May Helen Emma (Württemberg) Abel Smith (1906 - 1994)

Born 23 Jan 1906 in Claremont, Esher, Surrey, England

Ancestors

Wife of Henry Abel Smith KCMG KCVO — married 24 Oct 1931 in St Mary's Church, Balcombe, Sussex, England

Descendants

Died 29 May 1994 at age 88 in London, England

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Biography

May (Württemberg) Abel Smith is Notable.

Lady May Württemberg was a member of the aristocracy in England.

Lady May Cambridge, formerly known as Princess May of Teck, was born on 23 January 1906.

During the First World War, anti-German feeling in the United Kingdom led Princess May's uncle (through his marriage to her paternal aunt Princess Mary of Teck, while he was her first cousin once removed through her mother, Princess Alexander of Teck), King George V, to change the name of his royal house from the Germanic House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to the English - House of Windsor. The King also renounced all Germanic titles for himself and other members of the British Royal Family who were British subjects.

Accordingly, May's father, Prince Alexander of Teck, renounced his title of Prince of Teck in the Kingdom of Württemberg and the style His Serene Highness. Alexander, along with his brother, Prince Adolphus of Teck, adopted the family name Cambridge, after their grandfather, Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge. The King created Alexander the Earl of Athlone and Viscount Trematon. His daughter was now styled Lady May Cambridge, and his surviving son adopted the courtesy title of Viscount Trematon. Alexander's wife, Alice, born a British princess, retained her title and style, Her Royal Highness, and was known as Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone.

World War II

Lady May worked with the British Red Cross Society and the St John Ambulance Association during the Second World War.

Death

She died 29 May 1994, aged 88.

Sources

Bede Clifford, ‘Cambridge, Alexander Augustus Frederick William Alfred George, earl of Athlone (1874–1957)’, rev. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2011 accessed 18 Oct 2017

Wikipedia: Lady_May_Abel_Smith

Find A Grave, database and images (accessed 18 January 2020), memorial page for May Cambridge Abel Smith (23 Jan 1906–30 May 1994), Find A Grave: Memorial #6137362, citing Royal Burial Ground, Windsor, Windsor and Maidenhead Royal Borough, Berkshire, England ; Maintained by Find A Grave .