Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh (1776-1857)


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Humfrey

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Does anyone know if Princess Mary (daughter of George III) had a natural son in about 1798, prior to her marriage to her cousin the Duke of Gloucester? Her sister Princess Sophie had one illegitimate child, but there is a rumour that Princess Mary may also have had a child who she had to give up as an infant. Any help would be much appreciated.
 
She didn't as far as I know. Why do you ask?
 
I have heard that there were a lot of rumors about illegitimate children from George III's children which I am sure included stories about Princess Mary. In fact I think I remember reading about some rumors that had gone around in some book or another. But I don't think there was ever evidence for it.
 
The Times stops posting her birthday between 1997 and 1802 and she is "indisposed" quite a lot in the period. The rumour I've heard is of the son of a Scottish laird who died shortly afterwards. There may have even been a clandestine marriage. I'm searching...
 
Humfrey said:
The Times stops posting her birthday between 1997 and 1802 and she is "indisposed" quite a lot in the period. The rumour I've heard is of the son of a Scottish laird who died shortly afterwards. There may have even been a clandestine marriage. I'm searching...
Click to expand...

Aah, the old "indisposed" story given to the masses. Why would the Times stop posting her birthday notice between 1797 and 1802? Or are you referring to the fact that the Court Circular made no mention of observance of her birthday by the Royal Family?
 
Usually a mention would be made in the Times of the celebration of the princess's birthday and that other members of the royal family and peerage paid their respects. This did not happen for an interval of a few years. I may be reading too much into this, but I think an inspection of baptismal records could be my next port of call. Any suggestions as to where the records for chapels at (e.g.) St James' Palace or Kew Palace would be found?
 
I doubt there would be a written record regarding a royal illegitimate child, at least not one with the names of the actual parents on it. Do you believe someone else claimed the child as theirs?
 
If such a child existed I doubt there would be records of its actual family. Most likely , it would be predecided to give it at birth to another family and their names would be those appearing on the records of both his birth and christening in order to cover all traces back to the Princess.
 
The child in question, who may have been Mary's, was adopted by a friend of the father's who placed the child as a border in a school near London and looked after his welfare from a very early age. The child was recognised by the father's family, but his mother would reveal nothing whatsoever about him to her son and even the stepfather left it to a paternal relative to reveal to the boy his father's identity. The son, in turn, kept quiet about the identity of his mother who was known to be very high born. The father had been deeply involved in the politics of the day and committed suicide shortly after the child's birth. N.B. Princess Sophie, I understand, had a natural child who was taken from her and placed with the father. This only came out as I remember when the son revealed his parentage in the courts and this information may otherwise have been lost to posterity.
 
Letters and documents from National Archives mostly.
 
The website Gogmsite.net has a painting of Mary with her son William in new content, but I can't find anything on him anywhere else. This may not even be her.
 
William would be right, I think. I shall look for it. Princess Mary isn't hard to identify. Thank you very much indeed.
The date doesn't look right (too early), but she does and the hand symbolism is telling. I think we may have a match.
.
 
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Like a Madonna and Child but no haloes and colours all wrong. A mother and child, but not a family portrait. No finger rings. No father or paternal heraldry. Child points at his mother who points with her left hand past her baby while looking heavenwards. Part II to follow
 
The heart on her head dress and breast probably refers to those found on the Hanoverian coat of arms. The parallel with a religious painting is apparently a disguise of a painting of a mother about to give up her natural son.
 
It's not Princess Mary I'm told, so back to the drawing board...
 
Was there another Princess Mary around this time (1798) of the right age? Just a thought.
 
Princess Mary had the distinction of being the only child of King George III to be photographed.

When King George III learned of his daughter Mary's attachment to Prince Frederick of Orange, the King decided that any such union must be postponed in favor of marrying Mary's three elder sisters off first. However in 1799 Prince Frederick died while on military service in Italy.
 
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Humfrey said:
It's not Princess Mary I'm told, so back to the drawing board...
Click to expand...

Is this the painting

1772 Mary, Duchess of Gloucester with her Son William by Pompeo Batoni (private collection) | Grand Ladies | gogm

If yes, it is the previous Duchess of Gloucester, her mother in law. Which makes it a painting of her husband. Her husband William's dad William Henry, George III's younger brother, married Walpole, an illegitamite child of Edward Walpole. Their secret marriage was 1 of 2 which led to the royal marriage act. Mary's husband was a 3rd child and born in 1776, so this 1777 painting makes sense.

Painting of Maria with 1 of his sisters
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria...nburgh#/media/File:Maria_Walpole_Reynolds.jpg

The lack of family symbols could be Maria's bastard status and secret marriage.
 
Humfrey's long gone, I think, as he posted this enquiry in 2011, but yes, I think it is a portrait of Maria, Duchess of Gloucester, formerly widow of Earl Waldegrave. Her hair and clothing in the portrait would have been wildly out of date for the 1790's and Mary of Gloucester but fits in well with a date of 1776. Maria had children with her previous husband and one son and two daughters with the Duke. However, one daughter died as a baby.

There were lots of rumours of course about the daughters as well as the sons of King George III, but it's doubtful that Mary ever had a child.
 
I didn't even notice dates, just saw thread pop up.:sad:

Maria had 6 kids, but only her 3 daughters from her 1st husband gave her grandkids. William's full sister who reached adulthood didn't marry. The current duke of Graftton is her 6 times great-grandson by her daughter Charlotte. Her daughter Anne was the 4th great-grandmother of Princess Diana via her granddaughter Adelaide Seymour who married the 4th Earl Spencer. Her eldest (in painting I posted) married the cousin who inherited her dad's title. The current earl Waldegrave is Maria's 4 time great grandson. Lady Susan Hussey, lady of the bed chamber to QEII is also, as she is the earl's sister.

Maria and her kids all were painted.
 
Curryong said:
Humfrey's long gone, I think, as he posted this enquiry in 2011, but yes, I think it is a portrait
There were lots of rumours of course about the daughters as well as the sons of King George III, but it's doubtful that Mary ever had a child.
Click to expand...

I agree. I think that had theire been a child for Mary, it would have leaked out, because there were so many rumours about the poor girls. The one that DID almost definitely become a" near scandal", Sophia, HAS been pretty much confirmed... that she had an illegitimate child.
I think that Princess Augusta possibly had a secret marriage to Brent Spencer...and Ameila was secretly engaged to some man whom I ca't remember now. But really given the wretched way they were treated, I am surprised that they didn't all go nuts.
 
Humfrey said:
The Times stops posting her birthday between 1997 and 1802 and she is "indisposed" quite a lot in the period. The rumour I've heard is of the son of a Scottish laird who died shortly afterwards. There may have even been a clandestine marriage. I'm searching...
Click to expand...

Do you have more information on this illegitimate child? And the identity of the Scottish father?
 
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