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| From Alice to Superdrug |
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| One of the earliest surviving photos, in first decade of 20th century |
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| Undated, but first decade of 20th century |
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| 1907 |
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| Advert - 1907 |
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| Above and below, two inter-war photos of the pub |
The major event in the pub's 140 year history was the bombing it suffered on 19 April 1941. As the photo below indicates it was totally destroyed.
Surprisingly, only one man, out walking his dog, was killed by the blast.
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| Princess Alice as a bomb site, after April 1941 |
The Alice was rebuilt after World War 11, with some vaguely Art Deco features, and an overall appearance not dissimilar to that of the bow of an ocean-going liner - perhaps a mistaken reference to the ill-fated Princess Alice pleasure boat, referred to above.
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| Vaguely art deco, with ship's bow references in post-war design |
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| In its most recent former glory - before closure as a pub |
It finally gave up the catering ghost, at least on the ground floor, when its latest transformation saw it established as a Superdrug store. Banqueting has been banished to the upstairs.
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| One of its recent manifestations, as a ground floor buffet restaurants |
Not forgotten?
Well Princess Alice remains the official name of the bus stop outside the premises, and it doesn't seem to be a changing to "Superdrug, Forest Gate" any time soon.
Should it do so, it would be interesting to see whether it began to carry a rather different selection of curious passengers.
Who was the Princess Alice after whom it was named?
There have been a number of Princess Alices attached to the British royal family, over the centuries. The one whom the pub was named after, however, was Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (1843 - 1878), the third child and second daughter of Queen Victoria. She was the first of Victoria's children to have died.
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| Princess Alice in 1861 - seven years before achieving fame in Forest Gate |
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| Alice in 1875 - eight years after the opening of the eponymous pub |
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| With her husband and children at about pub opening time - 1867 |