February 6, 1952: Death of King George VI of the United Kingdom, Emperor of India.

Tags

Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge, Duke of York, Emperor of India, King George V of the United Kingdom, King George VI of the United Kingdom, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Prince Albert of York. King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, Princess Mary of Teck, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; December 14, 1895 – February 6, 1952) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from December 11, 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of India from 1936 until the British Raj was dissolved in August 1947, and the first Head of the Commonwealth following the London Declaration of 1949.

King George VI of the United Kingdom and Emperor of India

The future George VI was born at York Cottage, on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, during the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

His father was Prince George, Duke of York (later King George V), the second and only surviving son of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, Princess of Denmark).

His mother, Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, the Duchess of York (later Queen Mary), was the eldest child and only daughter of Francis, Duke of Teck, and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, Duchess of Teck.

Queen Victoria with her great-grandchildren. In front is Prince Albert.

Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge was a daughter of Prince Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge the tenth child and seventh son of King George III of the United Kingdom and Queen Charlotte (born a Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz).

King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (right) together with his son Prince George, the Prince of Wales, later George V (left), and his grandsons, Prince Edward of Wales, later Edward VIII, and Prince Albert of Wales, later George VI.

Prince Adolphus Frederick was married to Princess and Landgravine Augusta of Hesse-Cassel, third daughter of Prince Friedrich of Hesse-Cassel, and his wife, Princess Caroline of Nassau-Usingen. Through her father, Princess Augusta of Hesse-Cassel, was a great-granddaughter of King George II of Great Britain, her grandmother being George II’s daughter Mary.

Prince Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge

This made Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge a first cousin to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Princess Augusta of Hesse-Cassel, Duchess of Cambridge

Prince Albert’s birthday, December 14, 1895, was the 34th anniversary of the death of his great-grandfather Albert, Prince Consort, Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

Prince George, Duke of York (George V)

Victoria Mary of Teck, Duchess of York (Queen Mary)

Uncertain of how the Prince Consort’s widow, Queen Victoria, would take the news of the birth, the Prince of Wales wrote to the Duke of York that the Queen had been “rather distressed”. Two days later, he wrote again: “I really think it would gratify her if you yourself proposed the name Albert to her.”

Albert and Elizabeth, Duke and Duchess of York

The Queen was mollified by the proposal to name the new baby Albert, and wrote to the Duchess of York: “I am all impatience to see the new one, born on such a sad day but rather more dear to me, especially as he will be called by that dear name which is a byword for all that is great and good.”

Consequently, he was baptised “Albert Frederick Arthur George” at St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham on February 17, 1896. Formally he was His Highness Prince Albert of York; within the royal family he was known informally as “Bertie”. On May 28, 1898 Queen Victoria issued Letters Patent elevating the styles of the children of the Duke of York (including Prince Albert) from His/Highness to His/Her Royal Highness.

Albert and Elizabeth, Duke and Duchess of York

The Duchess of Teck did not like the first name her grandson had been given, and she wrote prophetically that she hoped the last name “may supplant the less favoured one”. Albert was fourth in line to the throne at birth, after his grandfather, father and elder brother, Edward.

His father ascended the throne as King George V in 1910. As the second son of the king, Albert was not expected to inherit the throne.

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at the time of thier Coronation

Prince Albert spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother, Prince Edward, the heir apparent. Albert attended naval college as a teenager and served in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force during the First World War. In 1920, he was made Duke of York.

He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923. Lady Bowes-Lyon was the youngest daughter and the ninth of ten children of Claude Bowes-Lyon, the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne in the Peerage of Scotland, and his wife, Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck. Her mother was descended from British Prime Minister William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, and Governor-General of India Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, who was the elder brother of another prime minister, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.

They had two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret. In the mid-1920s, he engaged speech therapist Lionel Logue to treat his stammer, which he learned to manage to some degree.

King George VI and his daughters The Princess Margaret and The Princess Elizabeth

His elder brother ascended the throne as King Edward VIII after their father died in 1936, but Edward abdicated later that year to marry the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. As heir presumptive to Edward VIII, Albert thereby became the third monarch of the House of Windsor, taking the regnal name George VI to show continuity within the Monarchy.

In September 1939, the British Empire and most Commonwealth countries—but not Ireland—declared war on Nazi Germany. War with the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Japan followed in 1940 and 1941, respectively. King George VI was seen as sharing the hardships of the common people and his popularity soared.

King George VI and his daughters The Princess Elizabeth and The Princess Margaret

Buckingham Palace was bombed during the Blitz while the King and Queen were there, and his younger brother the Prince George the Duke of Kent was killed on active service. King George VI became known as a symbol of British determination to win the war. Britain and its allies were victorious in 1945, but the British Empire declined.

Ireland had largely broken away, followed by the independence of India and Pakistan in 1948. King George VI relinquished the title of Emperor of India in June 1948 and instead adopted the new title of Head of the Commonwealth.

King George VI of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

King George VI was beset by smoking-related health problems in the later years of his reign and died of a coronary thrombosis in 1952. He was succeeded by his elder daughter, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.

King Charles III of the United Kingdom is his grandson.

December 14, 1895: Birth of George VI, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Emperor of India

Tags

Emperor of India, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, King George V of the United Kingdom, King George VI of the United Kingdom, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Mary, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, The Duke of Windsor, The Princess Elizabeth

George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was concurrently the last Emperor of India until August 1947, when the British Raj was dissolved.

King George VI of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Emperor of India

The future George VI was born at York Cottage, on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, during the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria. His father was Prince George, Duke of York (later King George V), the second and only surviving son of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra).

His mother, Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, the Duchess of York (later Queen Mary), was the eldest child and only daughter of Francis, Duke of Teck, and Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, Duchess of Teck.

His Maternal grandmother, Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, was the daughter of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, and Princess Augusta of Hesse-Cassel.
Prince Adolphus was the seventh son of King George III and Queen Charlotte.

His birthday, December 14, 1895, was the 34th anniversary of the death of his great-grandfather Albert, Prince Consort. Uncertain of how the Prince Consort’s widow, Queen Victoria, would take the news of the birth, the Prince of Wales wrote to the Duke of York that the Queen had been “rather distressed”. Two days later, he wrote again: “I really think it would gratify her if you yourself proposed the name Albert to her.”

The Queen was mollified by the proposal to name the new baby Albert, and wrote to the Duchess of York: “I am all impatience to see the new one, born on such a sad day but rather more dear to me, especially as he will be called by that dear name which is a byword for all that is great and good.”

Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Duchess of York, Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mother

Consequently, he was baptised “Albert Frederick Arthur George” at St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham on February 17, 1896. Formally he was His Highness Prince Albert of York; within the family he was known informally as “Bertie”. The Duchess of Teck did not like the first name her grandson had been given, and she wrote prophetically that she hoped the last name “may supplant the less favoured one”. Albert was fourth in line to the throne at birth, after his grandfather, father and elder brother, Edward.

Queen Victoria died on January 22, 1901, and the Prince of Wales succeeded her as King Edward VII. Prince Albert moved up to third in line to the throne, after his father and elder brother.

King Edward VII reigned for 9 years and died on May 6, 1910. Prince Albert’s father ascended the throne as George V. As the second son of the king, Albert was not expected to inherit the throne. He spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother, Prince Edward, the heir apparent.

Albert attended naval college as a teenager and served in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force during the First World War. In 1920, he was made Duke of York. He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923, and they had two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret. In the mid-1920s, he engaged speech therapist Lionel Logue to treat his stammer, which he learned to manage to some degree.

The Duke and Duchess of York

His elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII after their father died in 1936, but Edward abdicated later that year to marry the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. As heir presumptive to Edward VIII, Albert thereby became the third monarch of the House of Windsor, taking the regnal name George VI.

In September 1939, the British Empire and most Commonwealth countries—but not Ireland—declared war on Nazi Germany. War with the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Japan followed in 1940 and 1941, respectively.

George VI was seen as sharing the hardships of the common people and his popularity soared. Buckingham Palace was bombed during the Blitz while the King and Queen were there, and his younger brother, Prince George, the Duke of Kent was killed on active service.

King George VI with his eldest daughter and heiress presumptive, The Princess Elizabeth

King George VI became known as a symbol of British determination to win the war. Britain and its allies were victorious in 1945, but the British Empire declined. Ireland had largely broken away, followed by the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947. George relinquished the title of Emperor of India in June 1948 and instead adopted the new title of Head of the Commonwealth.

He was beset by smoking-related health problems in the later years of his reign and died of a coronary thrombosis in 1952. He was succeeded by his elder daughter, Queen Elizabeth II.

Titles of Royalty and Nobility within the British Monarchy: Marquess

Tags

1st Marquess of Milford Haven, First Sea Lord, King George V of the United Kingdom, Lord Louis Mountbatten, Marquess, Marquis, Peerage of the United Kingdom, Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

A marquess is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. Marquess (from the French marquis, march). This is a reference to the Marches (borders) between Wales, England and Scotland.

The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or widow) of a marquess is a marchioness or marquise. The children’s titles are the same as those of a duke’s children (Lord and Lady). These titles are also used to translate equivalent Asian styles, as in Imperial China and Imperial Japan.

A marquess is addressed as ‘Lord followed by thier first name.

United Kingdom

In Great Britain, and historically in Ireland, the correct spelling of the aristocratic title of this rank is marquess (although on the European mainland and in Canada, the French spelling of marquis is used in English).

In Scotland, the French spelling is also sometimes used. In Great Britain and historically in Ireland, the title ranks below a Duke and above an Earl.

The theoretical distinction between a marquess and other titles has, since the Middle Ages, faded into obscurity. In times past, the distinction between a count and a marquess was that the land of a marquess, called a march, was on the border of the country, while a count’s land, called a county, often was not.

As a result of this, a marquess was trusted to defend and fortify against potentially hostile neighbors and was thus more important and ranked higher than a count. As mentioned the title is ranked below that of a duke, which was often, for a time, was largely restricted to the royal family.

The rank of marquess was a relatively late introduction to the British peerage: no marcher lords had the rank of Marquess, though some were Earls. On the evening of the Coronation of Queen Victoria in 1838, the Prime Minister Lord Melbourne explained to her why (from her journals):

I spoke to [Lord Melbourne] about the numbers of Peers present at the Coronation, & he said it was quite unprecedented. I observed that there were very few Viscounts, to which he replied “There are very few Viscounts,” that they were an old sort of title & not really English; that they came from Vice-Comites; that Dukes & Barons were the only real English titles; – that Marquises were likewise not English, & that people were mere made Marquises, when it was not wished that they should be made Dukes.

One of the most well known Marquees was the form Prince Louis of Battenberg who became Lord Louis Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Milford-Haven.

Louis Alexander of Battenberg was born in Graz, Styria, on May 24, 1854, the eldest son of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine by his morganatic marriage to Countess Julia von Hauke. Because of his morganatic parentage, Louis did not inherit his father’s rank in the Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine; and, from birth, his style of Illustrious Highness and title of Count of Battenberg instead derived from the rank given to his mother at the time of her marriage.

On December 26, 1858, he automatically became His Serene Highness Prince Louis of Battenberg when his mother was elevated to Princess of Battenberg with the style of Serene Highness, by decree of her husband’s brother, Ludwig III, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine.

On April 30, 1884 at Darmstadt in the presence of Queen Victoria, Prince Louis married her granddaughter, Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine.

HSH Prince Louis of Battenberg

His wife was the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria’s second daughter Princess Alice and Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine. Through the Hesse family, Prince and Princess Louis of Battenberg were first cousins once removed. They had known each other since childhood, and invariably spoke English to each other. As wedding presents Louis received the British Order of the Bath and the Star and Chain of the Hessian Order of Louis.

After a naval career lasting more than forty years, in 1912 he was appointed First Sea Lord, the professional head of the British naval service. With the First World War looming, he took steps to ready the British fleet for combat, but his background as a German prince forced his retirement once the war began.

During the war, persistent rumours that the British Royal Family must be pro-German, given their dynastic origins and many German relatives, prompted the King to abandon his subsidiary German dynastic titles and adopt an English surname.

At the behest of the King, Louis relinquished the title Prince of Battenberg in the Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, along with the style of Serene Highness, on July 14, 1917. At the same time, Louis anglicised his family name, changing it from “Battenberg” to “Mountbatten”, having considered but rejected “Battenhill” as an alternative.

Lord Louis Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Milford Haven, First Sea Lord

On November 7, King George V created him Marquess of Milford Haven, Earl of Medina, and Viscount Alderney in the peerage of the United Kingdom. He was offered a Dukedom by George V, but declined as he could not afford the lavish lifestyle expected of a Duke.

Louis’s wife ceased to use her own title of Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine and became known as the Marchioness of Milford Haven. His three younger children ceased to use their princely titles and assumed courtesy titles as children of a British marquess; his eldest daughter, Princess Alice, had married into the Greek Royal Family in 1903, and never had occasion to use the surname Mountbatten. However, her only son, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, adopted the name when he became a British subject in 1947.

While the transition in names and titles was being effected, Louis spent some time at the home of his eldest son, George. After anglicising his surname to Mountbatten and becoming Marquess of Milford Haven, Louis wrote in his son’s guestbook, “Arrived Prince Hyde, Departed Lord Jekyll”.

The Marquees of Milford Haven was the maternal grandfather of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Queen Elizabeth II and the great-grandfather of King Charles III.

June 22, 1948: King George VI formally gives up the title “Emperor of India” Part II.

Tags

Delhi Sugar, Dominion of India, Empire of India, Imperial Crown of India, Indian Independence Act 1947, King George V of the United Kingdom, King George VI of the United Kingdom, Pakistan

When Edward VII ascended to the throne on January 22, 1901, he continued the imperial tradition laid down by his mother, Queen Victoria, by adopting the title Emperor of India. Three subsequent British monarchs followed in his footsteps.

The first emperor to visit India was George V. For his imperial coronation ceremony at the Delhi Durbar, the Imperial Crown of India was created. The Crown weighs 920 g (2.03 lb) and is set with 6,170 diamonds, 9 emeralds, 4 rubies, and 4 sapphires. At the front is a very fine emerald weighing 32 carats (6.4 g). The king wrote in his diary that it was heavy and uncomfortable to wear: “Rather tired after wearing my crown for 3+1⁄2 hours; it hurt my head, as it is pretty heavy.”

The title “Emperor of India” did not disappear when British India became the Dominion of India (1947–1950) and Dominion of Pakistan (1947–1952) after independence in 1947.

George VI retained the title until June 22, 1948, the date of a Royal Proclamation made in accordance with Section 7 (2) of the Indian Independence Act 1947, reading: “The assent of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is hereby given to the omission from the Royal Style and Titles of the words “Indiae Imperator” and the words “Emperor of India” and to the issue by His Majesty for that purpose of His Royal Proclamation under the Great Seal of the Realm.”

Thereafter, George VI remained monarch of Pakistan until his death in 1952 and of India until it became the Republic of India in 1950.

May 26, 1867: Birth of Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, Queen Consort of the United Kingdom, Empress of India

Tags

Albert Victor of Clarence and Avondale, Duke of Teck, Francis, King George V of the United Kingdom, Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

Princess Victoria Mary (“May”) of Teck was born on May 26, 1867 at Kensington Palace, London, in the same room where Queen Victoria, her first cousin once removed, had been born 48 years and 2 days earlier. Queen Victoria came to visit the baby, writing that she was “a very fine one, with pretty little features and a quantity of hair”.

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, a granddaughter of King George III and 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 July 27, 1867 by Charles Thomas Longley, Archbishop of Canterbury. From an early age, she was known to her family, friends and the public by the diminutive name of “May”, after her birth month.

May’s upbringing was “merry but fairly strict”. She was the eldest of four children, and the only daughter, and “learned to exercise her native discretion, firmness, and tact” by resolving her three younger brothers’ petty boyhood squabbles.

They played with their cousins, the children of the Prince of Wales, who were similar in age. She grew up at Kensington Palace and White Lodge, in Richmond Park, which was granted by Queen Victoria on permanent loan.

HRH The Duke of Clarence and Avondale and HSH Princess Victoria Mary of Teck

She was educated at home by her mother and governess (as were her brothers until they were sent to boarding schools). The Duchess of Teck spent an unusually long time with her children for a lady of her time and class, and enlisted May in various charitable endeavours, which included visiting the tenements of the poor.

Although May was a great-grandchild of George III, she 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.

The Duchess of Teck was granted a parliamentary annuity of £5,000 and received about £4,000 a year from her mother, the Duchess of Cambridge, but she donated lavishly to dozens of charities. Prince Francis was deeply in debt and moved his family abroad with a small staff in 1883, in order to economise. They travelled throughout Europe, visiting their various relations. For a time they stayed in Florence, Italy, where May enjoyed visiting the art galleries, churches, and museums. She was fluent in English, German, and French.

At the age of 24, she was betrothed to her second cousin once removed Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, the eldest son of the Prince of Wales and Princess Alexandra of Denmark (future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra), but six weeks after the announcement of the engagement, he died unexpectedly during an influenza pandemic.

The following year, she became engaged to Albert Victor’s only surviving brother, George, who subsequently became king. Before her husband’s accession, she was successively Duchess of York, Duchess of Cornwall, and Princess of Wales.

As Queen Consort from 1910, Mary supported her husband through the First World War, his ill health, and major political changes arising from the aftermath of the war. After George’s death in 1936, she became queen mother when her eldest son, Edward VIII, ascended the throne.

To her dismay, he abdicated later the same year in order to marry twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson.She supported her second son, Prince Albert, Duke of York, who assumed the throne as King George VI, in the wake of his brothers Abdication. He was King until his death in 1952.He was succeeded by his eldest daughter and Queen Mary’s granddaughter, Elizabeth II.The death of a third child profoundly affected her.

Mary remarked to Princess Marie Louise: “I have lost three sons through death, but I have never been privileged to be there to say a last farewell to them.”

Other than losing her second son George VI in 1952, she lost Prince John (1905 – 1919) her fifth son and youngest of her six children, when he of died at Sandringham in 1919, following a severe seizure, and was buried at nearby St Mary Magdalene Church.

She was also preceded by Prince George, Duke of Kent (1902 – 1942) her fourth son who was killed in a military air-crash on August 25, 1942.

Mary died on March 24, 1953 in her sleep at the age of 85, ten weeks before her granddaughter’s coronation. She had let it be known that should she die, the coronation should not 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 Castle. Sir Henry “Chips” Channon, (1897 – 1958), was an American-born British Conservative politician, author and diarist. He wrote about Queen Mary, that she was “above politics … magnificent, humorous, worldly, in fact nearly sublime, though cold and hard. But what a grand Queen.”

May 3, 1870: Birth of Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg

Tags

House of Windsor, King George V of the United Kingdom, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, Princess Helen Victoria of Schleswig-HolsteinSchleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, Princess Helena of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Royal Titles, YWCA

Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (Victoria Louise Sophia Augusta Amelia Helena; May 3, 1870 – March 13, 1948) was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. From 1917 her name was simply Princess Helena Victoria.

Princess Helena Victoria (always known to her family as Thora) was born at Frogmore House, near Windsor Castle. Her father was Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, the third son of Christian August II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg
and Countess Louise af Danneskjold-Samsøe.

Her mother was Princess Helena, the fifth child and third daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her parents resided in Britain from marriage.

She was baptised in the private chapel at Windsor Castle on June 20, 1870. Her godparents were Queen Victoria, the Duchess of Cambridge (former Princess Augusta of Hesse-Cassel), Princess Louise, Prince Arthur, Prince Leopold, Prince Valdemar of Denmark, Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar, Princess Louise Auguste of Schleswig-Holstein and Princess Caroline Amelie of Schleswig-Holstein (the latter two represented by the Duchess of Roxburghe).

She was a bridesmaid at the 1885 wedding of her maternal aunt Princess Beatrice to Prince Henry of Battenberg and also at the wedding of her cousins the Duke and Duchess of York (future George V and Queen Mary) in 1893.

She spent most of her childhood at Cumberland Lodge, her father’s residence as Ranger of Windsor Great Park. Known to her family as “Thora”, or sometimes “Snipe”, in reference to her sharp facial features, formally she used the names “Helena Victoria” from among her string of six given names.

First World War

As a male-line granddaughter of the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, Princess Helena Victoria would have been styled Serene Highness (Durchlaucht) in the German Empire.

In May 1866, Queen Victoria had conferred the higher style of Highness upon any children to be born of the marriage of Princess Helena and Prince Christian, although the children were to remain Prince or Princess of Schleswig-Holstein.

In June 1917, a notice appeared in the Court Circular that a Royal Warrant was to be prepared by George V dispensing with his cousins’ use of the “Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg” part of their titles.

However no warrant was issued, nor were they formally granted the titles of Princesses of Great Britain and Ireland nor of the United Kingdom in their own right.

In July 1917, King George V changed the name of the British royal family to the House of Windsor. He also relinquished, on behalf of himself and his numerous cousins who were British subjects, the use of their German titles, styles, and surnames. Princess Helena Victoria and her younger sister, Princess Marie Louise, thereupon ceased to use the territorial designation “of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg.”

Instead, they became known simply as “Her Highness Princess Helena Victoria” and “Her Highness Princess Marie Louise”. Although the two had borne German titles, their upbringing and domicile were entirely English.

Later life

Princess Helena Victoria never married. She followed her mother’s example in working for various charitable organizations, most notably YMCA, Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) and Princess Christian’s Nursing Home at Windsor. During World War I, she founded the YWCA Women’s Auxiliary Force. As its president, she visited British troops in France and obtained the permission of the Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener, to arrange entertainments for them.

Between the world wars, she and her sister, Princess Marie Louise, were enthusiastic patrons of music at Schomberg House, their London residence. After a German air raid damaged the house in 1940, the two princesses moved to Fitzmaurice Place, Berkeley Square.

In ill health and a wheelchair user after World War II, Princess Helena Victoria made one of her last major appearances at the November 20, 1947 wedding of her first cousin twice removed Princess Elizabeth, to Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark.

Princess Helena Victoria died at Fitzmaurice Place, Berkeley Square. Her funeral took place at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor and she was buried at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore, Windsor Great Park. She died at the age of 77, the same age at which her mother, Princess Helena, had also died.

Happy 96th Birthday to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Tags

14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, George VI of the United Kingdom, King George V of the United Kingdom, Philip Mountbatten, Platinum Jubilee, Prince of Greece and Denmark, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

“Throughout all my life and with all my heart I shall strive to be worthy of your trust” – Queen Elizabeth II

Happy 96th Birthday to our gracious & dignified Queen!!

Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born April 21, 1926) is Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and 14 other Commonwealth realms.

Elizabeth was born at 02:40 (GMT) on April 21, 1926 during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King George V. Her father, Prince Albert, the Duke of York (later King George VI), was the second son of the King. Her mother, the Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother), was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne.

Her father acceded to the throne in 1936 upon the abdication of his brother, King Edward VIII, making Elizabeth the heir presumptive. She was educated privately at home and began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service.

In November 1947, she married Philip Mountbatten, a former Prince of Greece and Denmark, and their marriage lasted 73 years until Philip’s death in 2021. They had four children: Charles, Prince of Wales; Anne, Princess Royal; Prince Andrew, Duke of York; and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.

When her father died in February 1952, Elizabeth—then 25 years old—became queen regnant of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon, as well as Head of the Commonwealth.

Elizabeth II has reigned as a constitutional monarch through major political changes such as the Troubles in Northern Ireland, devolution in the United Kingdom, the decolonisation of Africa, and the United Kingdom’s accession to the European Communities and withdrawal from the European Union.

The number of her realms has varied over time as territories have gained independence, and as some realms have become republics. Her many historic visits and meetings include a state visit to the Republic of Ireland in 2011 and visits to or from five popes.

Significant events have included the Queen’s coronation in 1953 and the celebrations of her Silver, Golden, Diamond and Platinum jubilees in 1977, 2002, 2012, and 2022 respectively.

Elizabeth II is the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch, the longest-serving female head of state in history, the oldest living and longest-reigning current monarch, and the oldest and longest-serving incumbent head of state.

Elizabeth II has occasionally faced republican sentiment and press criticism of the royal family, particularly after the breakdown of her children’s marriages, her annus horribilis in 1992, and the death in 1997 of her former daughter-in-law Diana, Princess of Wales. However, support for the monarchy in the United Kingdom has been and remains consistently high, as does her personal popularity.

March 24, 1953: Death of Mary of Teck, Queen Consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India

Tags

Duke of Clarence and Avondale, Duke of Kent, King George V of the United Kingdom, King George VI of the United Kingdom, Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, Prince Albert Victor, Prince Francis, Princess Mary of Teck, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes; May 26, 1867 – March 24, 1953) was Queen Consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from May 6, 1910 until January 29, 1936 as the wife of King-Emperor George V.

HSH Princess Victoria Mary of Teck with her parents HRH Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge and HSH Prince Francis, Duke of Teck

Born and raised in the United Kingdom, 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, a granddaughter of King George III and the third child and younger daughter of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, and Princess Augusta of Hesse-Cassel.

Considered a minor member of the British royal family, she was informally known as “May”, after the month of her birth.At the age of 24, she was betrothed to her second cousin once removed Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, the eldest son of the Prince of Wales and Princess Alexandra of Denmark (future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra), but six weeks after the announcement of the engagement, he died unexpectedly during an influenza pandemic.

HRH The Duke of Clarence and Avondale and HSH Princess Victoria Mary of Teck

The following year, she became engaged to Albert Victor’s only surviving brother, George, who subsequently became king. Before her husband’s accession, she was successively Duchess of York, Duchess of Cornwall, and Princess of Wales.

As Queen Consort from 1910, Mary supported her husband through the First World War, his ill health, and major political changes arising from the aftermath of the war. After George’s death in 1936, she became queen mother when her eldest son, Edward VIII, ascended the throne.

To her dismay, he abdicated later the same year in order to marry twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson.She supported her second son, Prince Albert, Duke of York, who assumed the throne as King George VI, in the wake of his brothers Abdication. He was King until his death in 1952.He was succeeded by his eldest daughter and Queen Mary’s granddaughter, Elizabeth II.The death of a third child profoundly affected her.

Mary remarked to Princess Marie Louise: “I have lost three sons through death, but I have never been privileged to be there to say a last farewell to them.”

Portrait of Queen Mary by William Llewellyn, c. 1911

Other than losing her second son George VI in 1952, she lost Prince John (1905 – 1919) her fifth son and youngest of her six children, when he of died at Sandringham in 1919, following a severe seizure, and was buried at nearby St Mary Magdalene Church.

She was also preceded by Prince George, Duke of Kent (1902 – 1942) her fourth son who was killed in a military air-crash on August 25, 1942.

Mary died on March 24, 1953 in her sleep at the age of 85, ten weeks before her granddaughter’s coronation. She had let it be known that should she die, the coronation should not 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 Castle.Sir Henry “Chips” Channon, (1897 – 1958), was an American-born British Conservative politician, author and diarist. He wrote about Queen Mary, that she was “above politics … magnificent, humorous, worldly, in fact nearly sublime, though cold and hard. But what a grand Queen.”

January 23, 1906: Birth of HSH Princess May of Teck

Tags

Alexander of Teck, Cambridge, Countess of Athlone, Earl of Athlone, King George V of the United Kingdom, Lady May Able Smith, Princess Alice of Albany, Princess May of Teck, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Mary

Lady May Smith (formerly Lady May Cambridge, née Princess May Helen Emma Abel of Teck; January 23, 1906 – May 29, 1994) was a relative of the British royal family. She was a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and a niece of Queen Mary.

She was born as Her Serene Highness Princess May Helen Emma of Teck at Claremont House, near Esher in Surrey, England. Her parents were Prince Alexander of Teck, great-grandson of King George III, and the former Princess Alice of Albany, granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

She was named May after her paternal aunt Princess Mary of Teck who was married to King George V, Helen after her maternal grandmother Princess Helena, Duchess of Albany and Emma after her maternal great-aunt Queen Emma of the Netherlands.

During the First World War, anti-German feeling led her family to abandon their German titles. Princess May of Teck thus became known as Lady May Cambridge, after her father assumed the last name Cambridge and was granted the Earldom of Athlone.

Lady May served as a bridesmaid in 1919 to Princess Patricia of Connaught; in 1922 to her first cousin Princess Mary; and in 1923 to Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon on her marriage to Mary’s brother the Duke of York (later King George VI).

Marriage

Lady May married Sir Henry Abel Smith on 24 October 1931 in Balcombe, Sussex, close to the Athlone residence at Brantridge Park. One of the bridesmaids, Princess Ingrid of Sweden, introduced her brother Prince Gustaf Adolf to his future wife, Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who was also a bridesmaid. Elizabeth II attended her wedding as a bridesmaid at the age of 5.

Sir Henry and Lady May Abel Smith were married for over 60 years.

Lady May, being only a distant relative of the royal family, did not carry out any royal duties. She attended some major royal events such as the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer.

Between 1958 and 1966, Sir Henry Abel Smith served as the governor of Queensland. Lady May accompanied him to Brisbane as vice-regal consort. They retired in 1975 to Barton Lodge at Winkfield in Berkshire, England.

Lady May died in hospital one year after her husband. They are both buried at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore, not far from Windsor Castle. Her funeral was held at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, Windsor, on June 9, 1994. It was attended by the Duke of Gloucester and Princess Alexandra, representing the royal family.

June 4, 1941: Death of German Emperor Wilhelm II

Tags

Doorn, German Emperor, King George V of the United Kingdom, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, Wilhelm II of Germany

Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; January 27, 1859 – June 4, 1941) was the last German Emperor (Kaiser) and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from June 15, 1888 to his abdication November 9, 1918. He was the eldest grandchild of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and related to many monarchs and princes of Europe, most notably King George V of the United Kingdom and Emperor Nicholas II of Russia.

After abdicating at the end of World War I on the night of November 10th the Kaiser left Spa by train to seek asylum in the Netherlands. He was granted asylum by Queen Wilhelmina.

Wilhelm first settled in Amerongen, where on November 28, he issued a belated statement of abdication from both the Prussian and imperial thrones, thus formally ending the Hohenzollerns’ 500-year rule over Prussia. Accepting the reality that he had lost both of his crowns for good, he gave up his rights to “the throne of Prussia and to the German Imperial throne connected therewith.”

He also released his soldiers and officials in both Prussia and the empire from their oath of loyalty to him. He purchased a country house in the municipality of Doorn, known as Huis Doorn, and moved in on May 15, 1920.

His cousin, George V of the United Kingdom, called him the worst criminal in history. Many nations called for his extradition and wanted the Kaiser hung for war crimes. Eventually even president Wilson agreed that to extradite the Kaiser would destabilize the tentative peace.

In 1922, Wilhelm published the first volume of his memoirs—a very slim volume that insisted he was not guilty of initiating the Great War, and defended his conduct throughout his reign, especially in matters of foreign policy. For the remaining twenty years of his life, he entertained guests (often of some standing) and kept himself updated on events in Europe. He grew a beard and allowed his famous moustache to droop, adopting a style very similar to that of his cousins King George V and Tsar Nicholas II.

He also learned the Dutch language. Wilhelm developed a penchant for archaeology while residing at the Corfu Achilleion, excavating at the site of the Temple of Artemis in Corfu, a passion he retained in his exile. He had bought the former Greek residence of Empress Elisabeth after her murder in 1898. He also sketched plans for grand buildings and battleships when he was bored.

In exile, one of Wilhelm’s greatest passions was hunting, and he killed thousands of animals, both beast and bird. Much of his time was spent chopping wood and thousands of trees were chopped down during his stay at Doorn

Wilhelm died of a pulmonary embolus in Doorn, Netherlands, on June 4, 1941, at the age of 82, just weeks before the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union.

Despite his personal animosity toward Wilhelm, Hitler wanted to bring his body back to Berlin for a state funeral, as Wilhelm was a symbol of Germany and Germans during the previous World War. Hitler felt that such a funeral would demonstrate to the Germans the direct descent of the Third Reich from the old German Empire.

However, Wilhelm’s wishes never to return to Germany until the restoration of the monarchy were respected, and the Nazi occupation authorities granted him a small military funeral, with a few hundred people present.

Wilhelm was buried in a mausoleum in the grounds of Huis Doorn, which has since become a place of pilgrimage for German monarchists. A few of these gather there every year on the anniversary of his death to pay their A few of these gather there every year on the anniversary of his death to pay their homage to the last German Emperor.