Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck & Family, "The People's Princess" (1833-1897)

[BeatrixFan]

Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck & Family, "The People's Princess" (1833-1897)

This question has been posed on a radio phone-in and it's bugging me. The question is;

Who was the original People's Princess?

I thought it was Princess Marina but apparantly it wasn't. Does anyone know?

 

[Zonk]

Honestly...I would think that each generation would have a People's Princess.

Therefore...I could see a Princess Marina...Princess Diana....and a young Princess Margaret?

 

[BeatrixFan]

Answer has just been given. Apparantly the title was first used for Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, Queen Mary's mother. I didn't know that.

 

[Zonk]

Now that's a surprise.

 

[ysbel]

I wonder why? I know she was incredibly popular but I would have expected a Princess Alexandra (Princess of Wales).

 

[Zonk]

Exactly! Why her and not Alexandra?

And BeatrixFan...sorry...I misunderstood your original post. I have a bad habit of reading select words in a sentence..and totally missed "original"

 

[BeatrixFan]

Don't worry Zonk, I'll forgive you. I have to say the answer has got me puzzled but it's been validated by Hugo Vickers apparantly. I thought it would be Princess Marina or possibly Princess Alice but I was very wrong.

 

[Elspeth]

Actually, now you come to mention it, I seem to remember reading that (probably in a biography of Queen Mary).

 

[ysbel]

Well I know Princess Mary Adelaide was incredibly popular but I didn't know she was considered the "People's Princess"

I thought Alexandra because she came from the small country of Denmark and grew up in very bourgeois circumstances until her father was chosen to become the next King of Denmark.

Alexandra was always very down to earth and bougeois at heart whereas her sister Dagmar, the Empress Marie of Russia always played the grande dame both at home and at court. Alexandra saved her finery for public and was pretty down to earth in her private quarters.

I don't know too much about Fat Mary (Queen Mary's mother) .

 

[Zonk]

Well according to Wikipedia (I know consider the source)...she was quite popular because she was the first British royal to support a large number of charities. Maybe that's why?

BeatrixFan...which Princess Alice are you speaking of. Princess Alice, Countess of Althone? or the Duchess of Gloucester? Or perhaps another one?

 

[ysbel]

Here's a excerpt from Wikipedia, part of her life seemed very sad:

By the age of 30, Mary Adelaide was still unmarried. Her unattractive appearance and lack of income were contributing factors, as was her advanced age. However, her royal rank prevented her marrying someone not of royal blood. Her cousin Queen Victoria took pity on her, and attempted to arrange pairings.
Eventually a suitable candidate was found in Württemberg, Prince Francis, Prince of Teck. The Prince was of lower rank than Mary Adelaide, and was also the product of a morganatic marriage and had no succession rights to the throne of Württemberg, but was at least of princely title and of royal blood. However, with no other options available, Mary Adelaide decided to marry him. The couple were married on 12 June 1866, at Kew Church, Surrey.

 

[BeatrixFan]

I was talking about Alice of Gloucester but thinking back, I never saw the title appear in any of her obituaries so I suppose it couldn't have been. Wasn't Queen Alexandra "The People's Queen" or was that the Queen Mother for looking the East End in the face?

 

[ysbel]

I don't remember what they called Alexandra. I don't think they called the Queen Mother the Peoples Queen. I think she was during her husband's lifetime just the Queen and then when he died, she was the beloved Queen Mum.

Of course if you do a Google search on the People's Princess you won't find it.

But here's a charming article on the simplicity and down-to earthness of Alexandra when she greeted some friends from her frugal childhood in Denmark to her new home in England. If Princess Mary Adelaide wasn't the People's Princess I think Alexandra had to be called that at one time.

 

[Elspeth]

Well, the ironic thing is that the morganatic ancestry on the Prince of Teck's side meant that his daughter wasn't considered good enough to marry any of the various German princelings on offer - so she ended up as Queen of England instead after marrying George V. Queen Victoria took as much trouble over the daughter's marriage as the mother's, and the morganatic background was less important to her than the personal qualities of the princess.

 

[Warren]

Well I know Princess Mary Adelaide was incredibly popular but I didn't know she was considered the "People's Princess"

Princess Mary Adelaide, aka "Fat Mary" was popular because she was good natured, warm, friendly and had that "common touch" which today we call 'people skills'. She was larger than life, which considering her size is saying something, and was one of the few who had a way of getting round Queen Victoria (largely by agreeing, then doing what she intended to do anyway). Her ongoing financial embarrassments may have irritated the Queen, but didn't cost her public support. She was her own woman, endearing, and a hoot at parties.

 

[Warren]

Some images of Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck (copyright expired).

1. with Princess May, c1867
2. The Teck Family
3. Princess Mary Adelaide
4. Princess Mary Adelaide wearing some familiar emeralds

 

[Marengo]

Well, the ironic thing is that the morganatic ancestry on the Prince of Teck's side meant that his daughter wasn't considered good enough to marry any of the various German princelings on offer - so she ended up as Queen of England instead after marrying George V. Queen Victoria took as much trouble over the daughter's marriage as the mother's, and the morganatic background was less important to her than the personal qualities of the princess.

It was rather ironic indeed, but still some British had their own thoughts about it too, her sisters-in-law used to refer to her as 'Poor May and her Wurttemberg hands'.

 

[BeatrixFan]

How sad. I remember seeing the portrayal of Fat Mary in the "Lost Prince" and found it quite tragic that Queen Mary adopted many of her somewhat OCD traits in response to her mother's clumsiness and slack attitude.

 

[Alexander]

There is a biography about Fat Mary called
The People's Princess by S.W.Jackmann 1984/1996

which I think is a very nice book about her life and time

 

[gogm]

Duchess Mary Adelaide of Teck

I think the term "Peoples' Princess" is a twentieth century invention right out of Hollywood PR. Maybe the Marxists in the USSR had something to do with it as well as post-World War II Marxists states such as the "Peoples Republic" of Germany. Hitler launched the "Peoples' Car" (Volswagen) for the Nazi labor federation.

It sounds like Duchess Mary was down-to-earth, a neat Lady.

Here's a picture of both Marys:


Here's one of her in full dress:


With family:


As a younger woman (late 1860s?)

 

[loali2]

This is Mary Adelaide with her youngest child, Prince Alexander George, known as Alge, not May.
and a similar pose, PHOTO FOUND ON INTERNET.

I think, Alge looks quite extraordinary in these photos, and VERY similar to his son Rupert as a baby and child.
Mary Adelaide's grandchildren, Rupert of Teck with big sister May-

 

[loali2]

This is Mary Adelaide and the Duke of Teck with baby May.

and with May a bit older

 

[Mark O]

What great photos!.....just having watched 'The Lost Prince' on TV recently again 'Fat Mary' certainly seemed a character in her day!.........am I correct in thinking that as a well as May, Mary also had three sons?, could anyone give me their full titles so I can check out their lineage on Wikepidia please?

 

[cmkrcwi]

Yes, Princess Mary had three sons. The first, Adolphus Frederick (1868-1927) succeeded his father as Duke of Teck but became The Marquess of Cambridge when George V had all his relatives rescind their German titles. He was succeeded by his son George but the title ended when he died in 1981 since his only child was a daughter Lady Mary Cambridge. Adolphus Frederick had two daughters Victoria, who married The Duke of Beaufort (they had no children) and Helena who married Col. John Gibbs. He also had a second son Lord Frederick Cambridge who I believe died in World War II.

The second, Prince Francis (Frank) of Teck (1870-1910) died unmarried.

The third, Alexander George (1874-1957) became the Earl of Athlone after the renunciation of German titles. He married Princess Alice of Albany and they had two children. You can probably find information on them on the Princess Alice threads.

 

[CarolinaLandgrave]

Princess Mary Adelaide was indeed a bright light in her day - and thanks for all the great photos of her!!

 

[Zonk]

Princes Mary Adelaide is IMO a great example of how "minor" royals are just as important for the British Royal Family as the senior royals. Especially since people are discussing what if any role Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie should have going forward during the reigns of Charles and William.

 

[Grace Angel]

I think she'd be more forgotten now though if she hadn't been the mother of Queen Mary, wife of George V.

 

[iowabelle]

I've been reading the book Princesses, about the daughters of George III. Their brother Adolphus, the Duke of Cambridge, was Princess Mary's father. She was the youngest child of three, so I see a lot about her toward the end of the book... she was a favorite among the aunts and quite spoiled.

 

[CarolinaLandgrave]

I've been reading the book Princesses, about the daughters of George III. Their brother Adolphus, the Duke of Cambridge, was Princess Mary's father. She was the youngest child of three, so I see a lot about her toward the end of the book... she was a favorite among the aunts and quite spoiled.

Off topic, I know... but how is that book, Iowabelle? I saw in Borders and think I may have to go purchase it.
Princess Mary Adelaide is one of my favorite members of the Old Royal Family.... so if its got some good reading about her, then its a good investment.

 

[iowabelle]

I'm not enamored of the book. I think part of the problem is that the poor women were allowed to have so little freedom, that their lives were virtually interchangeable and rather dull, except for fighting with their mother and siblings.


But it also shows how it was possible for an unmarried princess to have an illegitimate child that flew under the radar for a very long time (think of that man who claims Princess Margaret was his mother, although I doubt that story). It just goes to prove that there are no new royal stories.