Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh: King George III’s Last Surviving Child

A daguerreotype  of Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh, around 1856.
Image from the Royal Collection via Wikimedia Commons

Princess Mary stands out among the many children of King George III because of one distinction—she lived longer than any of her siblings.  Princess Mary was born on April 25, 1776 at Buckingham Palace in London. She was the fourth daughter and 11th of the fifteen children of King George III of the United Kingdom and Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Mary and her sisters were educated together with her sisters Sophia and Amelia under the tutelage of their French governess, Charlotte de Montmollin. They were taught needlework and French. Later, Jane Gomm became their English teacher and oversaw the remainder of their education.

Mary, Sophia, and Amelia’s less disciplined upbringing contrasted that of their three elder sisters, a fact noticed by John Singleton Copley when he was commissioned to paint the three siblings with their family pets in 1785. The children, together with the parrots and dogs, did not cooperate, though Copley was still able to finish the portrait. Afterwards, Copley shifted to historical painting and never painted portraits ever again.

Mary lived a sheltered childhood. She and her sisters were placed under rigid conditions, a situation, which they referred to as “The Nunnery”. King George III did not allow her daughters to marry at an age when princesses usually did at a young age. This stemmed from the series of misfortunes his sister Caroline Matilda experienced after she married King Christian VII of Denmark. Her husband’s mental illness led to Caroline’s dalliances. After she was caught, her lover was executed and she was exiled and died of scarlet fever at just 23 years old.

A portrait of Princess Mary,  Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh, by Thomas Lawrence. 
The painting now hangs at the Green Room of Windsor Castle. 

Mary was closest to her sickly sister Amelia, who would jokingly call her “mama’s tool” for her obedience. She nursed her throughout her bout with pulmonary tuberculosis and erysipelas until her death in 1810, which Mary mourned for years.

Around 1796, Mary met and fell in love with her second cousin Prince Frederick of Orange-Nassau while the latter’s family was living in exile in London. The king, however, prohibited Mary from marrying until her older sisters did. Unfortunately, Frederick died of infection in 1799 while serving the army, for which the princess was allowed to go into official mourning.

Mary was already 40 years old at the time, married her first cousin, Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, on July 22, 1816 at the Chapel Royal in St James’s Palace.

On her wedding day, the princess was described to be "looking very lovely" in her "remarkably simple wedding dress. William Frederick, who was six months older than his wife, was encouraged to remain single so there would be a suitable match for Princess Charlotte of Wales, who went on to marry  Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.   Historian A. W. Purdue suggests that Mary’s decision to marry William Frederick may have sprung from her resentment towards her mother’s restrictive household.

After the wedding, the couple took up residence at Gloucester House in Piccadilly as well as at Bagshot Park. Theirs was a childless marriage. No application was made to Parliament to increase their income, the couple, after all, were careful with their finances. It was said that their "benevolent habits" had "taught them in a practical way the value of money," ensuring that they "make their means suffice, and leave enough for much support of schools, and aid to many good cause."

Mary was close to her eldest brother, George IV of the United Kingdom, whose wife, their cousin, Caroline of Brunswick, they both disliked. When Caroline left for Italy, Mary congratulated George "on the prospect of a good riddance”. “Heaven grant that she may not return again and that we may never see more of her," she added.

A daguerreotype by Antoine Claudet showing Queen Victoria with the Prince of Wales,
Princess Alice, and Princess Mary, sometime in 1856. Image from British Royal
Photos from Tumblr

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester lived together for 18 years until the duke's death in 1834. Since then, the princess had lived in retirement, keeping herself busy with her charitable work, "unostentatious deeds which fill up the sum of human existence worthily, and so silently, that they are felt, though not always seen."

After her husband’s death, Mary stayed at the White Lodge in Richmond Park. Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh died on April 30, 1857 at the Gloucester House in Weymouth. She was 81 years old. She was laid to rest at the St George's Chapel of Windsor Castle.

Considered as Queen Victoria’s favorite aunt, she was the longest lived and last surviving child of King George III and Queen Charlotte. She also holds the distinction as the only daughter of King George III to be photographed. Historical biographer Flora Fraser described Mary as a “bland beauty,” but considered her as the most beautiful of the king’s daughters. Mrs. Matthew Hall praised her for being "fair, good, amiable, and accomplished," characters which made her "worthy to adorn a throne, yet possessed every virtue to shine in humbler station."  The princess' good nature also earned her the "admiration and respect" of those around her.   She was praised for her wit and excellent demeanor, as well as, her spirit and confidence.