Queen Mary Pt 3

[Robert_Hall]

I think this started as a fringe thing....QM at the Fringe, imagine it!

[grandduchessella]

[Grace]

That is a wonderful photo of May. 

This is a bit trivial, but I've often wondered "what if" Eddy had died six weeks after his and May's wedding instead of six weeks before?  What would have happened to May then?  Obviously, being a widow would have put her out of contention as a wife for George and probably for any type of "grand" marriage, I would have thought.  We would have been cheated of a great queen consort also.  Would she have been obliged to remain a single woman for the rest of her life or would she have made a minor but respectable marriage some time later?  Whatever happened, it would have changed the course of her life forever - far more than than it did even when Eddy, as her fiance, died before their marriage took place. 

[basilforever]

If May had married Eddy and the marriage was consummated and Eddy died 6 weeks later, it would have been possible that May was pregnant and then an heir to the throne would have been born. That is another "what if".  I think marrying George would have been out of the question, but I think she could have made another good marriage, but not to be a Queen.

Here is a portrait of Her Majesty at her coronation: and also her Crown

[Eddie_uk]

Interesting question Grace!!! I wonder what Mays thoughts on remarriage where? It certainly would of robbed us of a wonderful Queen and put a dent in the Royal Collection!!!

[grandduchessella]

Wasn't the ban on marrying a brother/sister-in-law still in existance then? I know QV had tossed around the idea of Beatrice marrying her widowed brother-in-law, Louis, but it wouldn't have been allowed under the law.

[Romanov_fan]

Hard to say. I think that Mary would have most likely married someone else. But, then that might have depended on what status she got as a widow, and if she was satisfied with that, she might not have looked elsewhere. I think she was dutiful and would have done what that demanded, but it's hard not imagine her not being Queen consort of England. Had she not been, I think the emphasis on duty the Windsors have today might not have been as strong.

[Keith]

Didn't QV look down on widows remarrying? So, remarriage may not have been an option during her lifetime. It probably would have depended on whether or not she was pregnant. If so, I can't see any remarriage for her.  I think she would have seen her duty as raising the best possible King or Queen.

Even if she hand't been pregnant, I don't know that she would have had that many possible suitors. I don't recall reading that many were knocking at her door prior to her engagement to Eddy.  For that time she was on her way to being an old maid.

[Romanov_fan]

Well, if she had been a widow she might have been. Before that, she would most likely have found someone to marry, even though her rather reserved, serious personality at times and her father's morgantic blood might have made her seem not so desirable as some other princesses. But, she was pretty in youth and was even described as voluptuous by someone after she was married to the future George V so maybe the judgments we make now aren't what they would have thought then.The same person said she was dull, not really true, although reserved. I agree though she didn't have that many suitors.

[Alexander1917]

Today is the 54th anniversary of the death of HM Queen Mary, Queen Consort of HM KIng Georg V

[boffer]

I wonder can anyone remember if there was any kind of rememberance to mark the 50th anniversary of her death? All I can recall was the Golden Jubilee of 2002 and a service in Westminster abbey in 1953 to commemerate the 50th anniversary of the coronation.

[Duke of New Jersey]

If Eddy and/or George didn't come aroudn maybe she would have married Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg (son of William II Württemberg) or another German prince/duke?  He married an Austrian Archduchess in January 1893 she married George in July.  One never knows...

-Duke of NJ

[grandduchessella]

Most continental royals wouldn't have considered her because of her morganatic blood. England was one of the few places she could have made such a great match.

[emeraldeyes1969]

I see the widowed May marrying again, but not until later in life; probably to a widower duke or earl with 9 children and a very large collection of ancestral jewels. 

[basilforever]

Most continental royals wouldn't have considered her because of her morganatic blood. England was one of the few places she could have made such a great match.

Bizzare considering now they marry almost no one but commoners, and only rarely do some rare people like me express any disappointment about it. Thank God that May could have made the greatest of marital matches in Britain, because she was so right for the job.