Fat Mary of Cambridge: was the queen of people's hearts, but went down in history thanks to gluttony and excess weight.

Mary Adelaide of Cambridge built schools and gardens, opened hospitals and helped those in need, but history remembers her only for her excess weight, wild life and escape from Great Britain.

“The Queen of Human Hearts” Diana of Wales is known to everyone, unlike Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, and it was she who became the first holder of this title. The great-grandmother of Elizabeth II is practically forgotten; despite all her efforts, she remained in the shadow of her royal relatives.

Princess Mary Adelaide was born on November 27, 1833. She was the third child of Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, and Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel, granddaughter of King George III and cousin of Queen Victoria. Along with her sister Augusta Caroline, Mary was the last to hold the title of Princess of Cambridge until Princess Charlotte was born in 2015.

Many described Maria Adelaide as a cheerful and good-natured girl. She spoke several languages ​​with ease, but German remained her native language. The people loved the younger princess much more than her sister. She devoted all her time to charity: she opened kindergartens, schools, hospitals and never spared money to help those in need. Under her patronage were many institutions, including the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and the London Handicraft Guild, which sewed clothes for the poor. Thanks to her active work for the benefit of the population, Maria was awarded the title of “People's Princess.”

But the years passed, and she never managed to find her personal happiness. When the princess turned 30, her mother became seriously concerned that her daughter had absolutely no admirers. The main reasons for failures in personal life were considered to be unattractive appearance and excess weight. Even in her youth, Maria Adelaide loved festive feasts and delicious food. Such a hobby, as well as a tendency to overeat, led to serious weight gain, which later, alas, became her calling card. Soon the woman got the nickname Fat Mary.

A candidate husband was finally found. The future husband of Maria Adelaide was the German Prince Franz of Teck. He bore the title of His Serene Highness in the Kingdom of Württemberg and had no right to inherit the throne. This meant one thing: the marriage would be unequal, but the queen had to give her consent, because there were no other contenders for the princess’s heart.

On 12 June 1866 the couple were married at St Anne's Church in Kew, Surrey. Mary asked that her husband be given the title of Royal Highness, but Victoria refused. Only a few years later, in 1887, in honor of the Golden Jubilee of her reign, she awarded Franz the rank of His Highness.

After their marriage, the Dukes of Teck moved to London and settled in the royal residence of White Lodge in Richmond Park. They had four children: Princess Victoria, Princes Adolphe, Francis and Alexander. It seemed that everything was going according to plan: marriage, parenthood and service to the people, but things in the family were deplorable.

The only breadwinner of the family was Maria Adelaide. She received her modest income of 5 thousand pounds sterling thanks to Queen Victoria and her status as a member of the royal family. But she wanted a better life. She bought expensive clothes, jewelry, vacationed abroad and did not deny herself what she loved: nourishing and tasty food.

The Dukes of Teck could not afford this lifestyle, and they soon accumulated huge debts. Fat Mary, along with her family and shame, had to flee abroad. First they stopped in Florence, then lived briefly with relatives in Germany and Austria. The dukes traveled under the assumed names of Count and Countess von Hohenstein. Two years after their escape, the disgraced members of the royal family decided to return to their homeland. With the permission of Queen Victoria, they again settled in their London residence. How Maria Adelaide and her husband managed to pay off their debts is not known for certain. After returning to her native land, the woman continued to do charity work and tried with all her might to restore authority to her family.

Fat Mary died on October 27, 1897 after surgery to remove a hernia. She was buried in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. Three years later, her husband Franz Teck died. His body rests next to his only beloved wife.

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