Queen Mary was horrified when she realised after the death of her uncle, the Duke of Cambridge, that no items in his estate had been catalogued or labelled and therefore even if they were beautiful and valuable there was no way to know their provenance. She knew that they were heirlooms, but not from whom. This made her decide to continue in her collecting and documenting Hanoverian heirlooms and artifacts. She became a n avid reader of auction catalogs and bought all the items she could and since people knew about her interest she received many gifts throughout the years.