Margaret Cambridge, Marchioness of Cambridge explained

Honorific Prefix:The Most Honourable
The Marchioness of Cambridge
Birth Name:Margaret Evelyn Grosvenor
Birth Date:8 April 1873
Birth Place:Eaton Hall, Cheshire, England
Death Place:London, England
Burial Date:30 March 1929
Burial Place:Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore
Issue:George Cambridge, 2nd Marquess of Cambridge
Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort
Lady Helena Gibbs
Lord Frederick Cambridge
Father:Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster
Mother:Lady Constance Leveson-Gower

Margaret Evelyn Cambridge, Marchioness of Cambridge (born Lady Margaret Evelyn Grosvenor; 8 April 1873 – 27 March 1929), also known after her marriage as Princess Adolphus of Teck and the Duchess of Teck, was the sixth child and third daughter of Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster and the wife of Prince Adolphus (later the 1st Marquess of Cambridge).

Birth

Lady Margaret Grosvenor was born at Eaton Hall in Cheshire. Her father was the 3rd Marquess of Westminster (1st Duke of Westminster the year following her birth), the son of the 2nd Marquess of Westminster and Lady Elizabeth Mary Leveson-Gower. Her mother was Lady Constance Gertrude Leveson-Gower, the daughter of the 2nd Duke of Sutherland.

Marriage

On 12 December 1894, she married Prince Adolphus of Teck at Eaton Hall in Cheshire. Prince Adolphus of Teck was the eldest son of Francis, Duke of Teck and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge. He was also the younger brother of Victoria Mary, Duchess of York (later Queen Mary). Her father settled £75,000 on her upon her marriage.[1]

After her marriage, she took on her husband's title and style and was known as Her Serene Highness Princess Adolphus of Teck. Together the couple had four children:

Duchess of Teck

In 1900, Prince Francis, Duke of Teck died, and Adolphus succeeded him as 2nd Duke of Teck. Margaret was now styled Her Serene Highness the Duchess of Teck. The Dukedom of Teck was a title in the Kingdom of Württemberg. In 1911, King George V awarded the Duke of Teck the style Highness as a gift on his coronation. From then on Margaret was known as Her Highness The Duchess of Teck.

Prince Adolphus saw active service with his regiment in the Second Boer War, and his wife joined him in South Africa in April 1900, travelling there on the SS Dunottar Castle with her two sisters the Marchioness of Ormonde and Lady Chesham.[2]

Marchioness of Cambridge

During the First World War, anti-German feeling in the United Kingdom led 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 his Germanic titles for himself and all members of the British Royal Family who were British subjects.

In response to this, Adolphus renounced his title of Duke of Teck in the Kingdom of Württemberg and the style His Highness. Adolphus, along with his brother, Prince Alexander of Teck, adopted the name Cambridge, after their grandfather, Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge.

He was subsequently created Marquess of Cambridge, Earl of Eltham, and Viscount Northallerton in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Margaret from then on became the Marchioness of Cambridge. Their elder son took the title Earl of Eltham as a courtesy title. The younger children became Lord/Lady (Christian Name) Cambridge.

After World War I the couple made their home at Shotton Hall, near Shrewsbury, England,[3] until after her husband's death in 1927. His elder son, the Earl of Eltham, succeeded him as Marquess of Cambridge. Lady Cambridge survived him by two years, and died of pneumonia on 27 March 1929 in London. She was buried beside her husband at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore.

Notes and References

  1. The Duke of Westminster's Will, The Times (London, England), Saturday, 17 Feb 1900; pg. 8; Issue 36068.
  2. The War - Embarcation of Troops . 19 March 1900 . 9 . 36093.
  3. News: 25 October 1927. Death of the Marquess of Cambridge. Shrewsbury Chronicle. 7.