Duke Alexander of Württemberg (1804–1885)
Duke Alexander Paul Ludwig Konstantin of Württemberg (9 September 1804, Saint Petersburg – 4 July 1885 Tüffer) was a Germanic nobleman who was the father of Francis, Duke of Teck, who married into the British royal family and was the father of Mary of Teck (Queen Mary) the wife of King George V of the United Kingdom and the mother of King Edward VIII and King George VI. He is also an ancestor of Queen Elizabeth II
| Duke Alexander of Württemberg | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
| Born | 9 September 1804 Saint Petersburg, Russia | ||||
| Died | 4 July 1885 (aged 80) Tüffer, Duchy of Styria, Austria-Hungary | ||||
| Spouse | Countess Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde (m. 1835 - 1841; her death) | ||||
| Issue | Princess Claudine of Teck Prince Francis, Duke of Teck Princess Amelie, Countess of Hügel | ||||
| |||||
| House | Württemberg | ||||
| Father | Duke Louis of Württemberg | ||||
| Mother | Princess Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg | ||||
Origins
He was born on 9 September 1804 the son of Duke Louis of Württemberg (1756-1817), the younger brother of King Frederick I of Württemberg, the first king of Württemberg, and the second son of Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg (1732–1797). His mother was Princess Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg (1780-1857), a daughter of Charles Christian, Duke of Nassau-Weilburg, and a great-granddaughter of King George II of Great Britain through his eldest daughter Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange.
Marriage & issue
In 1835 he married Countess Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde (1812-1841), a Hungarian noblewoman whose non-royal ancestry deemed the marriage morganatic, thus depriving her issue of their paternal royal titles, status and inheritance. She was granted the title "Countess von Hohenstein", which title (Count or Countess) descended to all her children at birth. She was killed in 1841 in a riding accident, having fallen from her horse she was trampled to death by other horses. After his wife's death Duke Alexander became mentally unstable, a condition which lasted for the rest of his life. By his wife he had issue one son and three daughters, who in 1863 were all elevated by Duke Alexander's first cousin King William I of Württemberg (born 1781-1864) to the rank of Prince and Princesses (Fürst and Fürstin) von Teck:
- Princess Claudine of Teck (1836–1894).
- Prince Francis, Duke of Teck (1837–1900) who on 12 June 1866 at St. Anne's Church, Kew, in England, married Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge[1] (1833-1897), only daughter and eventual heiress of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (1774-1850) the seventh and youngest son of King George III of the United Kingdom. The couple were very distant cousins, both being descended from King George I of Great Britain.[lower-alpha 1] In 1871, five years after his marriage, Francis was raised by his second cousin King Charles I of Württemberg (son of King William I) to the title "Duke of Teck", a hereditary title in the Kingdom of Württemberg, but without any accompanying grant of land. Francis's sisters were not given any similar new status and remained "Princesses of Teck". By his wife Francis had issue three sons and one daughter:
- Princess Victoria Mary of Teck (1867–1953) (Queen Mary, known in the royal family as "May") who in 1893 in the Chapel Royal in St James's Palace, London, married the future King George V of the United Kingdom and was the mother of King Edward VIII and King George VI, father of Queen Elizabeth II;
- Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge (1868–1927), formerly Duke of Teck[lower-alpha 2] (having succeeded his father), which Germanic title was surrendered by him during World War I for political reasons and replaced by a new British title of Marquess of Cambridge;
- Prince Francis of Teck (1870–1910), died unmarried;
- Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone (1874–1957), formerly Prince Alexander of Teck, which Germanic royal prefix was surrendered by him during World War I for political reasons and replaced by a new British title of Earl of Athlone;
- Princess Amalie of Teck (1838–1893) who on 24 October 1863 married Carl Ernst Ludwig Paul, Count von Hügel (1835-1897), by whom she had issue:
- Paul-Julius, Count von Hügel (1872-1912) who married Anna Pauline Homolatsch (est.1836-1896) by whom he had issue:
- Countess Huberta Amelia Maximilienne Pauline von Hügel
- Ferdinand Paul, Graf von Hügel
- Paul-Julius, Count von Hügel (1872-1912) who married Anna Pauline Homolatsch (est.1836-1896) by whom he had issue:
Notes
- Sophia Dorothea of Hanover only daughter of King George I, mother of Princess Sophia Dorothea of Prussia mother of Princess Friederike of Brandenburg-Schwedt mother of Duke Louis of Württemberg father of Duke Alexander of Württemberg
- Ordinal numbers of peerage titles are omitted by convention when holder is royalty (see Wikipedia:Naming conventions (royalty and nobility)#Royals with a substantive title)
References
- Weir, A. (1996) Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy, Revised edition (Pimlico, London)
