She supported her second son, Albert, who succeeded to the throne as George VI, until his death in 1952. After George's death in 1936, she became queen mother when her eldest son Edward became king-emperor, but to her dismay he abdicated later the same year in order to marry twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. As queen consort from 1910, she supported her husband through the First World War, his ill-health and major political changes arising from the aftermath of the war and the rise of socialism and nationalism. He did not respond well to his very strict upbringing and developed a stammer. He was the couple’s second child, his elder brother Edward had been born in 1894. Before her husband's accession she was successively Duchess of York, Duchess of Cornwall and Princess of Wales. King George VI was born Albert Frederick Arthur George to Prince George, son of Edward VII and Mary of Teck on 14th December 1895. The following year she became engaged to Albert Victor's next surviving brother, George, who subsequently became king.

At the age of 24 she was betrothed to Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, but six weeks after the announcement of the engagement he died unexpectedly of pneumonia. She was informally known as 'May', after her birth month. Her parents were Francis, Duke of Teck, who was of German extraction, and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, a member of the British Royal Family. 'Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes – 24 March 1953) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, as the wife of King-Emperor George V.Īlthough technically a princess of Teck, in the Kingdom of Württemberg, she was born and brought up in the United Kingdom. Mary of Teck, Queen Consort, Prinsesse af Teck, Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions Sister of Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge Prince Francis Joseph Leopold Frederick Teck and Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone Mother of Edward VIII, King of the United Kingdom, Duke of Windsor George VI, King of the United Kingdom Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester Prince George Windsor, Duke of Kent and 1 other and Prince John of the United Kingdom « less Wife of George V, King of the United Kingdomįiancée of Albert Victor Christian Edward, Prince of Wales, Duke of Clarence and Avondale George's Chapel, Windsor, Berkshire, Englandĭaughter of Francis, 1st Duke of Teck and Mary Adelaide Wilhelmina Elizabeth of Cambridge, Princess, Duchess of Teck Marlborough House, Westminster, London, England Kensington, London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom 'May', 'The Old Queen', 'Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes', 'Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes Windsor' Hungarian: Teck Queen consort of the United Kingdom and Empress consort of India Mary

Queen victoria parents family tree