Princess Mary, the Princess Royal

[Alix of Wales had Panache]

Anyone else see a resemblance between HRH the Princess Royal (mary) and Zara Phillips? Especially in the face?

Ohhhh yeah, the Queen also looks like her Aunt as well.

[Luc]

If some photos exist of Mary at Elizabeth II's coronation, also any of her at George VI's in 1937 ?

[royal_netherlands]

Princess Mary with her brother Prince Edward at the coronation of their parents in 1911.


http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f78/opzich/img627.jpg
Princess Mary at the coronation of her brother in 1937.



Princess Mary at the coronation of her niece in 1953.

[Luc]

Very interesting, RN !

[angele]

it is my understanding that mary was very much in love with walter Montague douglas scott,son and heir to the duke of Buccleuch and these feelings were reciprocated. unfortunately though for various reasons it was not thought to be a suitable match. I do think that mary made the best of the situation probably helped by her sense of duty which i believe she had in abundance

[grandduchessella]

I wonder why it wasn't thought suitable--was it his sister Alice who later married Mary's brother Henry? The Duke of Buccleuch was one of George's oldest friends.

[angele]

yes Henry did marry walter's sister alice. Although the buccleuch family were wealthy lord lascelles was even more so and i think King george and queen mary felt that she would find the situation more in keeping with the lifestyle she had as a royal princess. i think they felt they were doing it for the best. however on that vein i think they probably regretted not allowing the prince of wales to continue his courtship of rosemary leveson gower considering the later situation with mrs simpson

[Marie-Mathilde]

 In "Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother" Mary is described as "Not blessed with good looks." This, I remind you, is coming from a book about the Queen Mother who they describe as being, in 1920 as "a stunning young woman". Just compare the photos of them around 1920 and you will see what terrible judgement the writer had. In my opinion Mary was really quite pretty and I wish that her parents George V and Queen Mary had allowed her to follow her heart and marry who she wished although I do really admire her unwavering devotion to duty.

[Grace]

Totally agree with your views here, Marie-Mathilde.

[Marie-Mathilde]

Thankyou, Grace. I have only just signed up as a member to the forum yesterday although I have been visiting the site since the start of the year and I have so much that I want to say and ask as I have read so much about the characters mentioned here at the forum. My favourites are the Hesse sisters, the Mountbattens and George V and his family. I hope I can be of some use here as I have a real interest and a little knowledge.

By the way, I just reread my post about Mary and the Queen Mother and I do sound terribly rude about the letter's looks but do you see what I mean to a certain extent. Elizabeth was OK I suppose but to hold her up as some kind of great beauty and put the lovely Mary down, I really can't understand.

[alixaannencova]

Marie-Mathilde I think you have brought up a very interesting topic pertaining to why Cookie was regarded so favourably in her youth. She was rather lovely in a wholesome way, but I do not think she was the ravishing beauty that many said she was. Mary Harewood was undeniably striking. But what I think drew people to rave about Cookie was the fact that she was the first member of the family to be seen smiling so brightly  and consistently in public. It is noticeable that Cookie really 'smiled', bearing her teeth, and I think she enchanted everyone. I think people came away from seeing her rather dazzled not so much by her looks, but probably more so by that smile. It was a natural part of her persona and unlike others in the RF who smiled 'politely', Cookie's was irresistibly wide and bright and she seems to have smiled with her famously blue eyes too, from the inside out so to speak!

Interestingly, the present Queen has that smile too. It seems to transform her when she does it!

[Marie-Mathilde]

Elizabeth's permanent smile did make her look more approachable than many other royals, but she was hardly as kind and gentle as we have all been made to believe. Likewise, I'm sure Mary came across as something of an ice queen although I think she was a really lovely person whose best qualities were: her sense of duty, her uncomplaining attitude (so different to her favourite brother, the Duke of Windsor), her quiet patience. It is a tragedy that these very qualities were to be handicaps to her own happiness.

[alixaannencova]

I too have never been entirely convinced by Cookie's chocolate boxy adorableness. I would love to know how Mary felt about her husband's estate. She seems have a spent a great deal of time in Yorkshire and the house and are gardens are really quite magical to behold. QM's eyes must have brightened with something near to envy when she saw all that Chippendale at Harewood. Regardless of their relative parvenu status as members of the 'aristocracy' as opposed to the gentry, the Lascelles had exquisite taste for the most part.

One gets the impression that the present Earl is rather proud of his 'place in the country.' and I for one can hardly blame him, but I am curious to know how his mother felt about the place. I wonder if any of QM's catalogue indexing and general admiration for fine furniture rubbed off on her daughter. 

[Lindelle]

Does anyone have any photo's of Princess Mary and her children when they were young? Would be much appreciated

[Grace]

Here's one for starters...



The photo doesn't look all that much like Mary, but I do recognise the boys, especially the younger one.