Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck (1833-1897): "The People's Princess"

[BeatrixFan]

This question has been posed on a radio phone-in and it's bugging me. The question is;

Who was the original People's Princess?

I thought it was Princess Marina but apparantly it wasn't. Does anyone know?

[Zonk]

Honestly...I would think that each generation would have a People's Princess.

Therefore...I could see a Princess Marina...Princess Diana....and a young Princess Margaret?

[BeatrixFan]

Answer has just been given. Apparantly the title was first used for Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, Queen Mary's mother. I didn't know that.

[Zonk]

Now that's a surprise.

[ysbel]

I wonder why? I know she was incredibly popular but I would have expected a Princess Alexandra (Princess of Wales).

[Zonk]

Exactly! Why her and not Alexandra?

And BeatrixFan...sorry...I misunderstood your original post. I have a bad habit of reading select words in a sentence..and totally missed "original"

[BeatrixFan]

Don't worry Zonk, I'll forgive you. I have to say the answer has got me puzzled but it's been validated by Hugo Vickers apparantly. I thought it would be Princess Marina or possibly Princess Alice but I was very wrong.

[Elspeth]

Actually, now you come to mention it, I seem to remember reading that (probably in a biography of Queen Mary).

[ysbel]

Well I know Princess Mary Adelaide was incredibly popular but I didn't know she was considered the "People's Princess"

I thought Alexandra because she came from the small country of Denmark and grew up in very bourgeois circumstances until her father was chosen to become the next King of Denmark.

Alexandra was always very down to earth and bougeois at heart whereas her sister Dagmar, the Empress Marie of Russia always played the grande dame both at home and at court. Alexandra saved her finery for public and was pretty down to earth in her private quarters.

I don't know too much about Fat Mary (Queen Mary's mother) .

[Zonk]

Well according to Wikipedia (I know consider the source)...she was quite popular because she was the first British royal to support a large number of charities. Maybe that's why?

BeatrixFan...which Princess Alice are you speaking of. Princess Alice, Countess of Althone? or the Duchess of Gloucester? Or perhaps another one?

[ysbel]

Here's a excerpt from Wikipedia, part of her life seemed very sad:

By the age of 30, Mary Adelaide was still unmarried. Her unattractive appearance and lack of income were contributing factors, as was her advanced age. However, her royal rank prevented her marrying someone not of royal blood. Her cousin Queen Victoria took pity on her, and attempted to arrange pairings.
Eventually a suitable candidate was found in Württemberg, Prince Francis, Prince of Teck. The Prince was of lower rank than Mary Adelaide, and was also 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. However, with no other options available, Mary Adelaide decided to marry him. The couple were married on 12 June 1866, at Kew Church, Surrey.

[BeatrixFan]

I was talking about Alice of Gloucester but thinking back, I never saw the title appear in any of her obituaries so I suppose it couldn't have been. Wasn't Queen Alexandra "The People's Queen" or was that the Queen Mother for looking the East End in the face?

[ysbel]

I don't remember what they called Alexandra. I don't think they called the Queen Mother the Peoples Queen. I think she was during her husband's lifetime just the Queen and then when he died, she was the beloved Queen Mum.

Of course if you do a Google search on the People's Princess you won't find it.

But here's a charming article on the simplicity and down-to earthness of Alexandra when she greeted some friends from her frugal childhood in Denmark to her new home in England. If Princess Mary Adelaide wasn't the People's Princess I think Alexandra had to be called that at one time.

[Elspeth]

Well, the ironic thing is that the morganatic ancestry on the Prince of Teck's side meant that his daughter wasn't considered good enough to marry any of the various German princelings on offer - so she ended up as Queen of England instead after marrying George V. Queen Victoria took as much trouble over the daughter's marriage as the mother's, and the morganatic background was less important to her than the personal qualities of the princess.

[Warren]

Originally Posted by ysbel

Well I know Princess Mary Adelaide was incredibly popular but I didn't know she was considered the "People's Princess"

Princess Mary Adelaide, aka "Fat Mary" was popular because she was good natured, warm, friendly and had that "common touch" which today we call 'people skills'. She was larger than life, which considering her size is saying something, and was one of the few who had a way of getting round Queen Victoria (largely by agreeing, then doing what she intended to do anyway). Her ongoing financial embarrassments may have irritated the Queen, but didn't cost her public support. She was her own woman, endearing, and a hoot at parties.

[Warren]

Some images of Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck (copyright expired).

1. with Princess May, c1867
2. The Teck Family
3. Princess Mary Adelaide
4. Princess Mary Adelaide wearing some familiar emeralds

[Marengo]

Originally Posted by Elspeth

Well, the ironic thing is that the morganatic ancestry on the Prince of Teck's side meant that his daughter wasn't considered good enough to marry any of the various German princelings on offer - so she ended up as Queen of England instead after marrying George V. Queen Victoria took as much trouble over the daughter's marriage as the mother's, and the morganatic background was less important to her than the personal qualities of the princess.

It was rather ironic indeed, but still some British had their own thoughts about it too, her sisters-in-law used to refer to her as 'Poor May and her Wurttemberg hands'.