On December 14, 1878, Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse, died. Diphtheria claimed the life of Queen Victoria's second daughter and third child. The disease swept the grand ducal household in early November and her eldest daughter, Victoria (later Marchioness of Milford Haven) was the first to contract the illness (November 5). One by one, her other children contracted the disease: Alix (future Czarina of Russia), Marie, Irene (later, Princess Henry of Prussia), and Ernest (future Grand Duke of Hesse). Only Elisabeth (later, Grand Duchess Serge of Russia) did not suffer the disease. She was sent away by Alice to the palace of Princess Charles, her mother-in-law. Alice's husband, Grand Duke Louis also fell ill shortly thereafter.
The young Princess Marie's condition worsened and she died on November 15. Alice kept the news from her children, and when she revealed Marie's death, the young Ernest was inconsolable that Alice kissed her son, breaking her own rule of not having physical contact with someone with diphtheria. Alas, on December 14, she fell ill and death came quickly. Her last words were "dear Papa". She fell unconscious at 2:30 am and died just after 8:30 am, on the same day her father succumbed to typhoid in 1861.
The death of Princess Alice shocked Queen Victoria. The coincidence of Alice and Albert's death was described by the mourning queen as one that was "almost incredible and most mysterious".
In a letter to her eldest child, Victoria, Princess Royal, the queen wrote: "
"My precious child, who stood by me and upheld me seventeen years ago on the same day taken, and by such an awful and fearful disease...She had darling Papa's nature, and much of his self-sacrificing character and fearless and entire devotion to duty!"
Albert, Prince of Wales, who was attached to her younger sister, took Alice's death as a heavy blow. Writing to Earl Granville, he said that Alice "was my favourite sister. So good, so kind, so clever! We had gone through so much together..." Alexandra, the Princess of Wales, also sank deep in grief over her sister-in-law's passing, telling Queen Victoria, upon meeting her after Alice's death: "I wish I had died instead of her".
The death of Princess Alice was a popular cause for sadness in Great Britain and in Hesse. She was praised for her humility and work for the poor. The Times wrote: "The humblest of people felt that they had the kinship of nature with a Princess who was the model of family virtue as a daughter, a sister, a wife and a mother..."
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