First Cousins: King Edward VIII and King George VI of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, later The Duke of Windsor (1894 – 1972)

 

King George VI of the United Kingdom (1894 – 1952)

(All photos credits – Wikipedia unless otherwise noted)

King Edward VIII, the Duke of Windsor after his abdication, was born on June 23, 1894, at White Lodge, Richmond Park on the outskirts of London, England. At the time of his birth, his great-grandmother Queen Victoria sat upon the throne of the United Kingdom. His parents, the future King George V and Queen Mary were the Duke and Duchess of York and his grandparents, the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra were Prince and Princess of Wales. The infant prince was the eldest son of his parents and was third in the line of succession behind his grandfather and father. Christened Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David, he was known as David. After his abdication in 1936, he married Wallis Simpson and had no children.

Eighteen months after David’s birth, another son was born into the family on December 14, 1895, at York Cottage, his parents’ home on the grounds of the Sandringham estate in Sandringham, Norfolk, England. Christened Albert Frederick Arthur George, he was known as Bertie and would succeed his elder brother upon his abdication as King George VI. He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon and had two daughters.

The brothers’ paternal grandparents were King Edward VII, eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Alexandra of Denmark, eldest daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel. Their mother had been born Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, known as May, the eldest of the four children and the only daughter of Prince Francis, Duke of Teck and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, a first cousin of Queen Victoria.

The Duke of Windsor and King George VI had ten first cousins. They share their first cousins with their siblings Mary, Princess Royal, Countess of Harewood; Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester; Prince George, Duke of Kent; and Prince John.

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Paternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Alexandra of Denmark

Maternal Aunts and Uncles: Children of Prince Francis, Duke of Teck, and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge

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PATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Paternal First Cousins: Children of Louise, Princess Royal and Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife

Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife, Princess Arthur of Connaught (1891 – 1959)

Princess Alexandra was the eldest surviving child of Princess Louise, Princess Royal and Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife. As a female-line great-granddaughter of the British sovereign, (Queen Victoria) at birth, Alexandra was not entitled to the title of Princess or the style Royal Highness. Instead, she was styled Lady Alexandra Duff, the style of daughters of a Duke. The Letters Patent for her father’s title allowed the dukedom to pass to the daughters of the 1st Duke of Fife if he had no son, and then to the male heirs of his daughters. Therefore, Alexandra became heir to her father’s dukedom and did succeed her father as 2nd Duchess of Fife in her own right.

When Alexandra’s mother was created Princess Royal in 1905, Alexandra and her sister Maud were granted the title of Princess with the style of “Highness” and received precedence immediately after all members of the royal family bearing the style of “Royal Highness.” Alexandra married her first cousin once removed, Prince Arthur of Connaught, the only son of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught who was a son of Queen Victoria.

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Princess Maud of Fife, Countess of Southesk (1893 – 1945)

Princess Maud of Fife was the younger of the two daughters of Princess Louise, Princess Royal and Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife. Maud married Charles Carnegie, the eldest son of Charles Noel Carnegie, 10th Earl of Southesk. The couple had one child, James Carnegie. After her marriage, Maud stopped using ‘Her Highness Princess Maud’ and was known as Lady Carnegie, and later The Countess of Southesk after her husband succeeded his father as the 11th Earl of Southesk. Maud’s son James Carnegie succeeded his maternal aunt Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife, as the 3rd Duke of Fife, because her only child, Alastair, 2nd Duke of Connaught, had predeceased her. James also succeeded his father upon his death in 1992 as the 12th Earl of Southesk and as Chief of the Clan Carnegie.

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Paternal First Cousins: Children of Princess Maud of Wales, Queen of Norway and King Haakon VII of Norway

King Olav V of Norway (1903 – 1991)

King Olav V of Norway was born Prince Alexander of Denmark on July 2, 1903, at Appleton House on the Sandringham Estate in Sandringham, Norfolk, England. He was the only child of Prince Carl of Denmark, son of King Frederik VIII of Denmark, and Princess Maud of Wales, daughter of the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. At the time of his birth, there was little expectation that he would one day become a king himself. However, this would all change in 1905, when his father was named as the new King of Norway, taking the name Haakon VII. Young Alexander was given the more Norwegian-sounding name Olav and at the age of just two years old, became Crown Prince of Norway.

Olav represented Norway in the 1928 Olympic Games, winning a Gold Medal in the sailing competition and remained active in sailing his whole life. He married Princess Märtha of Sweden and had one son, King Harald V of Norway, and two daughters. Sadly, Märtha died of cancer before Olav succeeded his father in 1957.

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MATERNAL FIRST COUSINS

Maternal First Cousins: Children of Prince Adolphus of Teck, later Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge and Lady Margaret Evelyn Grosvenor

Prince George of Teck, later 2nd Marquess of Cambridge (1895 – 1981)

Styled His Serene Highness Prince George of Teck at birth, George’s name and title changed in 1917, when King George V requested that his relatives who were British subjects relinquish their German titles, styles, and designations, due to anti-German sentiment during World War I. George’s father became Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge and George became George Cambridge, Earl of Eltham, one of his father’s subsidiary titles. George married Dorothy Hastings and they had one daughter. Upon his father’s death, George succeeded to the title Marquess of Cambridge. However, the title became extinct upon George’s death because he had no sons and his only brother had died in World War II.

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Princess Mary of Teck, later Lady Mary Cambridge, Duchess of Beaufort  (1897 – 1987)

Like her brother George, Princess Mary of Teck’s title changed in 1917 to Lady Mary Cambridge. She was a bridesmaid at the wedding of her first cousin Prince Albert, Duke of York and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. Mary married Henry Somerset, 10th Duke of Beaufort but the couple had no children.

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Princess Helena of Teck, later Lady Helena Cambridge, Lady Helen Gibbs (1899 – 1969)

In 1917, as per King George V’s request, Princess Helena of Teck relinquished her German title and was then styled Lady Helena Cambridge. Lady Helena married Colonel John Gibbs, a veteran of the Boer Wars and World War I but their marriage was childless.

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Prince Frederick of Teck, later Lord Frederick Cambridge (1907 – 1940)

Born Prince Frederick of Teck, like the rest of his family, he relinquished his title in 1917 and was then styled Lord Frederick Teck. During World War II, Frederick served as a Captain in the Coldstream Guards. He was killed in action in Leuven, Belgium and was buried in Heverlee War Cemetery in Belgium.

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Maternal First Cousins: Children of Prince Alexander of Teck, later Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone and Princess Alice of Albany

Princess May of Teck, later Lady May Cambridge, Lady May Abel Smith (1906- 1994)

Princess May of Teck was the eldest of the three children of Prince Alexander of Teck and Princess Alice of Albany, the daughter of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, the hemophiliac son of Queen Victoria. At the request of King George V, the family relinquished their German titles. May’s father became Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone and May was styled Lady May Cambridge. When Lady May married Henry Abel Smith in 1931, the future Queen Elizabeth II was one of her child bridesmaids. Lady May and her husband had two daughters and one son.

Wikipedia: Lady May Abel Smith

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Rupert with his mother and his sister

Prince Rupert of Teck, later Rupert Cambridge, Viscount Trematon (1907 – 1928)

In 1917, Prince Rupert of Teck, along with the rest of his family, gave up his title and was then styled Rupert Cambridge, Viscount Trematon, one of his father’s subsidiary titles. Rupert inherited hemophilia from his mother Princess Alice of Albany. Princess Alice’s father, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany was Queen Victoria’s youngest son and had hemophilia. The daughter of a hemophiliac will always be a carrier because her father can only pass on to her an X chromosome with hemophilia on it.

On April 1, 1928, Rupert was driving with two of his friends when the car skidded and crashed into a tree. One of his friends died due to injuries and the other was only slightly injured. At first, Rupert also did not seem to be seriously injured. However, after being in the hospital for several days, he began to hemorrhage from the ear due to a slight fracture of the skull. The bleeding was arrested and Rupert seemed to be improving, but it did not last. On April 15, 1928, 20-year-old Rupert died from an injury he probably would have recovered from had he not been a hemophiliac.

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Maurice on his mother’s lap with his sister and brother

Prince Maurice of Teck (born and died 1910)

Prince Maurice of Teck was born March 29, 1910. On September 14, 1910, five-month-old Maurice died at Reinhardsbrunn Castle in Germany while his family was visiting Princess Alice’s brother, Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Maurice was interred on a burial island on the grounds of Reinhardsbrunn Castle.

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Works Cited

  • Lundy, D. (2019). Main Page. [online] Thepeerage.com. Available at: http://www.thepeerage.com/. (for genealogy information)
  • Unofficial Royalty. (2019). Unofficial Royalty. [online] Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com. (for biographical and genealogy information)
  • Wikipedia. (2019). Main Page. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/.  (for biographical and genealogy information)