Mary of Teck 1867-1953
Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Born at Kensington Palace, London, she was the only daughter of Francis, Duke of Teck, and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, and a granddaughter of George III. Princess May (as she was known) accepted a marriage proposal (1891) from the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Clarence, who within six weeks died from pneumonia. She then became engaged to his brother, the Duke of York, marrying him in 1893. After his accession (as George V) in 1910, Queen Mary accompanied him to Delhi as Empress of India for the historically unique Coronation Durbar (1911). Although by nature stiff and reserved, Mary was more sympathetic to changing habits than her husband, whom she helped to mould into a 'people's king'. After the abdication of her eldest son, Edward VIII, she applied her wide experience to strengthening once again the popular appeal of the monarchy throughout the reign of her second son, George VI, whom she survived by 13 months. She died at Marlborough House, London, less than three months before the coronation of her granddaughter, Elizabeth II.

Bibliography: S W Jackman, The People's Princess: A Portrait of H R H Princess Mary, Duchess of Teck (1984)