Card of the Day: Her Majesty, Queen Mary

There's only one thing I never did and wish I had done: climbed over a fence. --Queen Mary

The second card in the set of twenty 1935 Silver Jubilee Edition cards by the Godfrey Phillips Company rightfully shows Queen Mary, consort of King George V. She was known throughout the world for her genuine and sympathetic nature, her devotion to Britain, her lack of pretension, her keen wit, her sense of adventure, her terrible shyness and her ability to present an appearance of unsurpassed glamour.

We’ve spoken at length about Queen Mary’s devotion to her Empire, to the Monarchy and to her husband, but I thought it might be pleasant, today, to examine King George’s feelings for his wife. George V was deeply and madly in love with Mary and until his dying day called her by the affectionate nickname of her youth, “May.”

Though George V, like many a British man of the time—especially one of Royal birth, had difficulty expressing his feelings vocally, but was quite a master of it in letter form. Let’s take a look at a letter that King George V wrote to Mary of Teck, his most beloved wife, near the end of the First World War when circumstance and the King’s injuries kept them apart. He wrote:

I can’t ever sufficiently express my deep gratitude to you, Darling May, for the splendid way in which you are helping me during these terrible, strenuous and anxious times. Very often, I feel in despair and if it wasn’t for you, I should break down. Everybody seems to give one extra worries in these days. It was dear of you coming with me last week, it helps enormously if you come, I only hope you were not too tired, the great heat of course made it worse, but I know the visit did good. I miss you know abominably…

King George was not the only one wo appreciated his wife. When the Great War ended, the King and Queen were faced with an eerily familiar scene as throngs of people flocked to Buckingham Palace. George and Mary went out to greet their subjects, standing on the central balcony of Buckingham Palace—a place upon which they first stood together on the day of their wedding twenty-five years ago as they faces a cheering crowd for the first time as husband and wife. They had stood in the same spots on the day that the war had been declared and also waved to cheering crowds. However, on that particular evening, the cheering was different.

The crowds had not gathered to celebrate an occasion, they were not cheering for a wedding or as a pep-rally for the empire. That night, Queen Mary felt something quite different as she smiled and waved to her beloved people. She remarked to the King. “They’re cheering for us.”

And, indeed, they were.

The cheers continue to this day. Here’s another video dedicated to the memory of this complicated and brilliant woman. The end of the video also shows some of Mary's exquisite jewels.  Enjoy!