Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge
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Colonel Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge, GCB, GCVO, CMG (Adolphus Charles Alexander Albert Edward George Philip Louis Ladislaus), born Prince Adolphus of Teck and later The Duke of Teck (13 August 1868 – 23 October 1927), was a member of the British Royal Family and a younger brother of Queen Mary, the consort of King George V. In 1900, he succeeded his father as Duke of Teck in the Kingdom of Württemberg. He relinquished his German titles in 1917 to become Marquess of Cambridge.
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[edit] Early life
Adolphus was born on August 13, 1868 at Kensington Palace, London. His father was Prince Francis, Duke of Teck, the eldest son of Duke Alexander of Württemberg and Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde (created the Countess von Hohenstein). His mother was The Duchess of Teck (nee Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge), the youngest daughter of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge and a granddaughter of King George III. Adolphus was styled His Serene Highness Prince Adolphus of Teck at birth. Due to his unwieldy string of nine Christian names, he was always known as "Dolly" among his family.
He was educated at Wellington College.
[edit] Army
Adolphus was a cavalry officer, following in the footsteps of his father, both of his grandfathers, and his maternal uncle. He received his education at Wellington College, before entering the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. At the age of 19, he joined the 17th Lancers, the regiment of his maternal uncle, HRH The Duke of Cambridge, who was the commander-in-chief of the British Army from 1856-1895. In 1894, he transferred to the 1st Life Guards.
[edit] Marriage
In October of that year, he married Lady Margaret Evelyn Grosvenor (9 April 1873-27 March 1929), the daughter of the 1st Duke of Westminster.
- Prince George of Teck, later 2nd Marquess of Cambridge, (11 October 1895-16 April 1981), married 1923 Dorothy Hastings (18 May 1899-1 April 1988);
- Princess Mary of Teck, later Lady Mary Cambridge (12 June 1897-23 June 1987, married 1923 the 10th Duke of Beaufort (4 April 1900-4 February 1984)
- Princess Helena of Teck, later styled Lady Helena Cambridge (23 October 1899-22 December 1969), married 1919 Colonel John Evelyn Gibbs (22 December 1879-11 October 1932
- Prince Frederick of Teck, later styled Lord Frederick Cambridge (23 September 1907-30 May 1940)
[edit] Duke of Teck
In January 1900, Adolphus succeeded his father as Duke of Teck.
The new Duke served with his regiment during the Boer War and at one time was a transport officer in the Household Cavalry. He then served as the British military attaché in Vienna from 1904 to 1910, retiring at the rank of lieutenant colonel. With the outbreak of World War I, he returned to active duty, serving first as temporary military secretary at the War Office and later as military secretary to the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Forces (B.E.F.) in France, with the rank of brigadier general. He was created Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (K.C.V.O.)in 1897, promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (G.C.V.O.) in 1900, and made a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath (G.C.B.), in 1911. Though lionized during his lifetime as a "soldier-prince", papers released in 1998 undermined this assessment, as he seemed to have spent the First World War facing a series of Army medical boards to request sick leave.
In 1911, his brother-in-law King George V granted him the style His Highness, as a gift to mark his coronation.
[edit] Marquess of Cambridge
During World War I, anti-German feeling in the United Kingdom led Adolphus's brother in law 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, through a Royal Warrant from the King[1][2], 14 July 1917, 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. His elder son took the title Earl of Eltham as a courtesy title. His younger children became Lord/Lady (Christian Name) Cambridge.
Lord Cambridge died in 1927 at Shatton Hall, Shrewsbury, England. His elder son, the Earl of Eltham, succeeded him as Marquess of Cambridge.
[edit] Styles from birth to death
- His Serene Highness Prince Adolphus of Teck (1868-1900)
- His Serene Highness The Duke of Teck (1900-1911)
- His Highness The Duke of Teck (1911-1917)
- Sir Adolphus Cambridge, GCB, GCVO (1917-1917)
- The Most Honourable The Marquess of Cambridge, GCB, GCVO, CMG (1917-1927)
[edit] Footnotes
| Preceded by HH Prince Francis |
Duke of Teck 1900–1917 |
Succeeded by Title Relinquished |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by New Creation |
Marquess of Cambridge 1917–1927 |
Succeeded by George Cambridge |
