Mary of Teck

Mary of Teck
Formal portrait, 1920s
Queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions Empress consort of India
Tenure	6 May 1910 – 20 January 1936
Coronation	22 June 1911
Imperial Durbar	12 December 1911
Born	Princess Victoria Mary of Teck (1867-05-26)26 May 1867 Kensington Palace, London, England
Died	24 March 1953(1953-03-24) (aged 85) Marlborough House, London, England
Burial	31 March 1953 North Nave Aisle, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
Spouse	George V ​ ​ (m. 1893; died 1936)​
Issue	Edward VIII George VI Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester Prince George, Duke of Kent Prince John
Names Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes
House	Teck
Father	Francis, Duke of Teck
Mother	Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge
Signature

Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes; 26 May 1867 – 24 March 1953) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 6 May 1910 until 20 January 1936 as the wife of King-Emperor George V.

Born and raised in London, Mary was the daughter of Francis, Duke of Teck, a German nobleman, and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, a granddaughter of King George III. She was informally known as "May", after the month of her birth. At the age of 24, she was betrothed to her second cousin once removed Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, the eldest son of the Prince of Wales and second in line to the throne. Six weeks after the announcement of the engagement, he died unexpectedly during an influenza pandemic. The following year, she became engaged to Albert Victor's only surviving brother, George, who subsequently became king. Before her husband's accession, she was successively Duchess of York, Duchess of Cornwall, and Princess of Wales.

As queen consort from 1910, Mary supported her husband through the First World War, his ill health, and major political changes arising from the aftermath of the war. After George's death in 1936, she became queen mother when her eldest son, Edward VIII, ascended the throne. To her dismay, he abdicated later the same year in order to marry twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. She supported her second son, George VI, until his death in 1952. Mary died the following year, ten weeks before her granddaughter Elizabeth II was crowned. An ocean liner, a battlecruiser, and a university were named in her honour.