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Princess Alexandra, Lady Ogilvy

Born Belgrave Square, 25 Dec 1936

6 facts1 source

Living person. The family sees only the name, dates and photo; everything else stays private unless they choose to share it.

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 25 Dec 1936

    Born in Belgrave Square

  2. 1964–1966

    2 children are born

Family

See the tree

Parents

Partner

Children · 2

During her lifetime

She has lived through 10 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Belgrave Square.

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1930s · Princess is born in Belgrave Square

In the news1919–1939

Council Housing Construction Began in 1919

Following the 1919 Housing Act, local authorities began building council houses to replace slums, with over 1 million built by 1939.

Getting around

Train travel speeds increased significantly

The Coronation Scot express service between London and Glasgow covered 401 miles in 6.5 hours, an improvement from the previous 8.25-hour duration.

What it cost

Cost of bread and bacon in 1938

In 1938, bread typically cost about 8.5 pence for a 4-pound loaf, while bacon cost roughly 1 shilling 3.5 pence per pound.

The Great Depression. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 set off a world depression: banks failed, work vanished and coffee prices collapsed in Brazil.Around the world · 1929–1939

The Great Depression. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 set off a world depression: banks failed, work vanished and coffee prices collapsed in Brazil.

Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided · public domain

What people wore

Wartime siren suits for air raids

The siren suit was an all-enveloping, zip-up boiler suit that people wore over pajamas for quick dashes to air raid shelters during the war.

Music

Community singing at FA Cup matches

At FA Cup football matches, thousands of fans participated in formal community singing of popular songs and the hymn Abide with me, beginning in 1927. The stadium atmosphere during the hymn was described as having a moving intensity comparable to the silence at the Cenotaph on Armistice Day.

Daily life

Schooling and Classroom Life

Schools often lacked lunches, so children in winter brought a potato marked with their initials to be baked in the school coal-oven. Pupils were taught using rote learning, and in smaller schools, might start by writing in trays of sand before using chalkboards or expensive pencils.