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Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes; later Queen Mary; 26 May 1867 - 24 March 1953) was the Queen Consort of George V of the United Kingdom. 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 known as "May". 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.
Early life Princess Victoria Mary 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). Through the House of Württemberg, Mary was distantly descended from the Habsburgs, the once powerful ruling family of Austrian Empire. Her mother was Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, the third child and the younger daughter of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge and the 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, Edward VII (then Prince of Wales), the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and the Duchess of Cambridge. Although her mother was a grandchild of King George III of the United Kingdom, Princess Mary 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. The Duchess of Teck was however granted a Parliamentary Annuity of £4000 plus £4000 from her mother, the Duchess of Cambridge. Despite this, the family was deep in debt and had to flee abroad to avoid their creditors in 1883. The Tecks travelled throughout Europe, visiting their various relatives and staying in Florence, Italy, for a time. There Princess Mary 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. Princess Mary was close to her mother and acted as an unofficial secretary, helping to organise parties and social events. Mary was also close to her aunt, the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (née Princess Augusta of Cambridge). Mary wrote to her aunt every week without fail. During World War I, the Swiss Embassy helped pass letters from Mary to her aunt, who lived in Germany. Engagement and marriage In 1891, Princess Mary was engaged to Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence, the eldest son of Prince Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. Princess Mary was chosen as a bride for Albert Victor, due mainly to Queen Victoria's fondness of her, as well as her strong character and sense of duty. Albert Victor was Princess Mary's second cousin once removed; Mary was the daughter of Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, whose father, Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, was a brother of Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent, the father of Queen Victoria, who was Albert Victor's paternal grandmother. However, Prince Albert Victor died, perhaps of pneumonia, six weeks later. Despite this setback, Queen Victoria still favoured Princess Mary as a suitable candidate to marry a future King, so she persuaded Albert Victor's brother, Prince George, Duke of York, to propose to Mary. George duly proposed and Mary accepted. Despite its being an arranged marriage, Mary and George soon were deeply in love. George is believed to have never taken a mistress (a level of fidelity unusual at the time), and he wrote to Mary virtually every day. Their marriage took place on 6 July 1893, at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace, in London. The couple had six children in total, listed below. Duchess of York After her marriage, Princess Mary was now 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. The Duchess of York 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 to be 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. History remembers Mary as an inattentive mother. She failed to notice the neglect of a nanny of the young Princes Edward and Albert, and her youngest son Prince John was kept away on the Sandringham Estate so the public would not see his epilepsy. However, Mary was a caring mother in many respects and taught her children history and music. Edward, in his memoirs, wrote of the fondness and kindness of Mary as a mother, although views expressed in private letters to his wife were less charitable. As Duke and Duchess of York, George and Mary carried out a variety of public duties. In 1900, they toured the British Empire. Visiting Australia, the Duke and Duchess opened the first session of the Australian Parliament, when the Commonwealth of Australia was created. Princess of Wales On 22 January 1901, Queen Victoria died, and the Duchess of York's father-in-law, Albert Edward, ascended the throne as King Edward VII. For the rest of that year, May was styled Duchess of Cornwall and York until 9 November 1901, when George was created Prince of Wales, and she was then styled Princess of Wales. King Edward VII wished his son to be more prepared for the role of King, given Queen Victoria's exclusion of Edward from state affairs. However, the Prince of Wales was not of the highest intellect, and Mary was required to help him read and understand the state papers sent by the King. Queen Mary On 6 May 1910, King Edward VII died, and the Prince of Wales ascended the throne. Thus, Mary became Queen consort of the United Kingdom. George and Mary's coronation at Westminster Abbey took place on 22 June 1911. They later travelled to India for the Delhi Durbar on 11 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 Queen 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. Queen Mary's staunch support of her husband become 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. In 1935, George V and Queen Mary celebrated their silver jubilee, with celebrations taking place throughout the British Empire. However, George was now very ill, leaving Mary to nurse the ailing king. Dowager Queen King George V died on 20 January 1936, his death supposedly hastened by an injection of morphine and cocaine given by his physician, the future Baron Dawson of Penn. Mary's son Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, ascended the throne as King Edward VIII. Although loyal and supportive to her son, she could not understand why Edward would neglect his position in order to marry Wallis Simpson. Mary refused to meet or acknowledge Wallis either in public or private. 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; her censure of 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. 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 with her niece, Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort, the daughter of her brother Adolphus, at Badminton House. She and her fifty-five servants and her personal belongings (which required seventy pieces of luggage to transport from London) occupied all of the house for the next seven years (except the Duke and Duchess's private suites) and the only people to complain about the arrangements were the royal servants, who found the house too small. 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.) 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 part with it. If the object failed to materialize as a gift, she would later send an attendant to collect the item for her. While these stories may not be entirely apocryphal, the circumstances in which they occurred may make these transactions understandable and defensible. For example, the Royal Family is said to have loaned out many such objects to British friends over previous generations which had not yet been returned. The Queen's extensive knowledge of the treasures belonging to the Royal Collection helped in identifying artifacts and artwork that had gone astray over the years. Records show that Queen Mary generously paid above-market estimates when purchasing jewels from the estate of Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna , and paid almost three times the estimate when reclaiming the family's Cambridge Emeralds from Lady Kilmurry, mistress of her late brother Prince Francis. In 1952, Mary's son George VI died, and her granddaughter, Princess Elizabeth, ascended the throne. Since her daughter-in-law Queen Elizabeth was now "Queen Mother", Mary became the Dowager Queen Mother, though she still did not use that in her shorthand title. Mary died the next year of lung cancer (publicly referred to as "gastric problems") 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". 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". He turned around, bowed and backed out of the room. Her dying wish was that the coronation not be postponed. Her remains lay in state at Westminster Hall, where crowds of mourners filed past her coffin. She is buried at St. George's Chapel, Windsor. Legacy The ocean liners RMS Queen Mary and Queen Mary 2 were named in her honour (though in all technicality, the RMS Queen Mary 2 was named after the original Queen Mary ocean liner and is only indirectly named after Mary of Teck). Also the Royal Navy Battlecruiser HMS Queen Mary, which was blown up by fire from German Battleships 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's Dolls House was created for her in 1926 by Sir Edwin Lutyens. On screen, Queen Mary has been portrayed by a multitude of distinguished British actresses, including Peggy Ashcroft, Eileen Atkins, and Miranda Richardson. Queen Mary's Peak, the highest mountain in Tristan da Cunha; and Queen Mary Land in Antarctica are named after Queen Mary. 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. Titles from birth to death Honorary military appointments See also |- | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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