colonel-in-Chief, the
Royal Hussars
(until 1992)
[20]
- Colonel-in-Chief, the
Royal Irish Rangers
(27th Inniskilling) (until 1989)
[20]
- Colonel-in-Chief, the
Royal Corps of Transport
[20]
- Deputy Colonel-in-Chief,
the Royal Anglian Regiment
[20]
[43]
- Deputy Colonel-in-Chief, the
King's Royal Hussars
[20]
[44]
- Deputy Commandant-in-Chief, the Nursing Corps
[14]
- Lady Sponsor,
HMS
Gloucester
[12]
- Commonwealth
Military ranks
[
edit
]
- 1939: Head and Senior Controller, the
Women's Auxiliary Air Force
(WAAF)
- 1940: Air Commandant, the Women's Auxiliary Air Force
[15]
- 1943: Air Chief Commandant, the Women's Auxiliary Air Force
- 1949?1994: Air Chief Commandant (equivalent to Air Vice-Marshal), the
Women's Royal Air Force
(WRAF)
[16]
- 1994: Air Chief Commandant, Women, Royal Air Force
[45]
- 1968: Air Marshal, the Women's Royal Air Force
[17]
- 1990: Air Chief Marshal, the
Royal Air Force
[18]
Ancestry
[
edit
]
Ancestors of Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester
|
---|
|
Publications
[
edit
]
- Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester,
The Memoirs of Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester
(London: Collins, 1983),
ISBN
0-00-216646-1
.
- Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester,
Memories of Ninety Years
(London: Collins & Brown Ltd, 1991),
ISBN
1-85585-048-6
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester ? Childhood and early life"
.
The British Monarchy
. Archived from the original on 16 February 2009
. Retrieved
18 May
2015
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link
)
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Duchess of Gloucester, Princess Alice (1983).
The Memoirs of Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester
(Hardcover ed.). London: Harper Collins.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Vickers, Hugo (November 2004).
"Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester"
.
The Independent (UK)
. Retrieved
14 December
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester"
.
Telegraph (UK)
. November 2004.
Archived
from the original on 12 January 2022
. Retrieved
14 December
2017
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Davies, Caroline (13 December 2001).
"Royal Family throws early 100th birthday party for princess who hated society life"
.
The Daily Telegraph
.
Archived
from the original on 12 January 2022
. Retrieved
30 May
2018
.
- ^
a
b
"HRH Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester"
.
The British Monarchy
. Archived from the original on 1 March 2000
. Retrieved
5 February
2018
.
{{
cite web
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: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
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)
- ^
Carrell, Severin (30 October 2004).
"Princess Alice, oldest ever royal, dies"
.
The Independent
. Retrieved
26 May
2018
.
- ^
a
b
"Obituary: Princess Alice"
. BBC. 30 October 2004
. Retrieved
26 April
2018
.
- ^
"Near Archer's Post- North Kenya"
.
Royal Collection Trust
. Retrieved
14 December
2017
.
- ^
a
b
c
HRH Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, Memories of Ninety Years, London: Collins & Brown Ltd., 1991, p. 138.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester ? Marriage and family"
.
The British Monarchy
. Archived from the original on 16 February 2009
. Retrieved
18 May
2015
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link
)
- ^
a
b
"Duchess of Gloucester launches a cruiser"
.
www.britishpathe.com
.
British Pathe
. 21 October 1937
. Retrieved
21 December
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Final Royal farewell to princess"
. BBC. 5 November 2004
. Retrieved
18 May
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester ? Charities and patronages"
.
The British Monarchy
. Archived from the original on 16 February 2009
. Retrieved
18 May
2015
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link
)
- ^
a
b
"No. 34810"
.
The London Gazette
. 12 March 1940. p. 1472.
- ^
a
b
"No. 38684"
.
The London Gazette
(Supplement). 9 August 1949. p. 3851.
- ^
a
b
"No. 44671"
.
The London Gazette
(Supplement). 6 September 1968. p. 9773.
- ^
a
b
"No. 52060"
.
The London Gazette
. 26 February 1990. p. 2649.
- ^
"Princess Alice of Britain, 102, Aunt of Queen, Dies"
.
The New York Times
. 1 November 2004
. Retrieved
26 May
2018
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
"H.R.H. Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester"
. Regiments.org. Archived from
the original
on 16 August 2007
. Retrieved
30 May
2018
.
- ^
"1972: Prince William killed in plane crash"
. 28 August 1972
. Retrieved
28 February
2022
.
- ^
"Henry, Prince, first duke of Gloucester (1900?1974)"
.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
(online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004.
doi
:
10.1093/ref:odnb/31220
.
ISBN
978-0-19-861412-8
. Retrieved
28 February
2022
.
(Subscription or
UK public library membership
required.)
- ^
a
b
"No. 46540"
.
The London Gazette
. 11 April 1975. p. 4689.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Alderson, Andrew (31 October 2004).
"Princess Alice, the oldest ever royal, dies at 102"
.
The Daily Telegraph
.
Archived
from the original on 12 January 2022
. Retrieved
25 May
2018
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester ? Later years and death"
.
The British Monarchy
. Archived from
the original
on 28 April 2015
. Retrieved
18 May
2015
.
- ^
"Queen's tribute to Princess Alice"
.
BBC News
. 30 October 2004
. Retrieved
27 December
2011
.
- ^
"Princess Alice dies aged 102"
. BBC. 30 October 2004
. Retrieved
26 May
2018
.
- ^
"Oldest royal"
. Guinness World Records
. Retrieved
16 May
2020
.
- ^
"Oldest British royal dies at 102"
. BBC. 30 October 2004
. Retrieved
26 May
2018
.
- ^
"Arrangements for the funeral of Princess Alice"
. Royal Household. 1 November 2004
. Retrieved
18 May
2015
.
- ^
"Gloucester sisters attend Princess Alice memorial"
. Hello!. 3 February 2005
. Retrieved
18 May
2015
.
- ^
"The royal clan: who's who, what do they do and how much money do they get?"
.
The Guardian
. 7 April 2023
. Retrieved
8 April
2023
.
- ^
"A very private person"
.
spectator.co.uk
. The Spectator. 21 December 1991.
- ^
Aronson, Theo (2014).
The Royal Family at War
. London: Thistle Publishing. p. 110.
- ^
Vickers, p. 406
- ^
"No. 34356"
.
The London Gazette
. 1 January 1937. p. 2.
- ^
"No. 34406"
.
The London Gazette
(Supplement). 8 June 1937. p. 3729.
- ^
"No. 34396"
.
The London Gazette
. 11 May 1937. p. 3074.
- ^
"Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester ? Honours and appointments"
.
The British Monarchy
. Archived from the original on 16 February 2009
. Retrieved
18 May
2015
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link
)
- ^
a
b
Vickers, Hugo (1994).
Royal Orders
. Boxtree. p. 147.
ISBN
9781852835101
.
- ^
Patterson, Stephen (1996).
Royal Insignia: British and Foreign Orders of Chivalry from the Royal Collection
. London: Merrell Holberton. p. 144.
ISBN
9781858940250
. Retrieved
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2015
.
- ^
a
b
"No. 15387"
.
The Edinburgh Gazette
. 14 May 1937. p. 395.
- ^
"No. 43422"
.
The London Gazette
(Supplement). 28 August 1964. p. 7419.
- ^
"No. 52834"
.
The London Gazette
(Supplement). 13 February 1992. p. 2581.
- ^
"No. 53631"
.
The London Gazette
(Supplement). 31 March 1994. p. 5098.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Vickers, Hugo
(2006),
Elizabeth, The Queen Mother
, Arrow Books/Random House,
ISBN
978-0-09-947662-7
- Duchess of Gloucester, Princess Alice
(1983),
The Memoirs of Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester
, Collins,
ISBN
0-00-216646-1
- Aronson, Theo
(2014),
The Royal Family at War
, Thistle Publishing,
ISBN
978-1910198032
- Ronald Allison and Sarah Riddell, eds.,
The Royal Encyclopedia
(London: Macmillan, 1991),
ISBN
0-333-53810-2
.
- Marlene A. Eilers,
Queen Victoria's Descendants
(New York: Atlantic International Publishing, 1987),
ISBN
91-630-5964-9
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
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The generations include wives of princes descended from
George I
, who formalised the use of the titles
prince
and
princess
for members of the British royal family.
|
1st generation
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2nd generation
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3rd generation
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4th generation
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5th generation
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6th generation
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7th generation
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8th generation
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9th generation
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10th generation
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11th generation
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*also a
British princess
in her own right
Princesses whose titles were removed due to loss of husband's eligibility or divorce are shown in italics
.
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International
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National
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People
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Other
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