Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort (sportswoman)

Not to be confused withMary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort (gardener);Mary of Teck;orLady May Abel Smith.

Her Grace The Duchess of Beaufort CStJ
Born	Princess Victoria Constance Mary of Teck (1897-06-12)12 June 1897 White Lodge, Richmond Park,Surrey,England
Died	23 June 1987(1987-06-23)(aged 90) Badminton House,Gloucestershire,England
Buried	St Michael and All Angels Church, Badminton,Gloucestershire
Spouse(s)	Henry Somerset, 10th Duke of Beaufort ​ ​ (m.1923; died 1984)​
Parents	Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge Lady Margaret Grosvenor

Victoria Constance Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort,CStJ(formerlyLady Mary Cambridge,néePrincess Mary of Teck;12 June 1897 – 23 June 1987)was a British peeress and sportswoman. The elder daughter of the1st Marquess of CambridgeandLady Margaret Grosvenor,she was the niece ofQueen Mary.

Early life

Born Princess Mary of Teck atWhite Lodge,Richmond Park,on 12 June 1897, she was the second child of the thenPrince Adolphus of Teckand his wife,Lady Margaret Grosvenor.Her father's older sister wasPrincess Victoria Mary, Duchess of York,later Queen Mary. Paternally, she descended from theHouse of WürttembergandKing George III,and maternally, she descended from theGrosvenor family.

In 1917, at the height of theFirst World War,when King George V's German relations living in the United Kingdom dropped their foreign titles, her father was createdMarquess of Cambridge,Earl of Eltham and Viscount Northallerton, thus, Princess Mary becameLady Mary Cambridge.

Lady Mary was a bridesmaid in five royal weddings: the 1904 wedding ofPrince Alexander of TeckandPrincess Alice of Albany;the 1913 wedding ofPrince Arthur of ConnaughtandPrincess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife;the 1919 wedding ofPrincess Patricia of ConnaughtandThe Hon. Alexander Ramsay;the 1922 wedding ofPrincess MaryandViscount Lascelles;and the 1923weddingofPrince Albert, Duke of York,andLady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.

Marriage

On 14 June 1923, she marriedHenry Somerset, Marquess of Worcester,later the 10th Duke of Beaufort, atSt Margaret's Church, Westminster.Upon marriage, she became Marchioness of Worcester and later Duchess of Beaufort when her father-in-law died in 1924. They had no children.

Later life

DuringWorld War II,her aunt, Queen Mary, reluctantly decided to live with Mary and her husband atBadminton House,Gloucestershire.Queen Mary's staff occupied most of the house. After she left, Mary was asked which part of the house her aunt had lived in during her stay, to which she replied: "She lived in all of it."

The Duchess and her husband were both keen equestrians.In 1947, he began theBadminton Horse Trialsat their home.

In 1968, Mary sat for a portrait byCecil Beatonwhich is now in the photographs collection at theNational Portrait Gallery, London.She was appointed a Commander of theMost Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem(CStJ).

Mary was widowed and became dowager duchess in 1984. She continued to live at Badminton House, where she would occasionally sit in the staterooms to answer questions from tourists.

She died on 23 June 1987 at the age of 90, after a prolonged suffering from dementia. She is buried atSt Michael and All Angels Church, Badminton.