The Wedding of Princess Mary of Cambridge and Francis, Duke of Teck

Princess Mary of Cambridge, in a crinoline wedding dress, and Prince Francis of Teck.  Behind them are Queen Victoria and the Duke of Cambridge. Print from The Illustrated London News.

On the morning of June 2, 1866, the Princess Mary of Cambridge was married at the parish church of Kew to his Serene Highness Francis Louis Paul von Teck. Queen Victoria and almost every other member of the British Royal Family were present. The church was crowded with ladies of the haute monde, the representatives of the noblest families and dignitaries. Her Majesty was dressed in deep mourning, with a Mary Stuart cap under a black bonnet.. The ladies in attendance on the Queen were also in mourning, though of not so deep a character as that of the queen.

When the service had ended, the bride advanced with a quick step to the Queen, by whom she was affectionately kissed. The princess also kissed the princesses and her brother,  and the Prince of Wales. Prince Franz Teck also kissed the Queen on the cheek; and after other salutations, having bowed to her bridesmaids, the newly wedded Princess took the arm of her husband and returned down the centre of the church, acknowledging the bows of the company.

The Queen leaning on the arm of her cousin, the Duke of Cambridge, had preceded the bridal pair. The Princess Helena was escorted out by her brother, the Prince of Wales. The illustrious party returned to Cambridge Cottage, and the register having been brought from the church, it was signed in the drawing room. After a most superb dejeuner the happy pair took their departure for Ashbridge Park, near Berkhampstead, the country estate of Earl Brownlow, with the fair bride being smothered with a cloud of white slippers thrown after the departing carriage for luck. Great festivities outdoors marked the popularity of her royal highness at Kew, and a grand display of fireworks in the evening brought the rejoicings to a brilliant close.

Prince and Princess Francis of Teck (later Duke and Duchess of Teck) with their first-born, Princess Mary of Teck, born in 1867.