| Princess Mary | |
|---|---|
| Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh | |
 Portrait byAntoine Claudet,c. 1856 | |
| Born | (1776-04-25)25 April 1776 Buckingham House,London, England |
| Died | 30 April 1857(1857-04-30) (aged 81) Gloucester House, Mayfair, London |
| Burial | 8 May 1857 |
| Spouse | |
| House | Hanover |
| Father | George III |
| Mother | Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz |
| Signature |  |
Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh (25 April 1776 – 30 April 1857) was the eleventh child and fourth daughter ofKing George III and his consortCharlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
She married her first cousin,Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, when both were 40, and was his widow in later life. In her last years, her nieceQueen Victoria was on the throne as the fourth monarch during Mary's life, after her father and two of her brothers,George IV andWilliam IV. Dying aged 81 atGloucester House,Weymouth, Mary was the longest-lived and last survivor of George III's fifteen children (thirteen of whom lived to adulthood).
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Mary was born on 25 April 1776, atBuckingham Palace, London.[1] Her father was the reigning British monarch,George III. Her mother wasQueen Charlotte, the daughter of Charles,reigning Duke ofMecklenburg-Strelitz.
Mary was baptised on 19 May 1776, in the Great Council Chamber atSt. James's Palace, byFrederick Cornwallis,The Archbishop of Canterbury. Her godparents were:
The king was a devoted father, finding time to regularly visit the royal nursery. Engaging in active play with his young children, he behaved quite informally in contrast to the dignified Queen Charlotte, who had more difficulty abandoning the formal behaviour expected of their class. Despite her outer reserve, however, Charlotte took a role as conscientious as her husband in their children's upbringing. For the royal princesses, the queen carefully oversaw their welfare, education, and development of moral values. Faced with less time due to her public duties and close marriage to the king, she appointedLady Charlotte Finch to manage the royal nursery and administer her ideas.[2]
According toFlora Fraser, Mary was considered to be the most beautiful daughter of George III; Fraser calls her a "bland beauty". Mary danced aminuet for the first time in public at the age of sixteen in June 1791, during a courtball given for the king's birthday.[3] In the spring of 1792 she made her officialdebut atcourt.[3] Around 1796 Mary fell in love with the DutchPrince Frederick, while he and his family lived inexile in London. Frederik was a son ofWilliam V, Prince of Orange, the Dutchstadholder, and younger brother to the future KingWilliam I of the Netherlands. However Frederik and Mary never married because George III stipulated that her elder sisters should marry first. In 1799 Prince Frederik died of an infection while serving in the army, and Mary was allowed to go into officialmourning.
Mary's youngest sister and beloved companionPrincess Amelia called her "Mama's tool" because of her obedient nature. Amelia's premature death in 1810 devastated her sister, who had nursed her devotedly during her painful illness.
Mary was quite close to her eldest brother, and she shared his antipathy toward his wife, their cousinCaroline of Brunswick. When the latter left for Italy, Mary congratulated her brother "on the prospect of a good riddance. Heaven grant that she may not return again and that we may never see more of her."[4]
Mary's upbringing was very sheltered and she spent most of her time with her parents and sisters. King George and Queen Charlotte were keen to shelter their children, particularly the girls.[citation needed] Mary, however, married on 22 July 1816, to her first cousin,Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, the son of George III's brother,Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh.[5] Both were aged 40. On their wedding day, Mary's brother,The Prince Regent, raised thebridegroom'sstyle fromHighness toRoyal Highness, an attribute to which Mary'srank as daughter of the King already entitled her.
William Frederick had initially sought to marry Mary's niecePrincess Charlotte of Wales.[6] Charlotte, while interested, was berated by her father, who subsequently also expressed his displeasure to Gloucester and the courtship ended.[7] The historian A. W. Purdue suggests that Mary's motive for marrying her cousin sprang from her dislike of Queen Charlotte's restrictive household.[8] Charlotte observed that the duke "is much in love, & and tells me he is the happiest creature on earth. I won't say [Mary] does as much, but being her own mistress, having her own house, & being able to walk in the streets all delights her in their several ways."[9]
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The couple lived atBagshot Park,[8] but after William's death she moved toWhite Lodge inRichmond Park.[citation needed] They had no children together.[8]
Mary died on 30 April 1857 atGloucester House, Mayfair, aged 81. She was the last-surviving and longest-lived child of King George III and Queen Charlotte.[8]
As of 1789, as a daughter of the sovereign, Mary had use of the arms of the kingdom, differenced by alabel argent of three points, the centre point bearing a rose gules, the outer points each bearing a canton gules.[10]
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| Ancestors of Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh[11] |
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