Unusual Artifacts: A Telegram Announcing the Engagement of Mary of Teck and George, Duke of York, 1893

Telegram
From Princess Mary Adelaide to
Prince Adolphus of Teck
May 4, 1893
The Royal Collection

As we can see from the history below, the engagement of Prince George and Princess May was not the original plan, but an excellent solution to a national problem. It was also, ultimately, a genuinely happy event.

In his diary for May 3, 1893, the Duke of York (Prince George of Wales, later King George V) wrote that after he proposed to “Princess May” in the garden of East Sheen Lodge “the darling girl consented to be my wife.”

Mary was happy, George was happy, the Duke of Teck was happy, Queen Victoria was happy, but no one was quite as thrilled as the bride-to-be’s mother, Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck. The minute that “Fat Mary” heard of the engagement, she, set about telegraphing everyone she could think of. She sent this telegram to her son Prince Adolphus (later the Marquis of Cambridge).

It says: 7 Last Night. East Sheen. Mary engaged to George. They send best. Love, Mummy.