Mary, Princess Royal (Victoria Alexandra Alice Mary; 25 April 1897 – 28 March 1965), was a member of the British royal family. She was the only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary, the sister of kings Edward VIII and George VI, and the paternal aunt of Queen Elizabeth II. During the First World War, she undertook extensive charity work in support of servicemen and their families. In 1922, she married Henry Lascelles, Viscount Lascelles (later the 6th Earl of Harewood), and they had two sons, George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood, and Gerald David Lascelles. Mary was granted the title Princess Royal in 1932. During the Second World War, she served as Controller Commandant of the Auxiliary Territorial Service.
Mary was born at 3:30 pm on 25 April 1897 at York Cottage on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, during the reign of her great-grandmother Queen Victoria. She was the third child and only daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George V and Queen Mary. Her father was the only surviving son of the Prince and Princess of Wales, later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, and her mother was the eldest child and only daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Teck. She was named Victoria Alexandra Alice Mary after her paternal great-grandmother Queen Victoria; her paternal grandmother, Alexandra, Princess of Wales; her maternal grandmother, Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck; and her great-aunt, Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine, with whom she shared a birthday. She was known by the last of her given names, Mary. At the time of her birth she was fifth in the line of succession to the British throne after her grandfather, father, and elder brothers Edward (later Edward VIII) and Albert (later George VI), and moved down the line following the births of her younger brothers Henry, George, and John.
She was baptised at St Mary Magdalene's Church near Sandringham on 7 June by William Dalrymple Maclagan, Archbishop of York. Her godparents were the Queen (her great-grandmother), the King of the Hellenes (her paternal great-uncle), the Dowager Empress of Russia (her paternal great-aunt), the Prince and Princess of Wales (her paternal grandparents), the Duchess of Teck (her maternal grandmother), Princess Victoria of Wales (her paternal aunt), and Prince Francis of Teck (her maternal uncle). Her grandfather succeeded to the throne in 1901 when Mary was three years old.
Mary was educated by governesses, although she shared some lessons with her brothers Edward, Albert, and Henry. She became fluent in German and French, and developed a lifelong interest in horses and horse racing. Her first state appearance took place at the coronation of her parents at Westminster Abbey on 22 June 1911.
During World War I, Mary visited hospitals and welfare organisations with her mother, assisting with schemes that provided comfort to British servicemen and support to their families. One such initiative was Princess Mary's Christmas Gift Fund, through which gifts worth £100,000 were distributed to serving soldiers and sailors for Christmas 1914, the equivalent of £9.55 million in 2023. She took an active role in promoting the Girl Guide movement, the Voluntary Aid Detachments, and the Women's Land Army. In June 1918, following an announcement in The Gentlewoman, she began a nursing course at Great Ormond Street Hospital, working two days a week in the Alexandra Ward.
In 1918, she was appointed colonel-in-chief of the Royal Scots, an honour bestowed by her father, the King. On 20 November 1918, she became the first member of the royal family to visit France following the Armistice. She visited centres associated with Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service and Voluntary Aid Detachment Units, as well as hospitals treating wounded soldiers. While visiting Ypres she recognised two soldiers from the Royal Scots; the regiment was stationed nearby, and a march‑past of its 17th battalion was arranged. During her visit to Le Tréport, she rode in a whippet tank, which the Yorkshire Evening Post described as a "great experience".
Mary's public duties reflected her interest in nursing, the Girl Guide movement, and the Women's Services. In the period leading up to her marriage, girls and women across the British Empire named Mary or its variants (including Marie, May, and Miriam) formed "The Marys of the Empire", and contributed to a wedding present fund. She presented this fund to the Girl Guides Association for the purchase of the Foxlease estate, and after the exhibition of her wedding presents she donated half the proceeds to the same cause, a total of £10,000, which enabled the project to proceed.
She became honorary president of the British Girl Guide Association in 1920, a position she held until her death. In 1925, she received the Silver Fish Award, the organisation's highest adult honour, in recognition of her contribution to the movement. In 1958, she became president of the Guide Club.
In July 2013, it was reported that British Pathé had identified newsreel film from 1927 showing the ancestors of Catherine Middleton, as Lord Mayors of Leeds, hosting Mary at the Young Women's Christian Association in Hunslet. Sir Charles Lupton and his brother Hugh Lupton, uncles of Olive Middleton, Catherine's great‑grandmother, were among those present.
In 1921, Mary became the first patron of the Not Forgotten Association, a role she held until her death in 1965. The charity's first Christmas tea party was organised by her and held at St James's Palace in 1921, when she invited 600 wounded servicemen for afternoon tea; the event has been held annually ever since. In 1926, she became commandant-in-chief of the British Red Cross Detachments.
In the 1920s, Mary was a patron of the Leeds Triennial Musical Festival. By the 1940s, she was attending opening nights and many of the festival's performances, as was her son, George, and his wife, the Countess of Harewood, née Marion Stein, a former concert pianist. George was a noted music critic whose career included serving as artistic director of the Leeds Triennial Musical Festival.
In 1931, Mary was appointed patron of the Yorkshire Ladies Council of Education. She was also patron of the Girls' Patriotic Union of Day Schools.
In July 1927, it was reported that, at a garden party at Headingley Cricket Ground, Mary was served tea alongside dignitaries who included members of the Middleton family; Olive Middleton, great-grandmother of Catherine, Princess of Wales, was among them. Mary and her son, George, were patrons of the Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra which performed soirées at their home, Harewood House. Among those attending was the orchestra's co-founder, Richard Noël Middleton, who was on friendly terms with Mary. Middleton's wife, Olive, served on Mary's fundraising committee for the Leeds General Infirmary. Olive's first cousin, Elinor G. Lupton, also served on the committee and reportedly launched the fundraising appeal in 1933. The committee's vice-presidents included Mary's sister-in-law, the Hon. Mrs Edward Lascelles, who served alongside Olive and her relative Jessie Beatrice Kitson. In 1936, Mary became patron of the Leeds Infirmary.
On 28 February 1922, Mary married Henry, Viscount Lascelles, the elder son of the 5th Earl of Harewood and his wife, Lady Florence Bridgeman, daughter of the 3rd Earl of Bradford of Weston Park. Mary was 24 years old, while the groom was 39.
Their wedding was held at Westminster Abbey and attracted large crowds along the route to Buckingham Palace. The ceremony was the first royal wedding to be covered in fashion magazines, including Vogue. Mary's gown was designed by Messrs Raville and featured emblems of Britain and India. It was also the first royal occasion in which Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, a friend of Mary, participated as one of the bridesmaids. She later married Mary's brother, Albert, and became queen consort of the United Kingdom upon his accession in 1936.
George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood (7 February 1923 – 11 July 2011); married, 1949, Marion Stein; had issue; divorced 1967; married, 1967, Patricia Elizabeth Tuckwell; had issue.