Queen Mary (1867-1953)
Artist: Sir William Samuel Henry Llewellyn (Welsh, 1858-1941)
Date: 1911-1912
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Royal Collection Trust, London, United Kingdom
Description
The State Portrait of Queen Mary (1867-1953) was commissioned by the Lord Chamberlain in 1911 and was first exhibited at the Royal Academy the following year.
Mary of Teck was the Queen Consort of the United Kingdom as the wife of King George V. Renowned for her steadfast dignity and dedication to royal duty, she successfully guided the British monarchy through World War I, the abdication crisis of 1936, and World War II.
Born Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes in 1867 at Kensington Palace, she was the daughter of the German-born Duke of Teck and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, a granddaughter of King George III. Family and friends affectionately called her "May," after the month of her birth.
Mary was engaged to Prince Albert Victor, the eldest son of the Prince of Wales and second in line to the throne. Tragically, he died of pneumonia during the global influenza pandemic just six weeks after the engagement was announced. The following year, Mary became engaged to Albert Victor's only surviving brother, Prince George. They married on July 6, 1893. Upon his accession as King George V in 1910, Mary became Queen Consort.
After her husband's death in 1936, she was devastated when her eldest son, King Edward VIII, abdicated the throne after just 11 months to marry the twice-divorced American, Wallis Simpson. She strongly disapproved of the abdication but shifted her unwavering support to her second son, who took the throne as King George VI.
In her later years, Mary of Teck became a central, stabilizing figure to her granddaughter, the young Queen Elizabeth II.
Mary died on March 24, 1953, at the age of 85, just a few months before Elizabeth II's coronation. She was buried next to her husband at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.
