Mary of Teck

Born in Kensington in 1867, Mary was the daughter of a German duke and a granddaughter of George III, known as "May" after her birth month. At 24 she was betrothed to Prince Albert Victor, second in line to the throne; he died unexpectedly six weeks after the engagement was announced, during a pandemic. The following year she became engaged to his only surviving brother, George, and rose through the ranks - Duchess of York, Duchess of Cornwall, Princess of Wales. As queen consort from 1910, she steadied George V through the First World War and the political upheaval that followed. After his death in 1936, her eldest son Edward VIII ascended, then abdicated the same year to marry Wallis Simpson. She supported her second son, George VI, until his death in 1952, and died the following year - ten weeks before her granddaughter was crowned Elizabeth II.