Lady Helena Gibbs | |
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 Photograph of Lady Helena Gibbs, 1919 | |
| Born | Princess Helena Frances Augusta of Teck (1899-10-23)23 October 1899 Grosvenor House,Mayfair,Westminster |
| Died | 22 December 1969(1969-12-22) (aged 70) Badminton House,Gloucestershire, England |
| Buried | 27 December 1969 St John the Baptist's Church,Shipton Moyne, Gloucestershire |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Father | Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge |
| Mother | Lady Margaret Grosvenor |
Lady Helena Gibbs (Helena Frances Augusta; néeCambridge; 23 October 1899 – 22 December 1969), bornPrincess Helena of Teck, was a relative of theBritish royal family, great-great-granddaughter ofKing George III, and a niece ofQueen Mary andKing George V.
During theFirst World War, the British royal family and their near relatives (including theHouse of Teck), relinquished theirGerman titles, and Princess Helena assumed the styleLady Helena Cambridge.[1]
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Princess Helena was born atGrosvenor House,Mayfair,Westminster. Her father wasPrince Adolphus of Teck (later the 2nd Duke of Teck and after 1917 the 1st Marquess of Cambridge), the eldest son ofPrince Francis, Duke of Teck andPrincess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge.[2] Her mother wasLady Margaret Grosvenor, the third daughter of the1st Duke of Westminster.[2] She was the couple's second daughter.[3] In 1919, a newspaper article included her mother's description about her upbringing that was in "the simplest fashion" with the desire that she "should be regarded as ordinary members of the English titled and untitled aristocracy".[4]
As a child of Prince Adolphus of Teck, she was styled "Her Serene Highness Princess Helena of Teck" at birth.
DuringWorld War I, anti-German feeling in theUnited Kingdom ledKing George V to change the name of the royal house from the GermanicHouse of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to the more English-soundingHouse of Windsor. The King also renounced all his Germanic titles for himself and all members of the British royal family.
In response to this, Helena's father renounced his title ofDuke of Teck in the Kingdom of Württemberg and the styleHis Highness.[2] Adolphus, along with his brother,Prince Alexander of Teck, adopted the name Cambridge, after their grandfather,Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge.
He was subsequently createdMarquess of Cambridge, Earl of Eltham, and Viscount Northallerton in thePeerage of the United Kingdom.[2] Helena was entitled to the style of "Lady Helena Cambridge" as a daughter of amarquess.
Lady Helena was in attendance for the 1919 wedding ofPrincess Patricia toAlexander Ramsay.[5][6]
Helena married Colonel John Evelyn Gibbs (22 December 1879London – 11 October 1932Tetbury),[2] a veteran of theBoer Wars andWorld War I and grandson of famed Victorian businessmanWilliam Gibbs, on 2 September 1919 atSt. George's Chapel,Windsor Castle.[7][8] While Gibbs was a commoner,[9][10] his elder brotherGeorge was raised to the peerage asBaron Wraxall in 1928.[11][12] The marriage was approved by the King,[13] who was originally to be present for the wedding,[13] but later was not able to attend[14] and instead sent a telegram of congratulations on the day after the wedding.[15] Upon the announcement of her engagement to Gibbs,Country Life placed her on the cover of their August 2, 1919 magazine.[16] The wedding was covered in a multi-page article with photographs inThe Sketch a British illustrated journal[17] and also in theTatler in the week following the wedding.[18] The wedding, which her parents wished to be a "quiet, ordinary wedding",[13] hosted between four and five hundred people, and the party following the wedding was held atFrogmore Cottage. She wore a simple necklace of small pearls for the wedding,[19] a dress of white Royal beaute material,[15][20] and had six bridesmaids, includingLady May Cambridge.[21] The best man was Lancelot Gibbs, the brother of the bridgegroom.[15]
In 1921, Lady Helena Gibbs helped open a children's home in Kingsdown in honor of her late sister-in-law, Victoria Gibbs.[22] She also served as honorary host of a 1931 flower show in Montpellier.[23]
Lady Helena and Colonel John Evelyn Gibbs had no children. Lady Helena survived her husband by 37 years and died atBadminton House, home of her sister.[24] Her funeral service was in Gloucestershire at the Church of St. Mary, Tetbury on 27 December 1969.[25]
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