Mary of Teck supported her second son, George VI, until his death in 1952.
38 Facts About Mary of Teck
2.
Mary of Teck died the following year, ten weeks before her granddaughter Elizabeth II was crowned.
3.
Princess Victoria Mary of Teck was born on 26 May 1867 at Kensington Palace, London, in the room where Queen Victoria, her first cousin once removed, had been born 48 years and two days earlier.
4.
Mary of Teck's mother was Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, a granddaughter of King George III and the third child and younger daughter of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge.
5.
Mary of Teck was the eldest of four children and the only daughter.
6.
Mary of Teck "learned to exercise her native discretion, firmness, and tact" by resolving her three younger brothers' petty boyhood squabbles.
7.
Mary of Teck grew up at Kensington Palace and White Lodge, in Richmond Park, which was granted by Queen Victoria on permanent loan.
8.
Mary of Teck was educated at home by her mother and governess.
9.
Mary of Teck was fluent in English, German, and French.
10.
Mary of Teck married Prince George, Duke of York, in London on 6 July 1893 at the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace.
11.
In 1897, Mary of Teck became the patron of the London Needlework Guild in succession to her mother.
12.
On 22 January 1901, Queen Victoria died, and Mary of Teck's father-in-law ascended the throne as Edward VII.
13.
For most of the rest of that year, George and Mary of Teck were known as the "Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York".
14.
Mary of Teck broke down in tears at the thought of leaving her children, who were to be left in the care of their grandparents, for such a long time.
15.
Mary of Teck's husband ascended the throne and she became queen consort.
16.
When her husband asked her to drop one of her two official names, Victoria Mary of Teck, she chose to be called Mary of Teck, preferring not to be known by the same style as her husband's grandmother, Queen Victoria.
17.
Mary of Teck was the first British queen consort born in Britain since Catherine Parr.
18.
Mary of Teck was crowned alongside her husband at a coronation on 22 June 1911 in Westminster Abbey.
19.
Mary of Teck advised him on speeches and used her extensive knowledge of history and royalty to advise him on matters affecting his position.
20.
Mary of Teck maintained an air of self-assured calm throughout all her public engagements in the years after the war, a period marked by civil unrest over social conditions, Irish independence, and Indian nationalism.
21.
In 1935, King George V and Queen Mary of Teck celebrated their silver jubilee, with celebrations taking place throughout the British Empire.
22.
Mary of Teck was then to be known as Her Majesty Queen Mary.
23.
Mary of Teck disapproved of divorce as it was contrary to the teaching of the Anglican Church, and thought Simpson wholly unsuitable to be the wife of a king.
24.
Mary of Teck saw it as her duty to provide moral support for her second son, the reserved Prince Albert, Duke of York.
25.
When Mary of Teck attended the coronation of George VI, she became the first British dowager queen to do so.
26.
Mary of Teck took an interest in the upbringing of her granddaughters Elizabeth and Margaret.
27.
Mary of Teck took them on various excursions in London, to art galleries and museums.
28.
From Badminton, in support of the war effort, Queen Mary of Teck visited troops and factories and directed the gathering of scrap materials.
29.
Mary of Teck was known to offer lifts to soldiers she spotted on the roads.
30.
Mary of Teck finally returned to Marlborough House in June 1945, after the war in Europe had resulted in the defeat of Nazi Germany.
31.
Mary of Teck was an eager collector of objects and pictures with a royal connection.
32.
Mary of Teck paid above-market estimates when purchasing jewels from the estate of Dowager Empress Marie of Russia and paid almost three times the estimate when buying the family's Cambridge Emeralds from Lady Kilmorey, the mistress of her late brother Prince Francis.
33.
Mary of Teck has sometimes been criticised for her aggressive acquisition of objets d'art for the Royal Collection.
34.
Mary of Teck expressed to Prime Minister Winston Churchill her aversion to the idea of the House of Mountbatten succeeding the House of Windsor as the royal dynasty.
35.
Mary of Teck died on 24 March 1953 in her sleep at the age of 85, ten weeks before her granddaughter's coronation.
36.
Mary of Teck had let it be known that should she die, the coronation should not be postponed.
37.
Mary of Teck's remains lay in state at Westminster Hall, where large numbers of mourners filed past her coffin.
38.
Mary of Teck is buried beside her husband in the nave of St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.