HISTORICAL SNACK

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Little is known about the tragic history behind Queen Mary’s first engagement. Yep, that is correct. Queen Mary, the current Queen’s paternal grandmother, a royal super highness, was engaged once before she married her husband of 43 years King George V. But to whom? And what the teck (pun intended) happened?

Let’s start from the beginning to unfold the tragic story behind Queen Mary’s past that will leave you wondering on many levels.

Grab your mug, get comfy and enjoy!

Queen Victoria – the matchmaker

It is the year 1891, and Queen Victoria did what she liked best: Looking for possible matches for her steadily growing brood of children and grandchildren. There are numerous accounts of her browsing the royal almanacs for suitable wedding candidates across Europe. And as Queen and Empress she was demanding: All candidates were required to have an impeccable royal pedigree and good looks.

On one of these occasions, Victoria stumbled upon a picture of Mary of Teck. Immediately she was fond of the young lady and her delicate features and generously “overlooked” the fact that Mary of Teck was of “minor” royal status. By today’s standards this is absolutely absurd: Mary was one of King George’s III. granddaughters. Only because her father, Duke Francis of Teck, was a minor German aristocrat, she was classified as such.

But Queen Victoria, known for obsession with looks, didn’t care. For her, Mary of Teck was deemed an ideal match for no other than her grandson Prince Albert Victor, the Duke of Clarence and Avondale and the future king of England. The Duke of Clarence was second in line to the throne after Victoria’s eldest son and heir Prince Albert Edward.

Courtship

Things went pretty quickly back then. And it is surprising to see how much say a grandmother had when it came to choosing a future bride. This was a classic arranged marriage in the making when Prince Albert and Mary of Teck met. There is not much information about the actual courtship other than that the young royals being fond of each other. That was enough. The wedding day was scheduled for February 1892.

It was rumored that Mary had little choice in all of this because her family had some financial problems. Her father was deeply indebted and had no inheritance coming his way. The Tecks couldn’t really afford a royal lifestyle and even moved abroad in 1883 to live with relations all across Europe only to return to England two years later. Marrying the future King of England would save her family financially and so she agreed when the Duke of Clarence proposed to her on December 3, 1891. Of course, there must have been mutual affection too. No denying that.

circa 1890: Princess Mary May of Teck, with her brothers, Prince Adolphus II, Marquis of Cambridge, Prince Francis and Prince Alexander George, 1st Earl of Athlone. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

Tragedy strikes

Only two weeks after their engagement was announced, the Duke of Clarence died of pneumonia caused by the influenza pandemic of 1889-90. The Duke of Clarence died at Sandringham House on January 14 aged just 28.

Mary and Albert’s whole family were reeling in shock. Especially Albert’s younger brother Prince George, the Duke of York had a very hard time coming to terms with his brother’s sudden death. Both brothers had their usual quarrels, but they shared a close bond:

“How deeply I did love him; and I remember with pain nearly every hard word and little quarrel I ever had with him and I long to ask his forgiveness, but, alas, it is too late now!” 

King George V.

A krass idea

With Prince Albert dead and Prince George now the second in line to the throne, the succession had to be quickly secured. Albert’s death had unmistakably made clear that the pandemic hit young and healthy people as well. Queen Victoria with her sense of practicability thought that since Mary had already been living at the court after her engagement to her now deceased fiancee, she could well be married off to the new future king, Prince George. After all, Mary was already introduced into the higher echelons of court life with its all complicated rules and settings. Back then this way of thinking was not unusual. Marriages were arranged for lots of reasons, but seldomly for love and affection.

And after Prince George had a good talk with his favorite aunt Queen Olga of Greece, he was prepared to court Mary. Queen Olga made it abundantly clear that a marriage to Mary was the best option George had. George by then was ready to go with the idea since the last woman he fancied flatout denied his proposal to marry him. Hurt, mourning and pressured George had little leeway. A little more than one year after his brother’s death, he proposed to Mary on May 3, 1893.

Mary on her part agreed to marry her fiancé’s younger brother and both tied the knot on July 6, 1893 at St. James’s Palace in London. Even though theirs was not originally meant to be, the wedding was worthy for a future King and Queen.

Happy end?

George and Mary’s marriage wasn’t originally meant to be, buuuut theirs was really a happy marriage. Both were married for 43 years and had six children in total. While this alone is not a criteria for a happy marriage the fact that George didn’t cheat on Mary once is a bold testament for their strong bond.

George – who suddenly found himself in direct line to the throne – felt insecure and needed someone he could rely on. Mary proved to be his rock in the surf. Her discipline and work ethos was uncalled for. Contemporaries admired her untiring work for the Crown, touring the Commonwealth for eight months only to come back to England for two weeks and embark on another grueling tour. Mary understood what working for the Crown meant. She coined the famous phrase that somehow unofficially became the family motto: Never explain, never complain! Unfortunately her eldest son didn’t follow her lead at all and abdicated the throne in 1936 complaining that he wasn’t allowed to marry his twice divorced mistress Wallis Simpson. Mary’s second eldest son Prince Albert took over the Crown and instilled Mary’s and George’s discipline in his eldest daughter Princess Elizabeth. Quite successfully! Elizabeth has been Queen now for 68 years and is still going strong. Like her paternal grandparents, Elizabeth has never once complained about royal duties in public.

All in all, George and Mary’s love and affection grew over the years and they developed a marriage that was built on mutual respect and love.