Mary of Teck

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Mary of Teck
Queen Consort of the British Empire (more...)
Photographic Portrait by Lafayette of Bond Street
Consort	6 May 1910 – 20 January 1936
Coronation	22 June 1911
Consort to	George V
Issue
Edward VIII George VI Mary, Princess Royal Henry, Duke of Gloucester George, Duke of Kent Prince John
Full name
Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes
Detail Titles
HM Queen Mary HM The Queen HRH The Princess of Wales HRH The Duchess of Cornwall and York HRH The Duchess of York HSH Princess Victoria Mary of Teck
Royal house	House of Windsor House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha House of Württemberg
Father	Prince Francis of Teck
Mother	Princess Mary Adelaide, Princess of Teck
Born	26 May 1867 Kensington Palace, London
Baptised	27 July 1867 Kensington Palace, London
Died	24 March 1953 Marlborough House, London
Burial	31 March 1953 St George's Chapel, Windsor

Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes; 26 May 1867 – 24 March 1953) was the Queen Consort of George V. Queen Mary was also the Empress of India and Queen of Ireland. Before her accession, she was also Princess of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall and Duchess of York. In her own right she held the title of a Princess of Teck in the Kingdom of Württemberg with the style Her Serene Highness. To her family, she was informally known as May, after her birth month.

During her time, Queen Mary was known for setting the tone of the British Royal Family, as the model of regal formality and propriety, especially during state occasions. She was the first Queen Consort to attend the coronation of her successors. Known for superbly bejewelling herself for formal events, Queen Mary left a collection of jewels now considered priceless.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Engagements and marriage 3 Duchess of York 4 Princess of Wales 5 Queen consort 6 Dowager Queen 7 Legacy 8 Titles, styles, honours and arms 8.1 Titles 8.2 Honours 8.2.1 Honorary military appointments 8.3 Arms 9 Ancestry 10 Issue 11 See also 12 Notes and sources 13 References 14 External link

[edit] Early life

Princess Victoria Mary ("May") of Teck was born on 26 May 1867, at Kensington Palace, London. Her father was Prince Francis, Duke of Teck, the son of Duke Alexander of Württemberg by his morganatic wife, Countess Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde (created Countess von Hohenstein in the Austrian Empire). Her mother was Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, the third child and the younger daughter of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge and Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel. She was baptised in the Chapel Royal of Kensington Palace on 27 July 1867 by Charles Thomas Longley, Archbishop of Canterbury, and her godparents were Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII, and May's father-in-law), the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and the Duchess of Cambridge.

Although her mother was a grandchild of George III, May was only a minor member of the British Royal Family. Her father, the Duke of Teck, was the product of morganatic marriage, had no inheritance or wealth, and carried the lower royal style of Serene Highness.^[1] The Duchess of Teck was however granted a Parliamentary Annuity of £5,000 - in addition, she received about £4,000 a year from her mother, the Duchess of Cambridge.^[2] Despite this, the family was deeply in debt and were forced to live abroad from 1883, in order to economise.^[3] The Tecks travelled throughout Europe, visiting their various relatives and staying in Florence, Italy, for a time. There, May enjoyed visiting the art galleries, churches, and museums.

In 1885, the Tecks returned to London, and were given use of White Lodge, in Richmond Park, as a residence. May was close to her mother, and acted as an unofficial secretary, helping to organise parties and social events. She was also close to her aunt, the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (née Princess Augusta of Cambridge), and wrote to her every week without fail. During World War I, the Crown Princess of Sweden even helped pass letters from May to her aunt, who lived in enemy territory in Germany, until Augusta's death in 1917.^[4]

[edit] Engagements and marriage

In December 1891, Princess Victoria Mary ("May") was engaged to her second cousin, once-removed, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence, the eldest son of the Prince of Wales.^[5] May was chosen as a bride for the Duke, due mainly to Queen Victoria's fondness of her, as well as her strong character and sense of duty. However, the Duke of Clarence died six weeks later, in the worldwide influenza pandemic which swept over Britain in the winter of 1891-2.^[6]

Despite this setback, the Queen still favoured May as a suitable candidate to marry a future King, and Albert Victor's brother, Prince George, Duke of York, now heir to the throne, evidently became close to May during their shared period of mourning.^[7] In May 1893, George duly proposed, and May accepted. Their marriage was a success, May and George were soon deeply in love. George never took a mistress (a level of fidelity unusual at the time), and he wrote to May virtually every day.

Their marriage took place on 6 July 1893, at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace, in London.

[edit] Duchess of York

After her marriage, Princess Victoria Mary was styled Her Royal Highness The Duchess of York. The Duke and Duchess of York lived in York Cottage, a small house on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. They also had apartments in St. James's Palace, London. York Cottage was a modest house for royalty, but was a favourite of George, who liked a simple life. There they were joined by their six children: Edward, Albert, Mary, Henry, George, and John.

The Duchess was devoted to her children, but put them in the care of a nanny, as was usual for upper-class families at the time. The first nanny was dismissed for insolence, and the second nanny was found to be abusing the children. The nanny would pinch Edward before he was presented to the Duke and Duchess, deliberately making him cry so that he would be returned to her speedily. She too was dismissed, to be replaced by her effective, and much-loved, assistant, Mrs. Bill.^[8]

History remembers Queen Mary as an inattentive mother. She failed to notice the neglect of a nanny of the young Princes Edward and Albert,^[9] and her youngest son Prince John was kept away on the Sandringham Estate, in the care of Mrs. Bill, so the public would not see his epilepsy. However, despite her austere public image, and her strait-laced private life, Mary was a caring mother in many respects, revealing a fun-loving and frivolous side to her children, and teaching them history and music. Edward, in his memoirs, wrote with fondness of Mary as a mother,^[10] although views expressed in private letters to his wife after his mother's death were less charitable.^[11]

As Duke and Duchess of York, George and May carried out a variety of public duties. On 22 January 1901, Queen Victoria died, and the Duchess of York's father-in-law, Albert Edward, ascended the throne as Edward VII. For most of the rest of that year, George and May were styled TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York. For eight months they toured the British Empire, visiting Gibraltar, Malta, Egypt, Ceylon, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Mauritius, South Africa and Canada. No royal had ever undertaken such an ambitious tour before. The Duchess broke down in tears at the thought of leaving her children (they were to be left in the care of their grandparents) for such a lengthy period of time.^[12] During the tour, they opened the first session of the Australian Parliament, when the Commonwealth of Australia was created.

[edit] Princess of Wales

On 9 November 1901, nine days after arriving back in Britain and on the King's sixtieth birthday, George was created Prince of Wales, and Victoria Mary was then styled Princess of Wales. They and their family moved their London residence from St James's Palace to Marlborough House. Whilst Princess of Wales, she accompanied her husband on trips to Austria-Hungary and Württemberg in 1904. The following year she gave birth to her last child, John. It was a difficult labour, and although she recovered quickly, her newborn son suffered respiratory problems.^[13]

From October 1905 the Prince and Princess of Wales undertook another eight month tour, this time of India, and the children were once again left in the care of their grandparents.^[14] They passed through Egypt both ways and on the way back stopped in Greece. The tour was almost immediately followed by a trip to Spain for the marriage of King Alfonso XIII to Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, at which the bride and groom narrowly avoided assassination.^[15] Again, only a week after returning to Britain, they went to Norway for the coronation of King Haakon VII and Queen Maud (George's sister).

[edit] Queen consort

On 6 May 1910, Edward VII died, and the Prince of Wales ascended the throne. Thus, Victoria Mary became Queen Consort of the United Kingdom. Her husband, now King George V, asked her to drop one of her two official names. So, as she thought she should not be "Victoria", she chose to be called "Mary" from then on. Queen Mary was crowned with her husband on 22 June 1911 at Westminster Abbey. They later travelled to India, for the Delhi Durbar, on 12 December 1911. The King and Queen toured the country visiting their new subjects as their Emperor and Empress.

The beginning of Mary's reign as consort saw her come into conflict with the new dowager Queen Alexandra. Although the two queens were friendly and close, Alexandra was stubborn in many ways. She demanded precedence over Mary at the funeral of Edward VII, was slow in leaving Buckingham Palace, and kept some of the royal jewels that should have been passed to the new queen.^[16]

During World War I Queen Mary instituted an austerity drive at Buckingham Palace, rationing food, and visited the many wounded, and dying, servicemen in hospitals, which she found to be a great emotional strain.^[17] After three years of war with Germany, anti-German feeling among the public in Britain was high; the Russian Imperial Family, which had been deposed by a revolutionary government, was refused asylum, possibly partly because the Tsar's wife was German-born.^[18] News of the Tsar's abdication provided a boost to those in Britain who wished to replace the monarchy with a republic.^[19] After republicans used the King and Queen's German heritage as an argument for reform, the King changed the British Royal Family's name to Windsor, and relinquished his German titles. The Queen's relatives all dropped their German titles, and adopted the English surname of Cambridge. In 1918 the war ended with the defeat of Germany and the abdication and exile of the Kaiser.

Teck-Cambridge Family

Francis, Duke of Teck Children    Mary of Teck    Adolphus, Marquess of Cambridge    Prince Francis of Teck    Alexander, Earl of Athlone Adolphus, Marquess of Cambridge Children    George, Marquess of Cambridge    Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort    Lady Helena Gibbs    Lord Frederick Cambridge Grandchildren    Lady Mary Whitley Alexander, Earl of Athlone Children    Lady May Abel Smith    Rupert Cambridge, Viscount Trematon    Maurice of Teck

Two months after the end of the war, Queen Mary's youngest son, "our poor darling little Johnnie", died aged just thirteen. She described her shock and sorrow in her diary, extracts of which were published after her death.^[20]

Queen Mary's staunch support of her husband became stronger during his reign. She advised him on speeches, and used her extensive knowledge of history and royalty to advise him on matters of state. He appreciated her discretion, intelligence and judgement.^[21] She retained an imperturbable self-assuredness throughout all her public engagements in the years after the war, despite civil unrest over social conditions, Irish independence and Indian nationalism.^[22]

However, in the late 1920s George became increasingly ill, leaving Mary to care for him. During his illness of 1928, one of his doctors, Sir Farquhar Buzzard, was asked who had saved the King's life, he replied, "The Queen".^[23] In 1935, George V and Queen Mary celebrated their Silver Jubilee, with celebrations taking place throughout the British Empire. In his jubilee speech, George paid public tribute to his wife, telling his speech-writer, "Put that paragraph at the very end. I cannot trust myself to speak of the Queen when I think of all I owe her."^[24]

[edit] Dowager Queen

The King died on 20 January 1936, after his physician, the future Baron Dawson of Penn, gave him an injection of morphine and cocaine which may have hastened his death.^[25] Mary's eldest son, Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, ascended the throne as Edward VIII. Although loyal and supportive of her son, she could not understand why Edward would neglect his position in order to marry Wallis Simpson. Although Mary had met Wallis at court,^[26] she later refused to meet her, either in public or privately.^[27] When Edward decided to abdicate, Mary provided moral support for the shy and stammering Prince Albert, Duke of York, now expected to ascend the throne in Edward's place. With Albert on the throne as George VI, Mary provided support to the new King and Queen, even attending their coronation, the first dowager queen to do so.^[28] As their "Gangan", Queen Mary took a strong hand in the upbringing of her granddaughters, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose, whose parents thought it unnecessary for them to be taxed with any demanding educational regime, taking them on various excursions about London, to art galleries and museums, ensuring that such excursions be on the Tube, with ordinary people, and strongly chastising the princesses for any inclination to prima donna-ish attitudes towards the photographers who clustered about.^{[citation needed]} Her censure towards Edward for what she considered his dereliction of duty was absolute, and she never wavered in her disapproval of what she perceived as his disservice to the Crown.^[29]

She was now Queen Mother (see English Queen Mothers), though she did not use that title in shorthand, instead being known as Her Majesty Queen Mary.

During World War II, George VI wished his mother to be evacuated from London, and although she was reluctant, she decided to live at Badminton House with her niece, Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort, the daughter of her brother Adolphus, Lord Cambridge.^[30] She, her fifty-five servants, and her personal belongings, which required seventy pieces of luggage to transport from London, occupied all of the house, except for the Duke and Duchess's private suites for the next seven years. The only people to complain about the arrangements were the royal servants, who found the house too small.^[31] It was here that Queen Mary supported the war effort by visiting troops and factories, and helping to gather scrap materials. She was known to offer lifts to soldiers she spotted on the roads, and caused her niece some annoyance by having the ancient ivy torn from the walls of Badminton House - the queen considered it a hazard, as well as unattractive.^[32] The queen finally returned to Marlborough House in June 1945.

Queen Mary has sometimes been criticised for her aggressive acquisition of objets d'art for the Royal Collections. On several occasions, Queen Mary would express to hosts, or others, that she admired something they had in their possession, in the expectation that the owner would be willing to donate it.^[33]

The Queen's extensive knowledge of, and research into, the treasures belonging to the Royal Collection also helped in identifying artifacts and artwork that had gone astray over the years.^[34] For example, the Royal Family loaned out many such objects, to British friends over previous generations, which had not yet been returned. Once she had identified missing items through the old inventories, she would write to the holders requesting their return.^[35] She was an eager collector of objects and pictures with a Royal connection^[36] - she generously paid above-market estimates when purchasing jewels from the estate of Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna,^[37] and paid almost three times the estimate when buying the family's Cambridge Emeralds from Lady Kilmurry, mistress of her late brother Prince Francis.^[38]

In 1952, Mary's son, George VI died, and her granddaughter, Princess Elizabeth, ascended the throne. Mary died the next year of lung cancer (referred to publicly as "gastric problems"^[39]) at the age of 85, without seeing Elizabeth II's coronation. Upon her deathbed, Mary called her Lady in Waiting towards her and said, "There is only one thing I have never done and wish I had and that is to climb over a fence"^{[citation needed]}.

When visited by a doctor, she showed her truly regal expectations. When he had finished, he went to walk out of the room. In a warning voice she called, "I'm not dead yet"^{[citation needed]}. He turned around, bowed and backed out of the room.

She let it be known that, in the event of her death, the coronation was not to be postponed. Her remains lay in state at Westminster Hall, where crowds of mourners filed past her coffin. She is buried in the nave of St. George's Chapel, Windsor, beside her husband.

[edit] Legacy

The ocean liners RMS Queen Mary and Queen Mary 2 were named in her honour (though, in all technicality, the QMII was named after the original ocean liner, and is only indirectly named after the Queen). Also, the Royal Navy Battlecruiser, HMS Queen Mary, which was blown up by fire from the German Battlecruiser SMS Seydlitz, at the Battle of Jutland, in 1916, was named in her honour.

Both Queen Mary College, University of London and Queen Mary College in Lahore, Pakistan, are named after Queen Mary. Queen Mary's School in New Delhi, India, was established, in 1912, after her India visit. It is the oldest residential girls' school in Delhi. Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, opened in 1937, now the second tallest hospital building in the world and tallest in Asia. Also one of the hospitals in Hong Kong that treated SARS patients in the 2003 outbreak.

Queen Mary's Dolls' House was created for her, in 1926, by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

Queen Mary's Clothing Guild, initially established as The London Guild in 1882, and renamed several times, was a charity Queen Mary was involved with throughout her life.

Queen Mary's Peak, the highest mountain in Tristan da Cunha; and Queen Mary Land in Antarctica are named after Queen Mary.

Queen Mary has been portrayed by a multitude of distinguished British actresses on stage and screen, including Wendy Hiller, Peggy Ashcroft, Eileen Atkins, and Miranda Richardson.

[edit] Titles, styles, honours and arms

[edit] Titles

• 26 May 1867-6 July 1893: Her Serene Highness Princess Victoria Mary of Teck
• 6 July 1893-22 January 1901: Her Royal Highness The Duchess of York
• 22 January 1901-9 November 1901: Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall and York
• 9 November 1901-6 May 1910: Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales
  • in Scotland: 22 January 1901-6 May 1910: Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Rothesay
• 6 May 1910-20 January 1936: Her Majesty The Queen
• 20 January 1936-24 March 1953: Her Majesty Queen Mary

[edit] Honours

[edit] Honorary military appointments

• Chief, Husaren-Regiment Fürst Blücher von Wahlstatt
• -1922: Colonel-in-Chief, the 18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own)
• -1922: Colonel-in-Chief, the Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars
• Colonel-in-Chief, the 13/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own)
• -1939: Colonel-in-Chief, the 100th (Worcestershire and Oxfordshire Yeomanry) Brigade, RFA (TA)
• President, Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps
• Colonel-in-Chief, The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada
• Colonel-in-Chief, the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey)
• -1942: Colonel-in-Chief, the 63rd (Worcestershire and Oxfordshire Yeomanry) Anti-Tank Regiment, RA (TA)
• -1950: Colonel-in-Chief, the 387th Field Regiment (Queen's Own Oxford Hussars) (TA)
• Colonel-in-Chief, Royal Army Medical Corps
• Colonel-in-Chief, Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps
• Colonel-in-Chief, the 299th (Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry and Queen's Own Oxford Hussars) Field Regiment, RA (TA)

[edit] Arms

The Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom are impaled with her family arms - 1st and 4th quarters, the arms of her grandfather, HRH Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge; 2nd and 3rd quarters, the arms of her father, HH The Duke of Teck.

[edit] Ancestry

Mary of Teck's ancestors in three generations

Mary of Teck	Father: Francis, Duke of Teck	Paternal Grandfather: Duke Alexander of Württemberg	Paternal Great-grandfather: Duke Louis of Württemberg
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg
		Paternal Grandmother: Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde	Paternal Great-grandfather: Count Rhédy von Kis-Rhéde
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Baroness Ágnes Inczédy von Nagy-Várad
	Mother: Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge	Maternal Grandfather: Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge	Maternal Great-grandfather: George III of the United Kingdom
			Maternal Great-grandmother: Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
		Maternal Grandmother: Princess Augusta, Duchess of Cambridge	Maternal Great-grandfather: Prince Frederick of Hesse
			Maternal Great-grandmother: Princess Caroline Polyxene of Nassau-Usingen

[edit] Issue

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
Edward VIII	23 June 1894	28 May 1972	later Duke of Windsor; married, 1937, Wallis Simpson; no issue.
George VI	14 December 1895	6 February 1952	married, 1923, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon; had issue, including Elizabeth II
Mary, Princess Royal	25 April 1897	28 March 1965	married, 1922, Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood; had issue.
Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester	31 March 1900	10 June 1974	married, 1935, Lady Alice Montagu-Douglas-Scott; had issue.
Prince George, Duke of Kent	20 December 1902	25 August 1942	married, 1934, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark; had issue.
Prince John	12 July 1905	18 January 1919	Suffered from epilepsy

[edit] See also

• Crown of Queen Mary

[edit] Notes and sources

[edit] References

• Edwards, Anne. Matriarch: Queen Mary and the House of Windsor. Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 0340244658. 
• Pope-Hennessy, James, Queen Mary (George Allen and Unwin Ltd., London, 1959)
• HRH The Duke of Windsor, A King's Story (Cassell and Co., London, 1951)

[edit] External link

• The Royalist: How Queen Elizabeth II Fulfilled The Dying Wish of Grandmama

Preceded by Alexandra of Denmark	Royal Consort of the United Kingdom (Queen consort) 1910-1936	Succeeded by Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
	Empress of India 1910-1936
Preceded by The Prince of Wales	Grand Master of the Order of the British Empire 1936-1953	Succeeded by The Duke of Edinburgh