Princess Mary Adelaide Wilhelmina Elizabeth of Cambridge was a granddaughter of George III, and great-grandmother of Elizabeth II. She is remembered as the mother of Queen Mary, the consort of George V.

Mary Adelaide spent the early years of her life in Hanover, Germany, where her father acted as viceroy in place of her uncles George IV and later William IV. Her love of food and tendency to overeat led her to become seriously overweight, and to subsequently nicknamed “Fat Mary.”

After the death of William IV, Mary Adelaide’s cousin, Princess Victoria of Kent ascended the throne in 1837 as Queen Victoria. However the Salic law, left over from Charlemagne did not permit a female sovereign, Victoria was precluded from ascending the throne of Hanover, which passed instead to Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. Thus came to an end the joint sovereignty that had existed for over a century between Britain and Hanover.

By the age of 30, Mary Adelaide was still unmarried. Eventually a suitable candidate was found in Württemberg, Prince Francis of Teck. The Duke and Duchess of Teck chose to reside in London rather than abroad, mainly because Mary Adelaide was the only breadwinner for the Tecks. She received £5,000 per annum as a Parliamentary annuity for carrying out Royal duties. Her mother, the Duchess of Cambridge, also provided her with supplementary income, and Queen Victoria provided the Tecks with apartments at Kensington Palace. The Duchess had extravagant tastes, but was probably the first member of royalty to interest herself in specific charities, such as the Barnado’s homes where abandoned street children were taken into care.

Her daughter, Victoria Mary, known to the family as May, was born and grew up in Kensington Palace. She was first affianced to the Prince of Wales’ son (Queen Victoria’s grandson), Prince Albert Victor, the second in line to the British throne after his father who became Edward VII. He died six weeks, however, Queen Victoria was fond of Princess Mary and persuaded the Duke of Clarence’s brother, and next in the line of succession, Prince George, Duke of York, to marry her instead.

Before her husband’s accession she was successively Duchess of York, Duchess of Cornwall and Princess of Wales. As his queen consort from 1910, she supported her husband through the First World War, his ill-health and major political changes arising from the aftermath of the war and the rise of socialism and nationalism. After George’s death in 1936, her eldest son Edward became King-Emperor, but to her dismay he abdicated the same year in order to marry twice-divorced American socialite Mrs. Wallis Simpson. She supported her second son, Albert, who succeeded to the throne as George VI, until his death in 1952. She died the following year.