Lady May Abel Smith
Encyclopedia
Lady May Abel Smith born Princess May of Teck (May Helen Emma Abel Smith) (23 January 1906 – 29 May 1994) was a descendant of the British Royal Family
, a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria
. From her birth, she was known as Princess May of Teck, a title in the Kingdom of Württemberg
. She was later styled The Lady May Cambridge, after the British Royal Family and its relatives ceased using their German titles in 1917, and Lady May Abel Smith after her marriage in 1931.
Princess May was born at Claremont House, near Esher
in Surrey
, England
. Her parents were Prince Alexander of Teck
(later the 1st Earl of Athlone), the youngest son of Prince
Francis, Duke of Teck
and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge
. Her mother was Princess Alexander of Teck (née Princess Alice of Albany)
, the daughter of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany
, youngest son of Queen Victoria and his wife, Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont.
As a daughter of Prince Alexander of Teck, May was styled Her Serene Highness Princess May of Teck at birth.
, anti-German feeling in the United Kingdom led Princess May's cousin, King George V
, to change the name of the royal house from the Germanic House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to the more English-sounding House of Windsor
. The King also renounced all Germanic titles for himself and other members of the British Royal Family who were British subjects.
In response, May's father, Prince Alexander, renounced his title of a Prince of Teck in the Kingdom of Württemberg and the style His Serene Highness
. Alexander, along with his brother, Prince Adolphus of Teck
, adopted the name Cambridge
, after their grandfather, Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge
.
A few days later, the King created Alexander Earl of Athlone
and Viscount Trematon. Alexander was now styled The Right Honourable Earl of Athlone. His daughter was now styled Lady May Cambridge, and his surviving son adopted the courtesy title of Viscount Trematon. Alexander's wife, Alice, born a British princess
, retained her title and style, Her Royal Highness
, and became known as Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone.
She served as a royal bridesmaid on numerous occasions; three times in Westminster Abbey: in 1919 to HRH Princess Patricia of Connaught on her marriage to Captain Alexander Ramsay RN; in 1922 to HRH The Princess Mary on her marriage to Viscount Lascelles; and in 1923 to the Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon on her marriage to HRH The Duke of York.
(later Sir Henry) on 24 October 1931. They were married for over 60 years and had three children:
Lady May's wedding party included:
of Queen Elizabeth II
and the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales
and Lady Diana Spencer
. At the latter event, Lady May was credited with popularizing the counterweights at the back of women's necklaces to prevent the clasps from turning around, which she often wore herself on her usual pearl necklaces.
Between 1958 and 1966, Sir Henry Abel Smith served as the Governor of Queensland. May accompanied Henry to Brisbane
, as vice-regal consort.
Lady May died one year after her husband. They are both buried at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore, not far from Windsor Castle
. Her funeral was attended by members of the Royal Family.
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
, a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
. From her birth, she was known as Princess May of Teck, a title in the Kingdom of Württemberg
Württemberg
Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....
. She was later styled The Lady May Cambridge, after the British Royal Family and its relatives ceased using their German titles in 1917, and Lady May Abel Smith after her marriage in 1931.
Early life
Princess May was born at Claremont House, near Esher
Esher
Esher is a town in the Surrey borough of Elmbridge in South East England near the River Mole. It is a very prosperous part of the Greater London Urban Area, largely suburban in character, and is situated 14.1 miles south west of Charing Cross....
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Her parents were Prince Alexander of Teck
Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone
Major-General Alexander Augustus Frederick William Alfred George Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone , was a close relative of the shared British and Canadian royal family, as well as a British military commander and major-general who served as Governor-General of the Union of South Africa, the...
(later the 1st Earl of Athlone), the youngest son of Prince
Prince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...
Francis, Duke of Teck
Francis, Duke of Teck
Francis, Duke of Teck , was a member of the German nobility, and later of the British Royal Family. He was the father of Queen Mary, the wife of King George V...
and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge
Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge
Princess Mary Adelaide Wilhelmina Elizabeth of Cambridge was a member of the British Royal Family, a granddaughter of George III, and great-grandmother of Elizabeth II. She held the title of Duchess of Teck through marriage.Mary Adelaide is remembered as the mother of Queen Mary, the consort of...
. Her mother was Princess Alexander of Teck (née Princess Alice of Albany)
Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone
Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone was a member of the British Royal Family. She was the longest-lived Princess of the Blood Royal of the British Royal Family and the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria...
, the daughter of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany
Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany
The Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany was the eighth child and fourth son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Leopold was later created Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence, and Baron Arklow...
, youngest son of Queen Victoria and his wife, Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont.
As a daughter of Prince Alexander of Teck, May was styled Her Serene Highness Princess May of Teck at birth.
Lady May Cambridge
During World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, anti-German feeling in the United Kingdom led Princess May's cousin, King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
, to change the name of the royal house from the Germanic House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to the more English-sounding House of Windsor
House of Windsor
The House of Windsor is the royal house of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V by royal proclamation on the 17 July 1917, when he changed the name of his family from the German Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the English Windsor, due to the anti-German sentiment in the United Kingdom...
. The King also renounced all Germanic titles for himself and other members of the British Royal Family who were British subjects.
In response, May's father, Prince Alexander, renounced his title of a Prince of Teck in the Kingdom of Württemberg and the style His Serene Highness
Serene Highness
His/Her Serene Highness is a style used today by the reigning families of Liechtenstein and Monaco. It also preceded the princely titles of members of some German ruling and mediatised dynasties as well as some non-ruling but princely German noble families until 1918...
. Alexander, along with his brother, Prince Adolphus of Teck
Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge
Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge, GCB, GCVO, CMG , born Prince Adolphus of Teck and later The Duke of Teck , was a member of the British Royal Family and a younger brother of Queen Mary, the consort of King George V...
, adopted the name Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, after their grandfather, Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge
Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge
The Prince Adolphus, 1st Duke of Cambridge , was the tenth child and seventh son of George III and Queen Charlotte. He held the title of Duke of Cambridge from 1801 until his death. He also served as Viceroy of Hanover on behalf of his brothers George IV and William IV...
.
A few days later, the King created Alexander Earl of Athlone
Earl of Athlone
The title of Earl of Athlone has been created three times. It was created first in the Peerage of Ireland in 1692 by King William III for the Dutch General Baron Godard van Reede, Lord of Ginkel, to honour him for his successful battles in Ireland. The title also had the subsidiary title of Baron...
and Viscount Trematon. Alexander was now styled The Right Honourable Earl of Athlone. His daughter was now styled Lady May Cambridge, and his surviving son adopted the courtesy title of Viscount Trematon. Alexander's wife, Alice, born a British princess
British princess
This is a list of British princesses from the accession of King George I in 1714. This article deals with both princesses of the blood royal and women who become princesses upon marriage....
, retained her title and style, Her Royal Highness
Royal Highness
Royal Highness is a style ; plural Royal Highnesses...
, and became known as Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone.
She served as a royal bridesmaid on numerous occasions; three times in Westminster Abbey: in 1919 to HRH Princess Patricia of Connaught on her marriage to Captain Alexander Ramsay RN; in 1922 to HRH The Princess Mary on her marriage to Viscount Lascelles; and in 1923 to the Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon on her marriage to HRH The Duke of York.
Marriage and issue
Lady May married Henry Abel SmithHenry Abel Smith
Colonel Sir Henry Abel Smith KCMG KCVO DSO was a British Army officer and a Governor of Queensland.-Biography:He was born in London, on 8 March 1900, the son of Francis Abel Smith and wife Madeline St. Maur Seymour...
(later Sir Henry) on 24 October 1931. They were married for over 60 years and had three children:
| Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anne Mary Sibylla Abel Smith Anne Liddell-Grainger Anne Mary Sibylla Liddell-Grainger is the mother of British politician Ian Liddell-Grainger and the daughter of Lady May Abel Smith. Her maternal grandparents were Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone and H.R.H.Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone.She was born in Kensington Palace, the... |
28 July 1932 | Married on 14 December 1957 to David Liddell-Grainger David Liddell-Grainger David Ian Liddell-Grainger KStJ, DL, FSA , a former Scottish politician, was the son of Henry Liddell-Grainger and Lady Muriel Felicia Vere Bertie, daughter of Montague Bertie, 12th Earl of Lindsey.... (26 January 1930 – 12 March 2007); they were divorced in 1981 but have five children:
|
|
| Colonel Richard Francis Abel Smith Richard Abel Smith Colonel Richard Francis Abel Smith was a British Army officer.He was the son of Colonel Sir Henry Abel Smith and Lady May Abel Smith . He was born at Kensington Palace in London, England. Richard was the second of three children and the only boy... |
11 October 1933 | 23 December 2004 | Married on 28 April 1960 to Marcia Kendrew (born 27 March 1940). One daughter:
|
| Elizabeth Alice Abel Smith | 5 September 1936 | Married on 29 April 1965 to Peter Wise (born 29 December 1929) but divorced in 1975. One daughter:
|
|
Lady May's wedding party included:
- The Hon.The HonourableThe prefix The Honourable or The Honorable is a style used before the names of certain classes of persons. It is considered an honorific styling.-International diplomacy:...
Imogen Rhys - Miss Kathleen Alington
- Princess Ingrid of SwedenIngrid of SwedenIngrid of Sweden was a Swedish princess and the queen consort of King Frederick IX of Denmark.-Background:...
, future Queen ConsortQueen consortA queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...
of King Frederick IX of DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
who introduced her fellow bridesmaid, Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (daughter of Charles Edward, former Duke of Albany) to her brother, Gustav Adolf (later King of Sweden), whom Sibylla married a year later in Coburg (a wedding that George V forbade the Royal family to attend because of Charles Edward's association with the Nazi Party). - Maj. The Hon. Cecil G. Weld-Forester
- Miss Jennifer Bevan
- Miss Wenefryde Tabor
- Lady Mary CambridgeLady Mary WhitleyThe Lady Mary Whitley , née Cambridge was a descendant of the British Royal Family...
, the bride's first cousin once removed - Princess Elizabeth of York, future Queen Elizabeth II of the United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the bride's first cousin once removed - Miss Rosemary Fraser
- Lady Alice Scott
Later life
Lady May did not carry out any royal duties as she was not British royal. She did attend some major royal events such as the coronationCoronation of the British monarch
The coronation of the British monarch is a ceremony in which the monarch of the United Kingdom is formally crowned and invested with regalia...
of Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
and the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
and Lady Diana Spencer
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
. At the latter event, Lady May was credited with popularizing the counterweights at the back of women's necklaces to prevent the clasps from turning around, which she often wore herself on her usual pearl necklaces.
Between 1958 and 1966, Sir Henry Abel Smith served as the Governor of Queensland. May accompanied Henry to Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, as vice-regal consort.
Lady May died one year after her husband. They are both buried at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore, not far from Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
. Her funeral was attended by members of the Royal Family.
Titles
- Her Serene Highness Princess May of Teck (1906–1917)
- Miss May Cambridge (1917–1917)
- The Lady May Cambridge (1917–1931)
- Lady May Abel Smith (1931–1994)