The Earl of Athlone | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Athlone, c. 1940 | |
| 16thGovernor General of Canada | |
| In office 21 June 1940 – 12 April 1946 | |
| Monarch | George VI |
| Prime Minister | William Lyon Mackenzie King |
| Preceded by | The Lord Tweedsmuir |
| Succeeded by | The Viscount Alexander of Tunis |
| 4thGovernor-General of South Africa | |
| In office 21 January 1924 – 21 December 1930 | |
| Monarch | George V |
| Prime Minister | Jan Smuts J. B. M. Hertzog |
| Preceded by | Prince Arthur of Connaught |
| Succeeded by | The Earl of Clarendon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Prince Alexander of Teck (1874-04-14)14 April 1874 Kensington Palace,London, England |
| Died | 16 January 1957(1957-01-16) (aged 82) Kensington Palace, London, England |
| Resting place | Royal Vault,St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle; laterRoyal Burial Ground,Frogmore |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Lady May Abel Smith Rupert Cambridge, Viscount Trematon Prince Maurice of Teck |
| Parent(s) | Francis, Duke of Teck Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge |
| Education | Eton College;Royal Military Academy Sandhurst |
| Profession | Army officer |
| Awards | See below... |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch/service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1894–1931 |
| Rank | Major-General |
| Battles/wars | |
Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone (Alexander Augustus Frederick William Alfred George; bornPrince Alexander of Teck; 14 April 1874 – 16 January 1957) was a member of the extendedBritish royal family, as a great-grandson of KingGeorge III, the youngest brother ofQueen Mary, an uncle of KingsEdward VIII andGeorge VI, and the husband ofPrincess Alice of Albany. He was aBritish Army officer and served asGovernor-General of the Union of South Africa andGovernor General of Canada.
Alexander was born inKensington, the youngest son ofFrancis, Duke of Teck, andPrincess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, and was educated atEton and theRoyal Military College, Sandhurst. In 1904, he marriedPrincess Alice of Albany and rose in military rank through his service on the western front of theFirst World War, receiving numerous honours and decorations.
A cousin and also brother-in-law of KingGeorge V, Alexander relinquished hisGerman titles in 1917, including that of Prince ofTeck in theKingdom of Württemberg, and was elevated to thepeerage of the United Kingdom as the firstEarl of Athlone. In 1923, the King appointed Athlone asGovernor-General of South Africa, on the recommendation of British prime ministerStanley Baldwin, and he occupied the viceregal post until 1930. Athlone then served as Chancellor of theUniversity of London until, in 1940, his nephewGeorge VI appointed him asGovernor General of Canada,[1][2][3][4] on the recommendation of Canadian prime ministerWilliam Lyon Mackenzie King. He occupied the post until 1946. Athlone helped galvanise theCanadian war effort and was a host to British and American statesmen during theSecond World War.
After returning to the United Kingdom, Athlone sat on the organising committee for thecoronation of Queen Elizabeth II, his great-niece. He died atKensington Palace in 1957 and was interred in theRoyal Burial Ground, Frogmore.
Alexander was born on 14 April 1874 atKensington Palace,[5] the fourth child and third son ofPrince Francis, Duke of Teck, andPrincess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck. Although his mother was a granddaughter of KingGeorge III and a first cousin ofQueen Victoria, Athlone, as the son of a prince of Teck inWürttemberg, was styled from birth asHis Serene Highness and held the titlePrince Alexander of Teck.[5][6] He was known, however, to his family and friends asAlge, derived from the first two letters ofAlexander andGeorge,[7] and was characterised as a meticulous individual with a quick, but short-lived, temper and an ability to be cautious and tactful.[7]
When Alexander was nine years old, his parents fled the United Kingdom forcontinental Europe to escape their high debts. They stayed there for two years. Alexander remained atEton College before moving on to theRoyal Military College, Sandhurst.[6] In October 1894, having completed his officer's training, he was commissioned as asecond lieutenant in the7th Queen's Own Hussars,[6][8] and shortly after served in theSecond Matabele War. Alexander wasmentioned in despatches during the conflict and, after its cessation, was appointed on 8 December 1898 by Queen Victoria as a Knight Commander of theRoyal Victorian Order.[9] He received a promotion tolieutenant in June 1899 and tocaptain the following April.[10][11] For his actions in theSecond Boer War, Alexander was, in April 1901, appointed by KingEdward VII as a Companion of theDistinguished Service Order.[12]
The announcement came on 16 November 1903 that Alexander had becomeengaged to hissecond cousin once removed,[13]Princess Alice of Albany, daughter ofPrince Leopold, Duke of Albany, and thus a granddaughter of Queen Victoria and niece of the then soon-to-beGovernor General of Canada,Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn. They were married atSt. George's Chapel, inWindsor Castle, on 10 February 1904 and,[5][6] six days later, in celebration of the wedding, the Prince was promoted to the grade of a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order.[14] The couple thereafter had three children:Princess May of Teck, born 1906;Prince Rupert of Teck, born 1907; and Prince Maurice Francis George of Teck.[15] Maurice, however, lived only for less than six months between 29 March and 14 September 1910.
That same year, Alexander was appointed Chairman ofMiddlesex Hospital.[7]
Prior to the outbreak of theGreat War in 1914, Alexander, who had been promoted to major in January 1911 and was a brevet lieutenant-colonel commanding the2nd Regiment of Life Guards,[16] was nominated by theBritish Prime MinisterH. H. Asquith to serve as Governor General of Canada. However, Alexander was called up for active service with his regiment.[17] taking him to battle inFrance andFlanders. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel, with the temporary rank of brigadier-general, in December 1915.[18] For his service on the battlefields, in June 1917 Alexander was appointed by his brother in law, KingGeorge V, as a Companion of theOrder of St Michael and St George.[19]
During the war, anti-German sentiment throughout theBritish Empire led the King to change the name of the royal house from the GermanicHouse of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the more EnglishHouse of Windsor, while simultaneously renouncing all Germanic titles for himself and all members of the Royal Family. Through a royal warrant issued on 14 July 1917, Alexander, along with his brother,Prince Adolphus, Duke of Teck, similarly relinquished all of his German titles, styles, and honours, choosing instead the name ofCambridge, after his grandfather,Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge.[20] Alexander was then known simply as Sir Alexander Cambridge (being entitled to the honorificSir through his knighthoods in theRoyal Victorian Order and theOrder of the Bath), until, on 7 November 1917, the King created himEarl of Athlone and Viscount Trematon.[21] Athlone had declined amarquessate, as he thought the title did not sound British enough. Athlone's wife retained her royal style and title, while their surviving children became the Lady May Cambridge and Rupert Cambridge, Viscount Trematon. Rupert was the heir apparent to the title of Earl of Athlone, but he died on 15 April 1928 following a car crash, ten days shy of his twenty-first birthday, and the third creation of the earldom later became extinct with the death of the first earl.
Following the cessation of hostilities in Europe in 1918, Athlone was promoted to the brevet rank ofcolonel in June 1919, and retired from the army that November, with the honorary rank of brigadier-general.[22][23] He took up posts in the civilian world, continuing at Middlesex Hospital. Because of his experience there, he was appointed in 1921 to chair an investigative committee on the needs of doctors. Known as theAthlone Committee, its work resulted in the creation of post-graduate schools for medical education and research,[7] such as theRoyal Postgraduate Medical School atHammersmith Hospital and theLondon School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. In March 1922, he was promoted to the rank of colonel in theRegular Army Reserves, retaining his honorary rank of brigadier-general,[24] and, in 1937, was appointed chair of a committee of inquiry into the arrangements for "recruitment, training and registration and terms and conditions of service" for nurses.[25]
For their London residence, the Athlones used thegrace and favour apartments of Princess Alice's mother, the lateDuchess of Albany, in the Clock House atKensington Palace and, in 1923, they acquired a country residence,Brantridge Park, inWest Sussex.[26]
In December of the same year, Athlone was appointed by the King as both an honorarymajor-general and as theGovernor-General of the Union of South Africa,[7] replacing his wife's cousin,Prince Arthur of Connaught.[27] He arrived inPretoria in January 1924 and was immediately at work with his viceregal duties, openingthe newly finished parliament building, just weeks before hisSouth African prime minister,Jan Smuts, suddenly advised him toprorogue the legislature.[28]
Inthe ensuing election—the running of which forced Athlone to cancel the planned tour ofPrince Edward, Prince of Wales[28]—theNational Party won a majority of seats in theHouse of Assembly, meaning Athlone appointed the party's leader,James Barry Munnik Hertzog, as his new prime minister. At the time,Afrikaner nationalism was increasing in thedominion, and Hertzog was arepublican who promoted the secession of South Africa from theBritish Empire. As such, he proposed the country adopt its own flag over theUnion Flag. Athlone, however, proved sympathetic and tactful, and resolved the issue by advancing a flag that was unique to South Africa, but which still contained the Union Flag within it, despite opposition from numerousAfrikaners. He also gained popularity with South Africans of all races through his frequent tours of the country,[7] performing a number of ceremonial duties, including opening Pioneers' Park inJohannesburg.[29]
For his service to the Crown in South Africa, Athlone was appointed by George V as aKnight Companion of the Order of the Garter, on 17 April 1928,[30] and, upon his return to the UK, was made on 4 August 1931 theGovernor and Constable of Windsor Castle.[31] The following year, he was also selected as the Chancellor of theUniversity of London, which post he held until 1955.[32] In May 1936 he succeeded Field MarshalEdmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby as colonel ofThe Life Guards, an appointment he held until his death.[33]
In 1937 he led the Ministry of Health and Board of EducationInterim Report of the Interdepartmental Committee on Nursing Services, also known as The Athlone Report. It looked at nursing recruitment, retention and skills and included DameEllen Musson[34]
In January 1939, Athlone was appointed president ofThe Football Association.[35] The move represented the first time the FA had appointed someone that was not a football administrator to the position.[36]
InCanada in the late 1930s, there had been calls from government circles and the media alike for the King to appoint a Canadian-born individual as governor general. However, with the rush to fill the post after the unexpected death (on February 11, 1940) of the incumbent viceroy,Lord Tweedsmuir, and with the country embroiled in theSecond World War,Canadian prime ministerWilliam Lyon Mackenzie King advised KingGeorge VI that the time was not right for such a change in viceregal tradition.
Instead, it was George's uncle, the Earl of Athlone, whose name Mackenzie King put forward and the Earl accepted.[38] Subsequently, Athlone, along with his wife and hisaide-de-camp,Alastair Windsor, Earl of Macduff,[n 1][39] voyaged to Canada to take up his position, their liner using a submarine-evading zig-zag pattern across theAtlantic Ocean toHalifax,Nova Scotia.[40] After travelling on toOttawa by train, Athlone was sworn in during a ceremony in theSenate chamber on 21 June 1940. The Athlones' three grandchildren, Anne,Richard, and Elizabeth (children of their daughterMay), lived with them in Canada for the duration of the war.[41]
Athlone immediately made himself active in the support of the war effort, travelling across the country and focusing much of his attention on the troops, either those training at military facilities or those injured and in hospital. Viewing his position as governor general as a link between Canadians and their monarch, Athlone also communicated in speeches that the King stood with them in their fight againstAdolf Hitler and theNazi regime.[32]
The war was brought close to home for the Athlones also because many of those belonging to displaced European royal families sought refuge in Canada and resided at or near the royal and viceroyal residence,Rideau Hall. Among the royal guests wereCrown Prince Olav andCrown Princess Märtha ofNorway;Grand Duchess Charlotte andPrince Felix ofLuxembourg; KingPeter II of Yugoslavia; KingGeorge II of Greece; EmpressZita of Bourbon-Parma (Austria-Hungary) and her daughters; as well as QueenWilhelmina of the Netherlands and her daughter,Princess Juliana.[42] Further, in December 1941, British prime ministerWinston Churchill arrived at the residence, where he presided overBritish Cabinet meetings via telephone from his bed.[43]
It was Athlone's duty to play host atQuebec City to his prime minister, still Mackenzie King, as well as Churchill andPresident of the United StatesFranklin D. Roosevelt, who all gathered to take part in what would become known as the Quebec Conferences, withthe first taking place between 17 and 24 August 1943 at the viceregal residence inLa Citadelle, andthe second occurring from 12 to 16 September 1944 at theChâteau Frontenac. It was at these meetings that the four men discussed the Allied strategies that would eventually lead to victory over Nazi Germany andJapan. When Germany fell on 8 May 1945 and Japan on 15 August of the same year, Athlone led the national celebrations held onParliament Hill and elsewhere. He thereafter spoke in speeches about Canada's future being marked not by war but by a strong role in reconstruction and reconciliation.[32]
During his time as the Canadian viceroy, Athlone also lent his status to various charitable and other social events, and mounted a number of activities of his own, such as tobogganing parties and skating lessons on the grounds of Rideau Hall, as well as skiing inGatineau Park. When he departed Canada at the end of his time as the King's representative, Athlone left as a legacy theAthlone Fellowship, awarded by theEngineering Institute of Canada.[32]
After Lord Athlone's replacement as governor general was appointed on 21 March 1946, he returned to the United Kingdom to retirement, taking up residence again in agrace and favour apartment atKensington Palace and, on 1 September of that year, resigning as colonel of the7th Queen's Own Hussars.[44] He did not completely remove himself from public activity, however, and was, along with his Canadian viceregal successor,Lord Alexander of Tunis, appointed to the committee charged with organisingthe coronation in 1953 of Athlone's great-niece, QueenElizabeth II,[45] and continued to sit as Chancellor of the University of London until 1955.[32]
The Earl of Athlone died at Kensington on 16 January 1957 at the age of 82, and was interred in the Royal Vault atSt George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on 19 January before being transferred to theRoyal Burial Ground atFrogmore on 15 May 1957.[46] He was the last surviving great-grandchild ofGeorge III.
KG: Knight Companion of the Most NobleOrder of the Garter,17 April 1928[30]
KCVO: Knight Commander of theRoyal Victorian Order,13 December 1898[9]GCVO: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, 16 February 1904[14]
DSO: Companion of theDistinguished Service Order, 19 April 1901[12]KStJ: Knight of Justice of the Most VenerableOrder of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, 14 June 1917[47]GCB: Knight Grand Cross of the Most HonourableOrder of the Bath (civil division), 19 June 1911[48]CMG: Companion of the Most DistinguishedOrder of Saint Michael and Saint George, 4 June 1917[19]Royal Victorian Chain, 28 December 1934[51]British South Africa Company Medal withMention in Despatches, 1897Queen's South Africa Medal, 19011914–15 Star, 1919British War Medal, 1919Victory Medal with two Mentions in Despatches, 19191939–45 Star, 1945War Medal 1939–1945, 1945
Canadian Volunteer Service Medal, 1947Coronation/jubilee medals:
1897:Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Medal,20 June 1897 1902:King Edward VII Coronation Medal,9 August 1902 1911:King George V Coronation Medal,22 June 1911 1935:King George V Silver Jubilee Medal,6 May 1935 1937:King George VI Coronation Medal, 12 May 1937 1953:Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal, 2 June 1953
Grand Cross of the Order of the Württemberg Crown, 1888 – 14 July 1917
Knight of the Order of the Rue Crown, 1904 – 14 July 1917
Grand Cross with Crown in Ore of the House Order of the Wendish Crown, 22 July 1904 – 17 July 1917[52]
KmstkNO:Commander Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Polar Star, 1909[53]
Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold, 24 October 1915[54]
Grand Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honour, 9 December 1916[55]
Knight First Class with Swords of the Imperial Order of Saint Anna, 14 January 1918[56]Decorations
Military Cross, second class, 24 February 1916[57]Croix de Guerre with palm, 16 April 1918[58]The undress ribbons worn by Lord Athlone in undress uniform were as follows:
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Colonel-in-Chief of theDuke of Edinburgh's Own Rifles, 1930 Colonel of theLife Guards, 1936
Colonel ofthe Governor General's Horse Guards, 21 June 1940 – 12 April 1946[63] Colonel of theGovernor General's Foot Guards, 21 June 1940 – 12 April 1946[63] Colonel of theCanadian Grenadier Guards, 21 June 1940 – 12 April 1946[63]Honorary Member of the Royal Military College of Canada Club, 1940 PC: Member of theHis Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, 31 June 1931[64] FRS:Fellow of the Royal Society, 1937[65]Chief Scout for Canada, 21 June 1940
Alberta:Athlone Elementary School,Edmonton
Manitoba:Athlone School,WinnipegSouth Africa: Athlone House,Queen's College,QueenstownSouth Africa:Athlone Boys High School,Johannesburg[67]South Africa:Athlone Institute,Paarl[66] |
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| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Governor General of Canada 1940–1946 | Succeeded by |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chancellor of the University of London 1932–1955 | Succeeded by |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | Grand Master of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George 24 June 1936 – 16 January 1957 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle 1931–1957 | Vacant Title next held by The Viscount Slim |
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