Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge

in the Royal Collection, 1846 Mary Adelaide was born on 27 November 1833 in the Kingdom of Hanover, German Confederation. Her father was Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, the youngest surviving son of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Her mother was Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel, the daughter of Prince Frederick of Hesse-Kassel. , 1860 Mary Adelaide spent the early years of her life in Hanover, where her father acted as viceroy, in place of her uncles George IV and later William IV. However, under Salic law, only patrilineal succession was allowed and this prevented Victoria from also ascending the throne of Hanover, which instead passed to Mary Adelaide's uncle, Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. Thus, the personal union between Britain and Hanover, which had existed for over a century, came to an end along with the arrangement of Hanover's ruler living in England as the British monarch and using a viceroy to represent him in Hanover. The Duke of Cumberland moved to Hanover as king and Mary Adelaide's father, no longer needed in Hanover, returned to London with his family, setting up residence in Kensington Palace. ==Marriage==

sits centre with his arm around the Duchess, Princess Mary (later Queen Mary), is seated at far right. By the age of 30, Mary Adelaide was still unmarried. At one point, King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy was thought of as a possible husband for Mary Adelaide. He had a scandalous reputation and was a notorious womaniser; it was said that whenever he visited a country, he went to the theatre and music halls and sent notes propositioning the chorus girls. His behaviour in England did little to enhance his reputation. Mary Adelaide's above-average weight (earning her the disparaging epithet of "Fat Mary") and lack of income were also considered to deter potential suitors, as was her advancing age. Eventually, a suitable candidate was found by the Prince of Wales and his wife Princess Alexandra on a visit to the Austrian court at Vienna in 1865. During the visit, they met and took a liking to a young officer in the Austrian Army, Prince Francis of Teck, a minor member of the royal family of Württemberg. Francis was of lower rank than Mary Adelaide, was 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. He was also considered to be "the most handsome man at the Austrian court", where he was known as , "the handsome cavalry officer". The Prince of Wales invited the young officer to visit the royal court in Britain, and upon Francis's arrival on 6 March 1866 arranged for him to meet Mary Adelaide. "The wooing was but a short affair", according to Mary Adelaide: the pair were introduced on 7 March, and a month later were engaged, much to the satisfaction of Mary Adelaide's family. "Everyone seemed to think it would do", Mary Adelaide's daughter May would later say, "and it did". The couple were married on 12 June 1866 at St Anne's Church, Kew, Surrey. The Duke and Duchess of Teck chose to reside in London rather than abroad, mainly because Mary Adelaide received £5,000 per annum as a parliamentary annuity and carried out royal duties. Her mother, the Duchess of Cambridge, also provided her with supplementary income. Requests to Queen Victoria for extra funds were generally refused; however, the Queen did provide the Tecks with apartments at Kensington Palace and White Lodge in Richmond Park as a country house. Mary Adelaide requested that her new husband be granted the style Royal Highness, but this was refused by Queen Victoria. The Queen did, however, promote Francis to the rank of Highness in 1887 in celebration of her Golden Jubilee. Children The Tecks had four children: ==Life abroad==

Despite the couple's modest income, Mary Adelaide had expensive tastes and lived an extravagant life of parties, expensive food and clothes and holidays abroad. In 1883 they were forced to live more cheaply abroad in order to reduce their debts. With their children, they travelled to Florence, Italy, and also stayed with relatives in Germany and Austria. Initially, they travelled under the names of the Count and Countess von Hohenstein. However, Mary Adelaide wished to travel in more style and reverted to her actual title, which commanded significantly more attention and better service. ==Later life and death==

The Tecks returned from their self-imposed exile in 1885 and continued to live at Kensington Palace and White Lodge in Richmond Park. She was buried on 3 November in the Royal Vault at St George's Chapel, Windsor. ==Titles, styles, honours and arms==

• 27 November 1833 – 12 June 1866: Her Royal Highness Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge • 12 June 1866 – 16 December 1871: Her Royal Highness The Princess of Teck or Her Royal Highness The Princess Mary Adelaide (The Princess of Teck) • 16 December 1871 – 27 October 1897: Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Teck As a male-line granddaughter of the British monarch, she was styled Her Royal Highness Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge at birth. As the male-line granddaughter of a king of Hanover, Princess Mary Adelaide also bore the titles of Princess of Hanover and Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Honours ==Ancestors==