Tuesday 18 November 2008

George V of the United Kingdom and Mary of Teck

George V of the United Kingdom

George V
King of the United Kingdom and the British dominions beyond the Seas; Emperor of India(more...)
King George V
King George V
Reign 6 May 1910 – 20 January 1936
Coronation 22 June 1911
Predecessor Edward VII
Successor Edward VIII
Consort Mary of Teck
Issue
Edward VIII
George VI
Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood
Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester
Prince George, Duke of Kent
Prince John
Full name
George Frederick Ernest Albert
Titles and styles
HM The King
HRH The Prince of Wales
HRH The Duke of Cornwall and York
HRH The Duke of York
HRH Prince George of Wales
Royal house House of Windsor
House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Royal anthem God Save the King
Father Edward VII
Mother Alexandra of Denmark
Born 3 June 1865
Marlborough House, London(1865-06-03)
Baptised 7 July 1865
Windsor Castle, Windsor
Died 20 January 1936 (aged 70)
Sandringham House, Norfolk
Burial 29 January 1936
St George's Chapel, Windsor

George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was the first British monarch belonging to the House of Windsor, which he created from the British branch of the German House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. As well as being King of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth Realms, George was the Emperor of India and the first King of the Irish Free State. George reigned from 1910 through World War I (1914–1918) until his death in 1936.

From the age of twelve George served in the Royal Navy, but upon the unexpected death of his elder brother, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, he became heir to the throne and married his brother's fiancée, Mary of Teck (known as "May" to her family after her birth month). Although they occasionally toured the British Empire, George preferred to stay at home with his stamp collection and lived what later biographers would consider a dull life because of its conventionality.

George became King-Emperor in 1910 on the death of his father, King Edward VII. George was the only Emperor of India to be present at his own Delhi Durbar, where he appeared before his Indian subjects crowned with the Imperial Crown of India, created specially for the occasion. During World War I he relinquished all German titles and styles on behalf of his relatives who were British subjects; and changed the name of the royal house from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Windsor. During his reign, the Statute of Westminster separated the crown so that George ruled the dominions as separate kingdoms, preparing the way for the future development of the Commonwealth. His reign also witnessed the rise of socialism, fascism, Irish republicanism and the first Labour ministry, all of which radically changed the political spectrum.

George was plagued by illness throughout much of his later reign; he was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward, upon his death.

Contents

Early life and education

George was born on 3 June 1865, at Marlborough House, London. His father was the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. His mother was the Princess of Wales (later Queen Alexandra), the eldest daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark. As a grandson of Queen Victoria in the male line, George was styled His Royal Highness Prince George of Wales at birth.

He was baptised in the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle on 7 July 1865.[1] As a younger son of the Prince of Wales, there was no expectation that George would become King as his elder brother, Prince Albert Victor, was second in line to the throne after their father.

George as a young boy, 1870

Given that George was born only fifteen months after his brother, Prince Albert Victor, it was decided to educate both royal princes together. The Prince of Wales appointed John Neale Dalton as their tutor, although neither Albert Victor nor George excelled intellectually.[2] In September 1877 both brothers joined the training ship HMS Britannia at Dartmouth. Their father thought that the navy was "the very best possible training for any boy".[3]

For three years from 1879 the royal brothers served as midshipmen on HMS Bacchante, accompanied by Dalton. They toured the British Empire, visiting Norfolk, Virginia, the colonies in the Caribbean, South Africa and Australia, as well as the Mediterranean, South America, the Far East, and Egypt. In Japan, George had a local artist tattoo a blue and red dragon on his arm.[4] Dalton wrote an account of their journey entitled The Cruise of HMS Bacchante.[5]Flying Dutchman, a mythical ghost ship. When they returned to the UK, the brothers were separated with Albert Victor attending Trinity College, Cambridge and George continuing in the Royal Navy. He travelled the world and visited many areas of the British Empire, serving actively in the navy until his last command in 1891. From then on his naval rank was largely honorary.[6] Between Melbourne and Sydney, Dalton records a sighting of the

Marriage

As a young man destined to serve in the Navy, Prince George served for many years under the command of his uncle, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, who was stationed in Malta. There, he grew close to and fell in love with his uncle's daughter, his first cousin, Marie of Edinburgh. His grandmother, father and uncle all approved the match, but the mothers, the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Edinburgh, both opposed it. The Princess of Wales thought the family was too pro-German, and the Duchess of Edinburgh disliked England. When George proposed, Marie refused, guided by her mother. She later became Queen of Romania.[7]

British Royalty
House of Windsor
George V
Edward VIII
George VI
Mary, Princess Royal
Henry, Duke of Gloucester
George, Duke of Kent
Prince John
Grandchildren
Elizabeth II
Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
Prince William of Gloucester
Richard, Duke of Gloucester
Edward, Duke of Kent
Prince Michael of Kent
Princess Alexandra


In 1891, Albert Victor became engaged to his second cousin once removed, Princess Victoria Mary of Teck (known as "May" to her family, after her birth month), the only daughter of Prince Francis, Duke of Teck and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge. However, Albert Victor died of pneumonia six weeks later, leaving George second in line to the throne and likely to succeed after his father. This effectively ended George's naval career, as he was now expected to assume a more political role.[8]

Queen Victoria still favoured Princess May as a suitable candidate to marry a future king, so she persuaded George to propose to May. George duly proposed and May accepted. The marriage was a success and throughout their lives the couple exchanged notes of endearment and loving letters.[9]

The marriage of George and May took place on 6 July 1893 at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace in London. At the wedding, The Times claimed, the crowd may have confused Nicholas of Russia (later the Tsar) with George, because their beards and dress made them look alike superficially.[10] Their facial features were only different up close.[11]

Duke of York

George as Duke of York, 1893

On 24 May 1892 Queen Victoria created George, Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killarney.[12] After George's marriage to May, she was styled Her Royal Highness The Duchess of York.

The Duke and Duchess of York lived mainly at York Cottage,[13] a relatively small house in Sandringham, Norfolk where their way of life mirrored that of a comfortable middle-class family rather than royalty. George preferred the simple, almost quiet, life in marked contrast to his parents. Even his official biographer despaired of George's time as Duke of York, writing: "He may be all right as a young midshipman and a wise old king, but when he was Duke of York...he did nothing at all but kill [i.e. shoot] animals and stick in stamps."[14]

George was a well-known stamp collector, and played a large role in building the Royal Philatelic Collection into the most comprehensive collection of United Kingdom and Commonwealth stamps in the world, in some cases setting record purchase prices for items.[15] His enthusiasm for stamps was denigrated by the intelligentsia.[16]

York Cottage at Sandringham House: George V and Queen Mary lived here from 1893 until 1926.

Randolph Churchill claimed that George was a strict father, to the extent that his children were terrified of him, and that George had remarked to Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby: "My father was frightened of his mother, I was frightened of my father, and I am damned well going to see to it that my children are frightened of me." In reality there is no direct source for the quotation and it is likely that George's parenting style was little different from that adopted by most people at the time.[17] George and May had five sons and a daughter.

Prince of Wales

As Duke and Duchess of York, George and May carried out a wide variety of public duties. On the death of Queen Victoria on 22 January 1901, George's father, Albert Edward, ascended the throne as King Edward VII. George inherited the titles of Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay, and for much of the rest of that year, George was styled His Royal Highness The Duke of Cornwall and York. In 1901, George and May toured the British Empire, visiting Australia, where the Duke opened the first session of the Australian Parliament upon the creation of the Commonwealth of Australia. Their tour included South Africa, Canada, and New Zealand, where Cornwall Park in Auckland was named in their honour by its donor, John Logan Campbell, then Mayor of Auckland.

On 9 November 1901, George was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester.[18] King Edward VII wished his son to have more preparation and experience prior to his future role. In contrast to Edward himself, whom Queen Victoria had excluded from state affairs, George was given wide access to state documents and papers by his father.[8] George in turn allowed his wife access to his papers,[19] as he valued her counsel and May often helped write her husband's speeches.[20]

In 1906, he toured India where he was disgusted by racial discrimination and campaigned for greater involvement of Indians in the government of the country.[21][22]

A half-sovereign minted in Sydney, 1914 (Sir Edgar Bertram Mackennal, sculptor)

King and Emperor

On 6 May 1910, King Edward VII died, and the Prince of Wales ascended the throne, becoming King George V. George had never liked his wife's habit of signing official documents and letters as "Victoria Mary" and insisted she drop one of those names. Neither thought she should be called Queen Victoria, and so she became Queen Mary.[23] Their coronation took place at Westminster Abbey on 22 June 1911.[8] The coronation was celebrated by the Festival of Empire in London.

Later in 1911, the King and Queen travelled to India for the Delhi Durbar, where they were presented to an assembled audience of Indian dignitaries and princes as the Emperor and Empress of India. George wore the newly-created Imperial Crown of India at the ceremony. Then the Emperor and Empress travelled throughout India, visiting their new subjects. George took the opportunity to indulge in hunting tigers, shooting 21.[24] On 18 December 1913 George shot over a thousand pheasants in six hours[25] at the home of Lord Burnham, although even he had to acknowledge that "we went a little too far" that day.[26]

"A good riddance"
A 1917 Punch cartoon depicting King George V sweeping away his German titles. Changing the name of his family's royal house from Saxe-Coburg and GothaWindsor was a popular move. to

World War I

From 1914 to 1918 Britain was at war with Germany. The German Kaiser Wilhelm II, who for the British public came to symbolise all the horrors of the war, was the King's first cousin. Queen Mary, although British like her mother, was the daughter of the Duke of Teck, a descendant of the German Royal House of Württemberg.

The King's paternal grandfather was Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; the King and his children bore the titles Prince and Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke and Duchess of Saxony. The King had brothers-in-law and cousins who were British subjects but who bore German titles such as Duke and Duchess of Teck, Prince and Princess of Battenberg, Prince and Princess of Hesse and by Rhine, and Prince and Princess of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. Writer H. G. Wells wrote about Britain's "alien and uninspiring court", and George famously replied: "I may be uninspiring, but I'll be damned if I'm alien."[27]

On 17 July 1917, George V issued an Order-in-Council that changed the name of the British Royal House from the German-sounding House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the House of Windsor, to appease British nationalist feelings. He specifically adopted Windsor as the surname for all descendants of Queen Victoria then living in the United Kingdom, excluding women who married into other families and their descendants.[28]

Finally, on behalf of his various relatives who were British subjects he relinquished the use of all German titles and styles, and adopted British-sounding surnames. George compensated several of his male relatives by creating them British peers. Thus, overnight his cousin, Prince Louis of Battenberg, became Louis Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Milford Haven, while his brother-in-law, the Duke of Teck, became Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge. Others, such as Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein and Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, simply stopped using their territorial designations. In Letters Patent gazetted on 11 December 1917, the King restricted the style "His (or Her) Royal Highness" and the titular dignity of "Prince (or Princess) of Great Britain and Ireland" to the children of the Sovereign, the children of the sons of the Sovereign and the eldest living son of the eldest living son of a Prince of Wales.[29]

King George V (right) with his first cousin Tsar Nicholas II (their mothers - Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom and Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia - were sisters). Berlin, 1913

The Letters Patent also stated that "the titles of Royal Highness, Highness or Serene Highness, and the titular dignity of Prince and Princess shall cease except those titles already granted and remaining unrevoked." Relatives of the British Royal Family who fought on the German side, such as Prince Ernst August of Hanover, 3rd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale (the senior male-line great grandson of George III) and Prince Carl Eduard, Duke of Albany and the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (a male-line grandson of Queen Victoria), were simply cut off; their British peerages were suspended by a 1919 Order in Council under the provisions of the Titles Deprivation Act 1917. George also removed their Garter flags from St George's ChapelWindsor Castle under pressure from his mother, Queen Alexandra.[30] at

When Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, a first cousin of George through his mother, Queen Alexandra (Nicholas II's mother was Empress Maria Feodorovna, Queen Alexandra's sister) was overthrown in the Russian Revolution of 1917, the British Government offered asylum to the Tsar and his family but worsening conditions for the British people, and fears that revolution might come to the British Isles, led George to think that the presence of the Romanovs might seem inappropriate under the circumstances.[31] Despite the later claims of Lord Mountbatten of Burma that David Lloyd George, the Prime Minister, was opposed to the rescue of the Romanovs, records of the King's private secretary, Lord Stamfordham, suggest that George V opposed the rescue against the advice of Lloyd George.[32] Advanced planning for a rescue was undertaken by MI1, a branch of the British secret service,[33] but because of the strengthening Bolshevik position and wider difficulties with the conduct of the war, the plan was never put into operation.[34] The Tsar and his immediate family thus remained in Russia and were murdered by Bolshevik revolutionaries in 1918. The following year, George's aunt Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark) and other members of the extended Russian imperial family were rescued from the Crimea by British ships.

Two months after the end of the war, the King's youngest son, John, died aged 13 after a short lifetime of ill-health. George was informed of the death by the Queen who wrote, "[John] had been a great anxiety to us for many years…The first break in the family circle is hard to bear but people have been so kind & sympathetic & this has helped us much."[35]

Later life

King George V in 1923

During and after World War I, many of the monarchies which had ruled most European countries fell. In addition to Russia, the monarchies of Austria, Germany, Greece, and Spain also fell to revolution and war, although the Greek monarchy was restored again shortly before George's death. Most of these countries were ruled by relatives of George. In 1922, a Royal NavyPrince Andrew of Greece and Denmark (a nephew of Queen Alexandra through her brother King George I of Greece) and Princess Alice of Battenberg (a daughter of Prince Louis of Battenberg, one of the German princes granted a British peerage in 1917) and their children, including Prince Philip, who would later marry George's granddaughter, Elizabeth II. ship was sent to Greece to rescue his cousins,

George also took an interest in the political turmoil in Ireland, expressing his horror at government-sanctioned killings and reprisals to Prime Minister Lloyd George.[36] During the General Strike of 1926 the King took exception to suggestions that the strikers were 'revolutionaries' saying, "Try living on their wages before you judge them."[37] He also advised the Government against taking inflammatory action.[38]

In 1932, George agreed to deliver a Royal Christmas speech on the radio, an event which became annual thereafter. He was not in favour of the innovation originally but was persuaded by the argument that it was what his people wanted.[39] He was concerned by the rise of the Nazi PartyGermany, and warned the British ambassador in Berlin to be suspicious of the fascists.[40] By the silver jubilee of his reign in 1935, he had become a well-loved king, saying in response to the crowd's adulation, "I cannot understand it, after all I am only a very ordinary sort of fellow."[41] in

George's relationship with his heir, Prince Edward deteriorated in these later years. George was disappointed in Edward's failure to settle down in life and appalled by his many affairs with married women.[8] He was reluctant to see Edward inherit the crown. In contrast, he was fond of his second eldest son, Prince Albert (later George VI) and doted on his eldest granddaughter, Princess Elizabeth; he nicknamed her "Lilibet", and she affectionately called him "Grandpa England".[42] George was quoted as saying about his son Edward: "After I am dead, the boy will ruin himself within 12 months," and about Albert and Lilibet: "I pray to God my eldest son will never marry and have children, and that nothing will come between Bertie and Lilibet and the throne."[43]

Death

Statue of King George V by William Reid Dick, outside Westminster Abbey, London

World War I took a toll on George's health, and his heavy smoking exacerbated recurring breathing problems. He long suffered from emphysema, bronchitis, chronic obstructive lung disease and pleurisy. In 1928, he fell seriously ill, and for the next two years his son Edward took over many of his duties.[44] The King retired for a brief period to the seaside resort of Bognor Regis in West Sussex.[45] A myth later grew that his last words, upon being told that he would soon be well enough to revisit the town, were "Bugger Bognor!"[46][47]

George never fully recovered. In his final year, he was occasionally administered oxygen.[48] In the evening of 15 January 1936, the King took to his bedroom at Sandringham House[49] He became gradually weaker, drifting in and out of consciousness. The diary of his physician, Lord Dawson of Penn, reveals that the King's last words, a mumbled "God damn you!",[50] were addressed to his nurse when she gave him a sedative on the night of the 20 January. When the King was already comatose and close to death, Dawson admits hastening the King's end by giving him a lethal injection of cocaine and morphine, both to prevent further strain on the family and so that the news of his death could be announced in the morning edition of The Times newspaper.[50][51] He died at 11.55 p.m.[52] and is buried at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. complaining of a cold; he would never leave the room alive.

At the procession to George's Lying in State in Westminster Hall, as the cortege turned into New Palace Yard, the Maltese Cross fell from the Imperial Crown and landed in the gutter. The new King, Edward VIII, saw it fall and wondered whether this was a bad omen for his new reign.[53][54] He would abdicate before the year was out, leaving Albert, Duke of York, to ascend to the throne.

As a mark of respect to their father, George's four surviving sons, King Edward VIII, the Duke of York, the Duke of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent, mounted the guard, known as the Vigil of the Princes, at the catafalque on the night of 28 January, the day before the funeral.[55]

Tributes

Statue of King George V in King George SquareBrisbane City Hall outside

A statue of King George V was unveiled outside Brisbane City Hall in 1938 as a tribute to the King from the citizens of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The square on which the statue stands was originally called Albert Square, but was later renamed King George Square in honour of King George V. In London, a statue by William Reid Dick stands outside the east end of Westminster Abbey.

The King George's Fields in London were created as a memorial by a committee in 1936 chaired by the then Lord Mayor of the City of London. Today they are each registered charities and are under the guidance of the National Playing Fields Association. The national stadium of Newfoundland in St. John's was named King George V Park in 1925. Jerusalem and Tel AvivRehov ha-Melekh George. Both date back to the period of the British Mandate for Palestine. In Paris, a large avenue from the top of the Champs-Elysées down to the Seine river and an underground station were named for George V; as are Avenue Georges, Shawinigan, Quebec, Canada; King George V Avenue, Sale, Victoria, Australia; King George V Secondary School, Malaysia; and King George V School and King George V Memorial Park in Hong Kong. have major thoroughfares named for King George V—

The World War I Royal Navy battleship HMS King George V and the World War II Royal Navy battleship HMS King George V were named in his honour.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Newfoundland dollar bill featuring George V

Titles

  • 3 June 1865 – 24 May 1892: His Royal Highness Prince George of Wales
  • 24 May 1892 – 22 January 1901: His Royal Highness The Duke of York
  • 22 January 1901 – 9 November 1901: His Royal Highness The Duke of Cornwall and York
  • 9 November 1901 – 6 May 1910: His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales
    • in Scotland: His Royal Highness The Duke of Rothesay
  • 6 May 1910 – 20 January 1936: His Majesty The King
    • and, occasionally, outside of the United Kingdom, and with regard to India: His Imperial Majesty The King-Emperor
Monarchical Styles of
King George V of the United Kingdom

Reference style His Majesty
Spoken style Your Majesty
Alternative style Sir

Styles

Prior to his accession, on 6 May 1910, George held the full style "His Royal Highness The Prince George Frederick Ernest Albert, Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Duke of York, Earl of Carrick, Earl of Inverness, Baron Renfrew, Baron Killarney, Lord of the Isles, Prince and Great Steward of Scotland, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Knight of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, Knight of the Most Illustrious Order of St. Patrick, Knight Grand Commander of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, Knight Grand Commander of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, Imperial Service Order, Royal Victorian Chain, Member of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Royal Fellow of the Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, Admiral of the Royal Navy"

His full style as king was "His Majesty George V, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India", until 1927, when it was changed, albeit superficially, to "His Majesty George V, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India"

Honours

Military

Arms

As Duke of York, George's arms were the royal arms, with an inescutcheon for Saxony, all differenced with a label argent of three points, the centre bearing an anchor azure. As Prince of Wales the centre label lost its anchor. As King, George V's arms were those of the Kingdom. In 1917, he removed, by warrant, the Saxony inescutcheon from the arms of all descendants of the Prince Consort (although the royal arms themselves had never borne the shield).[56]

Coat of arms as Duke of York

Coat of arms as Prince of Wales

Coat of arms as George V (NB: There was and is a different version of the arms for Scotland)

In popular culture

On screen, George has been portrayed by:

Ancestors

Issue

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

[edit] Notes and sources

  1. ^ His godparents were the King of Hanover, the Queen and Crown Prince of Denmark, Ernst, 4th Prince of Leiningen, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the Duchess of Cambridge, Princess AliceDuke of Cambridge. Source: The Times (London), Saturday, 8 July 1865, p.12 and the
  2. ^ Sinclair, David (1988). Two Georges: The Making of the Modern Monarchy. London: Hodder and Stoughton, pp.46–47. ISBN 0-340-33240-9.
  3. ^ Sinclair, pp.49–50
  4. ^ Rose, Kenneth (1983). King George V. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, p.13. ISBN 0-297-78245-2.
  5. ^ Sinclair, p.55
  6. ^ Sinclair, p.69
  7. ^ Pope-Hennessy, James (1959). Queen Mary. London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd, pp.250–251.
  8. ^ a b c d Matthew, H. C. G. (September 2004; online edn, May 2006), "George V (1865–1936)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press), doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33369, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/33369, retrieved on 19 March 2007
  9. ^ Sinclair, p.178
  10. ^ The Times (London) Friday, 7 July 1893, p.5
  11. ^ See a photograph of them side-by-side
  12. ^ "Yvonne's Royalty: Peerage". Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
  13. ^ Renamed from Bachelor's Cottage
  14. ^ Harold Nicolson's diary quoted in Sinclair, p.107
  15. ^ "The Royal Philatelic Collection". Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
  16. ^ Rose, p.42
  17. ^ See Sinclair, pp.93 ff for a full discussion
  18. ^ "The Prince of Wales – Previous Princes of Wales". Household of HRH The Prince of Wales. Retrieved on 2007-09-27.
  19. ^ Rose, p.289
  20. ^ Sinclair, p.107
  21. ^ Rose, pp.65–66
  22. ^ George Frederick Abbott's Through India with the Prince (1906) describes the tour.
  23. ^ Pope-Hennessy, p.421
  24. ^ Rose, p.136
  25. ^ About one bird every 20 seconds.
  26. ^ Windsor, HRH The Duke of (1951). A King’s Story. London: Cassell and Co, pp.86–87.
  27. ^ Nicolson, Sir Harold (1952). King George the Fifth: His Life and Reign. London: Constable and Co, p.308.
  28. ^ "The official website of the British Monarchy". Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
  29. ^ Nicolson, p.310
  30. ^ Purdue, A. W. (2004), "Alexandra (1844–1925)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press), doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/30375, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/30375, retrieved on 9 March 2007
  31. ^ Sinclair, p.148 and Nicolson, p.301
  32. ^ Rose, p.210
  33. ^ Crossland, John (15 October 2006), "British Spies In Plot To Save Tsar", The Sunday Times
  34. ^ Sinclair, p.149
  35. ^ Pope-Hennessy, p.511
  36. ^ Sinclair, p.114 and Nicolson, p.347
  37. ^ Sinclair, p.105
  38. ^ Nicolson, p.419
  39. ^ Sinclair p.154
  40. ^ Nicolson, pp.521–522
  41. ^ Sinclair, p.1
  42. ^ Pimlott, Ben (1996). The Queen. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. ISBN 0-471-19431-X.
  43. ^ Ziegler, Philip (1990). King Edward VIII: The Official Biography. London: Collins, p.199. ISBN 0-002-15741-1.
  44. ^ Ziegler, pp.192–196
  45. ^ Pope-Hennessy, p.546
  46. ^ Roberts, Andrew; Edited by Antonia Fraser (2000). The House of Windsor. London: Cassell and Co, p.36. ISBN 0-304-35406-6.
  47. ^ Ashley, Mike (1998). The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens. London: Robinson Publishing, p.699.
  48. ^ Bradford, Sarah (1989). King George VI. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, p.149. ISBN 0-297-79667-4.
  49. ^ Pope-Hennessy, p.558
  50. ^ a b Watson, Francis (1986), "The Death of George V", History Today 36: pp.21–30
  51. ^ Ramsay, J. H. R. (28 May 1994), "A king, a doctor, and a convenient death", British Medical Journal 308: p.1445, http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/308/6941/1445
  52. ^ The London Gazette: p.1, 21 January 1936, http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.aspx?pdf=34245&geotype=London&gpn=449
  53. ^ The Duke of Windsor, p.267
  54. ^ The cross, composed of a sapphire and 200 diamonds, was retrieved by a military man following later in the procession.
  55. ^ The Times (London), Tuesday, 28 January 1936, p.10 col. F
  56. ^ Velde, François (7 January 2007) "Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family". Heraldica. Retrieved on 2008-04-01.

[edit] References

External links


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media related to:

Mary of Teck

Mary of Teck
Queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions; Empress consort of India(more...)
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
Titles and styles
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 of Cambridge
Born 26 May 1867
Kensington Palace, London(1867-05-26)
Baptised 27 July 1867
Kensington Palace, London
Died 24 March 1953 (aged 85)
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-empress consort of George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, Emperor of India. Before her husband's accession, she was successively Duchess of York, Duchess of Cornwall and Princess of Wales. By birth, she was 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.

Her father, who was of German extraction, married into the British Royal Family, and "May" was born and brought up in the United Kingdom. At the age of 24 she was betrothed to Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, the heir to the British throne, but six weeks after the engagement was announced he unexpectedly died of pneumonia. The following year she became engaged to the new heir, Albert Victor's brother, George. As his Queen Consort from 1910, she supported her husband through World War I, his ill-health, and major political changes arising from the aftermath of the war and the rise of socialism and nationalism. After George's death in 1936, her eldest son Edward became King-Emperor, but to her dismay he abdicated the same year in order to marry twice-divorced American socialite Mrs. Wallis Simpson. She supported her second son, Albert, who succeeded to the throne as George VI, until his death in 1952. She died the following year, at the beginning of the reign of her granddaughter, Elizabeth II. Briefly, there were three Queens in the country: Mary, her daughter-in-law, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother widow of George VI, and Elizabeth II.

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

Contents

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 younger daughter of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, and Princess Augusta of Hesse-Cassel. She was baptised in the Chapel Royal of Kensington Palace on 27 July 1867 by Charles Thomas Longley, Archbishop of Canterbury, and her three godparents were Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII, and May's father-in-law), and the Duchess of Cambridge.[1]

She was the eldest of four children, the only girl, and "learned to exercise her native discretion, firmness and tact" by resolving her three younger brothers' petty boyhood squabbles.[2] They played with their cousins, the children of the Prince of Wales, who were similar in age.[3] May was educated at home by her mother and governess (as were her brothers until they were sent to boarding schools).[4] Her upbringing was "merry but fairly strict";[5] the Duchess of Teck spent an unusually long time with her children for a lady of her time and class,[5] and enlisted May in various charitable endeavours, which included visiting the tenements of the poor.[6]

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, had no inheritance or wealth, and carried the lower royal style of Serene Highness because his parents' marriage was morganatic.[7] However, the Duchess of Teck was granted a Parliamentary Annuity of £5,000 – in addition, she received about £4,000 a year from her mother, the Duchess of Cambridge.[8] Despite this, the family was deeply in debt and lived abroad from 1883, in order to economise.[9] 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.[10]

In 1885, the Tecks returned to London, and took up residence at White Lodge, in Richmond Park. 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. During World War I, the Crown Princess of Sweden helped pass letters from May to her aunt, who lived in enemy territory in Germany, until Augusta's death in 1916.[11]

Engagements

In December 1891, May was engaged to her second cousin, once-removed, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, the eldest son of the Prince of Wales.[12] The choice of May as bride for the Duke owed much to Queen Victoria's fondness for her, as well as to her strong character and sense of duty. However, the Duke of Clarence and Avondale died six weeks later, in the worldwide influenza pandemic which swept through Britain in the winter of 1891–2.[13]

Princess Victoria Mary of Teck shortly before her marriage to the Duke of York in 1893

Despite this setback, Queen Victoria still favoured May as a suitable candidate to marry a future king; and Albert Victor's brother, Prince George, Duke of York, now second in line to the throne, evidently became close to May during their shared period of mourning.[14] In May 1893, George duly proposed; May accepted, and they were soon deeply in love. Their marriage was a success. George wrote to May every day they were apart and, unlike his father, never took a mistress.[15]

Duchess of York

May married Prince George, Duke of York, on 6 July 1893 at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace, in London.[16] The new Duke and Duchess of York lived in York Cottage on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, and in apartments in St. James's Palace. York Cottage was a modest house for royalty, but it was a favourite of George, who liked a relatively simple life.[17]Edward, Albert, Mary, Henry, George, and John. They had six children:

The Duchess loved her children, but she put them into the care of a nanny, as was usual in upper-class families at the time. The first nanny was dismissed for insolence and the second for abusing the children. This second woman, anxious to suggest that the children preferred her to anyone else, would pinch Edward and Albert whenever they were about to be presented to their parents, so that they would start crying and be speedily returned to her. On discovery, she was replaced by her effective and much-loved assistant, Mrs. Bill.[18]

Queen Mary was a distant mother in some respects, having herself been raised by nannies, as was typical of her class and era. At first, she failed to notice the nanny's abuse of the young Princes Edward and Albert,[19], and her youngest son, Prince John, was housed in a private farm on the Sandringham Estate, in the care of Mrs. Bill, perhaps to hide his epilepsy from the public. 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 wrote fondly of his mother in his memoirs: "Her soft voice, her cultivated mind, the cosy room overflowing with personal treasures were all inseparable ingredients of the happiness associated with this last hour of a child's day…Such was my mother's pride in her children that everything that happened to each one was of the utmost importance to her. With the birth of each new child, Mama started an album in which she painstakingly recorded each progressive stage of our childhood".[20] He expressed a less charitable view, however, in private letters to his wife after his mother's death: "My sadness was mixed with incredulity that any mother could have been so hard and cruel towards her eldest son for so many years and yet so demanding at the end without relenting a scrap. I'm afraid the fluids in her veins have always been as icy cold as they are now in death."[21]

Princess Victoria Mary, The Duchess of Cornwall and York. Ottawa, 1901

As Duke and Duchess of York, George and May carried out a variety of public duties. In 1897, she became the Patron of the London Needlework Guild in succession to her mother. The Guild, initially established as The London Guild in 1882, was renamed several times, eventually taking the name of its Patron in 1914.[22] 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 undertaken such an ambitious tour before. The Duchess broke down in tears at the thought of leaving her children, who were to be left in the care of their grandparents, for such a lengthy period of time.[23] In May 1901, representing King Edward VII, the couple opened the first session of the Australian Parliament in Melbourne, shortly after the Commonwealth of Australia came into being on 1 January 1901.

Princess of Wales

The Princess of Wales at the Coronation Ceremony, 1902

On 9 November 1901, nine days after arriving back in Britain and on the King's sixtieth birthday, George was created Prince of Wales. The family moved their London residence from St James's Palace to Marlborough House. As Princess of Wales, May 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 May recovered quickly, her newborn son suffered respiratory problems.[24]

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.[25] 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 wedding of King Alfonso XIII to Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, at which the bride and groom narrowly avoided assassination.[26] Only a week after returning to Britain, May and George went to Norway for the coronation of King Haakon VII and Queen Maud (George's sister).

Queen Consort

King George V and Queen Mary

On 6 May 1910, Edward VII died. The Prince of Wales ascended the throne as George V, and May became Queen Consort of the United Kingdom. When her husband asked her to drop one of her two official names, Victoria Mary, she chose to be called Mary, preferring not to take the name of her husband's grandmother, Queen Victoria.[27] Queen Mary was crowned with the King on 22 June 1911 at Westminster Abbey. Later in the year, the new King and Queen travelled to India for the Delhi Durbar held on 12 December 1911, and toured the sub-continent as Emperor and Empress of India, returning to Britain in February.[28]

The beginning of Mary's period as consort brought her into conflict with the Dowager Queen Alexandra. Although the two were on friendly terms, Alexandra could be stubborn; 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.[29]

During World War I, Queen Mary instituted an austerity drive at Buckingham Palace, rationing food, and visiting wounded and dying servicemen in hospital, which she found a great emotional strain.[30] After three years of war against Germany, and with anti-German feeling in Britain running high, the Russian Imperial Family, which had been deposed by a revolutionary government, was refused asylum, possibly in part because the Tsar's wife was German-born.[31][32] After republicans used the couple's German heritage as an argument for reform, George abandoned his German titles and renamed the Royal House from the German "Saxe-Coburg-Gotha" to the British "Windsor". Other royals anglicised their names; the Battenbergs became the Mountbattens, for example. The Queen's relatives also abandoned their German titles, and adopted the British surname of Cambridge (derived from the Dukedom held by Queen Mary's British grandfather). The war ended in 1918 with the defeat of Germany and the abdication and exile of the Kaiser. News of the Tsar's abdication provided a boost to those in Britain who wished to replace the monarchy with a republic.

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, John, died at age thirteen. She described her shock and sorrow in her diary and letters, extracts of which were published after her death: "our poor darling little Johnnie had passed away suddenly...The first break in the family circle is hard to bear but people have been so kind & sympathetic & this has helped us [the King and me] much."[33]

Queen Mary's staunch support of her husband continued during the latter half of his reign. She advised him on speeches, and used her extensive knowledge of history and royalty to advise him on certain matters affecting his position. He appreciated her discretion, intelligence and judgement.[34] She maintained an air of self-assured calm throughout all her public engagements in the years after the war, a period marked by civil unrest over social conditions, Irish independence and Indian nationalism.[35]

In the late 1920s, George V became increasingly ill with lung problems, exacerbated by his heavy smoking. Queen Mary paid particular attention to his care. During his illness in 1928, one of his doctors, Sir Farquhar Buzzard, was asked who had saved the King's life; he replied, "The Queen".[36] In 1935, King 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, having told his speechwriter, "Put that paragraph at the very end. I cannot trust myself to speak of the Queen when I think of all I owe her."[37]

Queen Mother

George V died on 20 January 1936, after his physician, Baron Dawson of Penn, gave him an injection of morphine and cocaine which may have hastened his death.[38] Queen Mary's eldest son, Edward, Prince of Wales, ascended the throne as Edward VIII. She was now officially Queen Mother (see English Queen Mothers), though she did not use that title and was instead known as Her Majesty Queen Mary.

Within the year, Edward caused a constitutional crisis by announcing his desire to marry his twice-divorced American mistress, Mrs. Wallis Simpson. Queen Mary disapproved of divorce, which was against the teaching of the Anglican Church, and thought Mrs. Simpson wholly unsuitable to be the wife of a king. After receiving advice from the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Stanley Baldwin, as well as the Dominion governments, that he could not remain king and marry Mrs. Simpson, Edward abdicated. Though loyal and supportive of her son, Queen Mary could not comprehend why Edward would neglect his royal duties in favour of his personal feelings.[39] Mrs. Simpson had been presented formally to both King George V and Queen Mary at court,[40] but Queen Mary later refused to meet her either in public or privately.[41] Queen Mary saw it as her duty to provide moral support for her second son, the reserved and stammering Prince Albert, Duke of York, who ascended the throne in Edward's place, taking the name George VI. When Mary attended the coronation, she became the first dowager queen ever to do so.[42] Edward's abdication did not lessen her love for him, but she never wavered in her disapproval of the damage she believed had been done to the Crown.[15][43]

Queen Mary with her grand-daughters, Princesses MargaretElizabeth (front) and

Queen Mary took an interest in the upbringing of her granddaughters, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose, taking them on various excursions in London, to art galleries and museums. (The Princesses' own parents thought it unnecessary for them to be taxed with any demanding educational regime.)[44]

During World War II, George VI wished his mother to be evacuated from London. Although she was reluctant, she decided to live at Badminton House, Gloucestershire, with her niece, Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort, the daughter of her brother Adolphus, Lord Cambridge.[45] Her personal belongings were transported from London in seventy pieces of luggage. Her household, which comprised fifty-five servants, occupied most of the house, except for the Duke and Duchess's private suites, until after the war. The only people to complain about the arrangements were the royal servants, who found the house too small,[46] though Queen Mary annoyed her niece by having the ancient ivy torn from the walls, considering it unattractive and a hazard. From Badminton, she supported the war effort by visiting troops and factories, and directing the gathering of scrap materials; she was known to offer lifts to soldiers she spotted on the roads.[47]Prince George, Duke of Kent, was killed in an air crash while on active service. Queen Mary finally returned to Marlborough House in June 1945, after the war in Europe had resulted in the defeat of Nazi Germany. In 1942, her youngest surviving son,

Queen Mary was an eager collector of objects and pictures with a royal connection.[48] She paid above-market estimates when purchasing jewels from the estate of Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna[49] and paid almost three times the estimate when buying the family's Cambridge Emeralds from Lady Kilmorey, mistress of her late brother Prince Francis.[50] In 1924, the famous architect Sir Edwin Lutyens created Queen Mary's Dolls' House for her collection of miniature pieces.[51] Indeed, she has sometimes been criticised for her aggressive acquisition of objets d'art for the Royal Collection. On several occasions, she 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.[52] Her extensive knowledge of, and research into, the Royal Collection helped in identifying artifacts and artwork that had gone astray over the years.[53][54] (The Royal Family had lent many objects to friends over previous generations.) Once she had identified unreturned items through old inventories, she would write to the holders, requesting that they be returned.

In 1952, King George VI died, the third of Queen Mary's children to predecease her; her eldest granddaughter, Princess Elizabeth, ascended the throne. Queen Mary died the next year of lung cancer (referred to publicly as "gastric problems"[55]) at the age of 85, only ten weeks before Elizabeth II's coronation. 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 large numbers of mourners filed past her coffin. She is buried beside her husband in the nave of St. George's Chapel, Windsor.[56]

Legacy

Sir Henry "Chips" Channon wrote that she was "above politics…magnificent, humorous, worldly, in fact nearly sublime, though cold and hard. But what a grand Queen."[57]

The ocean liners RMS Queen Mary and RMS Queen Mary 2;[58] the Royal Navy battlecruiser, HMS Queen Mary, which was destroyed by the German battlecruiser SMS Seydlitz at the Battle of Jutland in 1916; Queen Mary College, University of London;[59] Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong; Queen Mary's Peak, the highest mountain in Tristan da Cunha; and Queen Mary Land in Antarctica are named in her honour.

A series of distinguished British actresses have portrayed Queen Mary on stage and screen, including Dame Wendy Hiller,[60] Dame Flora Robson (in A King's Story), Dame Peggy AshcroftEdward & Mrs Simpson), Phyllis Calvert (in The Woman He Loved), Gaye Brown (in All the King's Men), Dame Eileen Atkins (in Bertie and Elizabeth), Miranda Richardson (in The Lost Prince), and Margaret Tyzack (in Wallis & Edward).[61] (in

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

Queen Mary's Standard with her arms
  • 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

Honours

Further information: List of titles and honours of Mary of Teck

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 (the Royal Arms used by the House of Hanover); 2nd and 3rd quarters, the arms of her father, HH The Duke of Teck.[62]

Ancestry

Issue

Name Birth Death Notes[63]
Edward VIII 23 June 1894 28 May 1972 abdicated, 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

See also

Notes and sources

  1. ^ The Times (London), Monday, 29 July 1867 p.12 col.E
  2. ^ Pope-Hennessy, James (1959). Queen Mary. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd., p.45.
  3. ^ Pope-Hennessy, p.55
  4. ^ Pope-Hennessy, pp.68,76,123
  5. ^ a b Pope-Hennessy, p.66
  6. ^ Pope-Hennessy, p.68
  7. ^ Pope-Hennessy, pp.36–37
  8. ^ Pope-Hennessy, p.114
  9. ^ Pope-Hennessy, p.112
  10. ^ Pope-Hennessy, p.133
  11. ^ Pope-Hennessy, pp.503–505
  12. ^ May's maternal grandfather, Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, was a brother of Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent, who was the father of Queen Victoria, Albert Victor's paternal grandmother.
  13. ^ Pope-Hennessy, p.201
  14. ^ Edwards, Anne (1984). Matriarch: Queen Mary and the House of Windsor. Hodder and Stoughton, p.61. ISBN 0340244658.
  15. ^ a b Prochaska, Frank (September 2004; online edn, May 2006), "Mary (1867–1953)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press), doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/34914, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/34914, retrieved on 17 April 2007
  16. ^ Her bridesmaids were The Princesses Maud and Victoria of Wales, Victoria Melita, Alexandra and Beatrice of Edinburgh, Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, Margaret and Patricia of Connaught and Strathearn and Alice and Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg
  17. ^ Pope-Hennessy, p.291
  18. ^ Wheeler-Bennett, Sir John (1958). King George VI. London: Macmillan, pp.16–17.
  19. ^ Pope-Hennessy, p.393
  20. ^ Windsor, HRH The Duke of (1951). A King's Story. London: Cassell and Co, pp.24–25.
  21. ^ Ziegler, Philip (1990). King Edward VIII. London: Collins, p.538. ISBN 0002157411.
  22. ^ "Queen Mary's Clothing Guild official website". Retrieved on 2007-05-30.
  23. ^ Edwards, p.115
  24. ^ Edwards, pp.142–143
  25. ^ Edwards, p.146
  26. ^ The driver of their coach and over a dozen spectators were killed by a bomb thrown by an anarchist, Mateo Morales.
  27. ^ Pope-Hennessy, p.421
  28. ^ Pope-Hennessy, pp.452–463
  29. ^ Edwards, pp.182–193
  30. ^ Edwards, pp.244–245
  31. ^ Edwards, p.258
  32. ^ Edwards, p.262
  33. ^ Pope-Hennessy, p.511
  34. ^ Pope-Hennessy, p.549
  35. ^ Edwards, p.311
  36. ^ Gore, John (1941). King George V: A Personal Memoir. London: John Murray, p.243.
  37. ^ The Times (London), Wednesday, 25 March 1953 p.5
  38. ^ Watson, Francis (1986), "The Death of George V", History Today 36: pp.21–30
  39. ^ Airlie, Mabell (1962). Thatched with Gold. London: Hutchinson, p.200.
  40. ^ HRH The Duke of Windsor, p.255
  41. ^ HRH The Duke of Windsor, p.334
  42. ^ Pope-Hennessy, p.584
  43. ^ Edwards, p.401 and Pope-Hennessy, p.575
  44. ^ Edwards, p.349
  45. ^ Pope-Hennessy, p.596
  46. ^ Mosley, Charles (ed.) (2003). "Duke of Beaufort, 'Seat' section", Burke's Peerage & Gentry, 107th edition, vol.I p.308.
  47. ^ Pope-Hennessy, p.600
  48. ^ Pope-Hennessy, p.412
  49. ^ Clarke, William (1995). The Lost Fortune Of The Tsars.
  50. ^ Thomson, Mark. Document – A Right Royal Affair [Radio]. BBC Radio 4.
    See also Kilmorey Papers (D/2638), Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.
  51. ^ Pope-Hennessy, pp.531–534
  52. ^ Rose, Kenneth (1983). King George V. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, p.284. ISBN 0297782452.
  53. ^ Pope-Hennessy, p.414
  54. ^ The Duke of Windsor, p.238
  55. ^ The Times (London), Wednesday, 25 March 1953 p.8
  56. ^ "Royal Burials". St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Retrieved on 2007-06-01.
  57. ^ Channon, Sir Henry; Edited by Robert Rhodes James (1967). Chips: The Diaries of Sir Henry Channon. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, p.473.
  58. ^ Technically, the QMII was named after the original ocean liner, and is only indirectly named after the Queen
  59. ^ Moss, G. P.; Saville, M. V. (1985). From Palace to College – An illustrated account of Queen Mary College. University of London, pp.57–62. ISBN 0-902238-06-X.
  60. ^ "Dame Wendy Hiller". The Guardian (16 May 2003). Retrieved on 2007-05-30.
  61. ^ "The Internet Movie Database". Internet Movie Database Inc. Retrieved on 2008-09-01.
  62. ^ Maclagan, Michael; Louda, Jiří (1999). Line of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe. London: Little, Brown & Co, pp.30–31. ISBN 0-85605-469-1.
  63. ^ Weir, Alison (1995). Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy Revised edition. Random House, pp.323–330. ISBN 0-7126-7448-9.

References

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