She was born at York Cottage, on the Sandringham estate, the third child and only daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York, the future King George V and Queen Mary. Her siblings were Prince Edward (later Edward VIII and Duke of Windsor, Albert (later King George VI), Henry, Duke of Gloucester , Prince George, Duke of Kent and Prince John. Her christening took place on June 7, 1897 at St. Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham estate. Her godparents included Queen Victoria, King George I of Greece, the Dowager Empress of Russia, the Prince and Princess of Wales, Princess Victoria of Wales, Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck and Prince Francis of Teck.
She was extremely shy but she was her father's favourite child. Cooking was a favourite pastime and she enjoyed working the model dairy that her grandmother Queen Alexandra had set up at Sandringham, milking the cows, churning the milk, and making little pats of butter for her father's breakfast. She had her own school room, sharing her lessons with the younger daughters of the Duke of Devonshire. She studied piano and singing and shared drill classes with her brothers. Quick and intelligent, she was an excellent rider, and a good linguist, fluent in French and German.
During the First World War she was active in welfare organizations, particularly involved in projects to provide comfort to troops. This concern led to the creation of the Princess Mary gift box which was sent out to troops in Christmas 1914. These boxes contained one ounce of pipe tobacco, twenty cigarettes, a pipe, a tinder lighter, a Christmas card from the King and Queen and a photograph of Princess Mary. Non-smokers received a box containing a packet of acid tablets, a khaki writing case containing pencil, paper and envelopes together with the Christmas card and photograph. Princess Mary also took a nursing course and in 1918 went to work at the Great Ormond Street Hospital.
In 1922 she married Henry, Viscount Lascelles, a man 15 years her senior at Wesminster Abbey. At first they made their home at Goldsborough Hall, near Knaresborough. Seven years after their wedding, Lord Lascelles succeeded his father as the sixth Earl of Harewood and they moved into Harewood House. Princess Mary loved Yorkshire and she was known as the 'Yorkshire Princess'. They had two sons, George the present Earl of Harewood, born in 1922 and Gerald born in 1923.Her public duties reflected a particular concern with nursing, the Women's Services and the Girl Guide movement. She was appointed Commandant in Chief of the British Red Cross Detachments in 1926 and she also became Colonel-in-chief' of a number of regiments. Following the death of her aunt, Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife, she was created Princess Royal by her father on January 1, 1932.
At the outbreak of World War II, the Princess Royal became chief controller and later controller commandant of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS, renamed the Women's Royal Army Corp in 1949). In that capacity she travelled Britain visiting its units, as well as wartime canteens and other welfare organizations.
After her husband's death in 1947, she continued to live at Harewood house with her son and his family. She became Chancellor of Leeds University in 1951, and continued to carry out many duties at home and abroad, representing the Queen at the independence celebrations of Trinidad in 1962 and Zambia in 1964. During a trip to Canada in 1962 she became the first woman to be installed as an honorary bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada. Upon receiving this honor she said 'I have not been a great lawyer, but I'm fast becoming one'. One of her last official engagements was to represent the Queen at the funeral of Queen Louise of Sweden in early March 1965.
She died suddenly of a heart attack on March 28, 1965 while walking in the garden with her eldest son and his family. She is buried on the Harewood estate.
© Marilyn Braun 2006
11 comments:
When I saw the title, teh name of Mary Tudor came to my mind. Mary Tudor was a very tough woman and it seems that Alexandra Alice Mary is just the opposite. Thanks for writing about Princess Mary. I did not know about her. From your writing, I felt that she was a nice person.
By all accounts that I've read of her, she was a nice person.
I know pretty much nothing about the royals of any country, so this is a real education to me.
Mary certainly does not portray the stereotypical image of princess=spoiled useless incapable person. She sounds extremely capable and qualified and, more than that, busy.
Thanks. :)
Yes, she made the role of princess something more than decorative and ornamental. I get the impression that to do otherwise wasn't really her style.
I find that the royal family tend to rise to the occasion in times of national crisis. The present Queen, when she was Princess Elizabeth, was (and remains), the only royal female to take part in the services during the war. All other royal females have held honorary positions.
I am so bookmarking your page for reference info :). Awesome post.
Her interests in charity/welfare groups reminds me somewhat of Diana. Was Mary one of the first to embrace the concept of 'giving back' to the people, or has that been tradition for a much longer time?
Also, the portrait of Mary seems to be a pretty good likeness--I found a few photos at the official Harewood site:
http://www.harewood.org/
Thanks for another cool post, Marilyn! :)
(PS -- Have you gotten any closer to choosing a name yet?)
It sounds like Princess Mary made substantial contributions to her fellow countrymen. She would be a good example to many. Great post.
No, Mary wasn't the first royal family member to embrace the concept of giving back. There were several before her:
Princess Alice, daugthter of Queen Victoria - was very involved in nursing, education, health of women and the welfare of her adopted country. She founded an organization Alice Frauenvereins (women's society) for Nursing in the Grand Duchy of Hesse.
Alice passed her concerns for the welfare of others to her daughters as well: Her daughter, Grand Duchess Elizaveta of Russia became a nun and helped others. She was later made a saint.
Her other daughter, Alix (later Tsarina Alexandra), founded a hospital (Tsarskoe Selo Palace Hospital) in 1914 and with her daughters was very active in nursing wounded soldiers.
Queen Marie of Romania nursed the wounded during WW1
Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden, during WW1, worked on behalf of prisoners, helped pass on private letters and requests to trace men missing in action. She organized a sewing society for the Red Cross, and a candle collection when supplies ran low.
I'm sure the list could go on and on....
Nancy, as for a name, we're still discussing - your list of royal names certainly helps out a lot!
Another well-done bio, Marilyn. Sounds like she was a very "down to earth" lady.
Do you happen to know the artist who did the portrait of her?
Thanks Bill :)
The portrait of Princess Mary is by Sir Oswald Birley. It was painted in 1922.
Wonderful, informative post. I linked to your fine prose in my own post today.
Well done!
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