by Susan Flantzer

Her Royal Highness The Princess Mary (created Princess Royal in 1932) and Henry Lascelles, Viscount Lascelles (succeeded his father as 6th Earl of Harewood in 1929) were married at Westminster Abbey in London, England on February 28, 1922.

Mary’s Early Life

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Princess Mary with her five brothers, circa 1910

The only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary (born Princess Victoria Mary of Teck) was born on April 25, 1897, in the year of the Diamond Jubilee of her great-grandmother Queen Victoria, at York Cottage on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England. She was the third of the six children of her parents who were the Duke and Duchess of York at the time of her birth. Mary’s youngest brother Prince John died in 1919 when he was thirteen-years-old due to epilepsy complications. Her two elder brothers became Kings of the United Kingdom: Edward VIII and George VI. The other two brothers were Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Prince George, Duke of Kent.

Princess Mary was educated by governesses and also shared some lessons with her brothers. During World War I, when she was a teenager, Mary accompanied her mother Queen Mary on visits to hospitals and other organizations that assisted soldiers and their families. Mary had her own project, Princess Mary’s Christmas Gift Fund, which sent a gift box to British soldiers and sailors for Christmas 1914. In 1918, Princess Mary began a nursing course at the Great Ormond Street Hospital, working two days a week in the Alexandra Ward. Mary also became active in supporting the Voluntary Aid Detachment, the Women’s Land Army and the Girl Guides. She was the honorary president of the British Girl Guide Association from 1920 until her death.

To learn more about Mary, see Unofficial Royalty: Princess Mary, Princess Royal, Countess of Harewood

Henry’s Early Life

Henry Lascelles was born on September 9, 1882, in London, England. He was the elder son and the eldest of the three children of Henry Lascelles, 5th Earl of Harewood and Lady Florence Bridgeman, daughter of Orlando Bridgeman, 3rd Earl of Bradford. At the time of his birth, Henry was styled The Honourable Henry Lascelles. When his grandfather died in 1892 and his father became the 5th Earl of Harewood, Henry was able to use one of his father’s subsidiary titles and be styled Viscount Lascelles. He became the 6th Earl of Harewood upon the death of his father in 1929.

Henry grew up at Harewood House, the family seat near Leeds in Yorkshire, England. After attending Eton College, Henry attended the Royal Military College Sandhurst and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the Grenadier Guards on February 12, 1902. He gained the rank of Captain in the service of the Grenadier Guards and fought in World War I where he commanded the 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards. He was mentioned in dispatches and wounded twice. He also served with the Yorkshire Hussars Yeomanry and attained the rank of Major.

To learn more about Henry, see Unofficial Royalty: Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood

The Engagement

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Engagement Photo

Mary’s eldest brother The Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VIII) knew Henry from World War I and greatly admired him. After meeting at the Grand National, an annual horse race, and a house party in 1921, Mary and Henry were continuously seen together, despite their fifteen-year age difference. They both loved horse riding and the two frequently attended hunts together.

When Henry was invited to Balmoral and Sandringham, it was noted that there could be an engagement announcement soon. On November 20, 1921, Henry proposed to Mary at York Cottage, where he was staying while at Sandringham. Queen Mary wrote in her diary for that day, “At 6.30 Mary came to my room to announce to me her engagement to Lord Lascelles! We then told G. (King George V) & then gave Harry L. our blessing. We had to keep it quiet owing to G. having to pass an order in council to give his consent. Of course, everybody guessed what had happened & we were very cheerful & almost uproarious at dinner. We are delighted.”

The Wedding Site

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Westminster Abbey Choir leading to the Altar

The wedding of Princess Mary and Viscount Lascelles was the first time a child of a monarch had married at Westminster Abbey since 1290 when Margaret of England, daughter of King Edward I, married John II, Duke of Brabant. Westminster Abbey was completed around 1060 and was consecrated in 1065, during the reign of Edward the Confessor. Construction of the second and present church was begun in 1245 by Henry III who selected the site for his burial. In 1269, Henry III oversaw a grand ceremony to rebury Edward the Confessor in a magnificent new shrine, personally helping to carry the body to its new resting place.

Westminster Abbey was the wedding venue for six royal weddings during the reigns of the Plantagenet kings including that of King Richard II to Anne of Bohemia in 1382. That would be the last royal wedding at Westminster Abbey until the reign of King George V. Queen Victoria’s granddaughter and King George V’s first cousin Princess Patricia of Connaught married The Honorable Alexander Ramsay at Westminster Abbey in 1919. This was the first major royal event after World War I.

Mary was the first of King George V’s children to marry. Five of the six children (Prince John died in childhood) of King George V married and three of the five were married at Westminster Abbey. Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester was due to marry at Buckingham Palace but the unexpected death of his fiancée’s father caused the wedding to be moved to the Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace. The large size of Westminster Abbey allowed more guests to be present at the wedding ceremony and the long drive from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey brought out immense crowds along the route. With each royal wedding, the anticipation and excitement grew.

Bridesmaids and Best Man

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Seated, left to right: Lady Mary Cambridge, Princess Maud of Fife, Lady Rachel Cavendish, Lady Mary Thynne. Standing, left to right: Lady Doris Gordon-Lennox, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyons, Viscount Lascelles, Princess Mary, Major Sir Victor Mackenzie, Lady Diana Bridgeman, Lady May Cambridge.

Major Sir Victor Mackenzie, 3rd Baronet was the best man. Like the groom, Sir Victor was wounded twice in World War I and mentioned in dispatches. In 1932, he was made Groom in Waiting to King George V, serving in the role until 1936. In 1936, he was made an Extra Groom in Waiting to King Edward VIII and retained that position in the household of King George VI from 1937 until his death in 1944. He never married.

Bridesmaids:

Princess Maud of Fife, first cousin of the bride, daughter of Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife and Princess Louise, Princess Royal, married Charles Carnegie, 11th Earl of Southesk

Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, future sister-in-law of the bride, daughter of Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore, married the future King George VI

Lady Diana Bridgeman, first cousin once removed of the groom, daughter of Orlando Bridgeman, 5th Earl of Bradford, married Sir Robert Henry Edward Abdy, 5th Baronet

Lady May Cambridge, maternal first cousin and paternal second cousin of the bride, daughter of Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone (brother of Queen Mary) and Princess Alice of Albany (granddaughter of Queen Victoria), married Sir Henry Abel Smith

Lady Mary Cambridge, maternal first cousin of the bride, daughter of Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge (brother of Queen Mary), married Henry Somerset, 10th Duke of Beaufort

Lady Rachel Cavendish, daughter of Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire, married James Stuart, 1st Viscount Stuart of Findhorn

Lady Doris Gordon-Lennox, daughter of Charles Gordon-Lennox, 8th Duke of Richmond, married Commander Clare George Vyner

Lady Mary Thynne, daughter of Thomas Thynne, 5th Marquess of Bath, married (1) Charles Wilson, 3rd Baron Nunburnholme (2) Sir Ulick Alexander

Wedding Attire

The groom and best man both wore the uniform of the Grenadier Guards. Across his scarlet tunic, the groom wore the blue sash of the Order of the Garter, bestowed upon him by King George V the day before the wedding.

The eight bridesmaids wore dresses of frosted cloth of silver over ivory satin. At their waists was a big true lover’s knot in blue, Princess Mary’s favorite color, and they carried bouquets of sweet peas, the bride’s favorite flower. Each bridesmaid wore a brooch given by Viscount Lascelles – a crystal jewel studded with sapphires and diamonds with two coronets and the initials M and H.

Princess Mary’s wedding dress was designed by Messrs. Reville, Ltd. of Hanover Square, London. The dress was made of cloth of silver with an ivory silk train embroidered with emblematic flowers of the British Empire. The cloth of silver was brought by Queen Mary from India during her visit in 1911. The silk train was woven by hand by workers in Braintree, Essex, England, an old English silk manufacturing center where the art of silk weaving was passed down from generation to generation.

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Princess Mary’s floral bridal wreath

Instead of wearing a tiara, Princess Mary wore a floral bridal wreath. To complement her wedding dress, Mary wore a short single strand of pearls and a diamond and pearl brooch suspended from a very fine chain, a gift from the groom. On her bodice, she wore the brooch given to her by the Royal Scots regiment, the oldest regiment in the British Army when she was appointed their Colonel-in-Chief.

The Wedding

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An interior view of Westminster Abbey during the wedding ceremony

Over 2,000 wedding guests began arriving at Westminster Abbey at 9:00 AM and by 10:00 AM, most of them were in their seats. At 11:15 AM, the members of the British Royal Family were ready for their procession. They were led by Queen Alexandra, the grandmother of the bride. Closely following was Queen Mary, the mother of the bride, in a white dress covered with gold embroidery, wearing the blue sash of the Order of the Garter, and bedecked with diamond jewelry. Soon, cheers from the street, coming through the open Abbey door, heralded the arrival of King George V and his only daughter Princess Mary. The wedding coach was not the familiar Gold State Coach that had been used at State Openings of Parliament but the coach known as The Glass Coach.

At the west door, the bride was joined by the eight bridesmaids, who had been awaiting her in Little Poet’s Corner, where poets who are not honored in the better known Poet’s Corner in the South Transept are remembered. King George V was in the uniform of colonel-in-chief of the Grenadier Guards, in honor of the groom who served in the Grenadier Guards during World War I. As the bridal procession moved past the grave of the Unknown Warrior, whose remains were brought from France and buried there in 1920, their thoughts must have flashed back to those lost in World War I. A year later, when one of Mary’s bridesmaids, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, married the future King George VI, she laid her bouquet of white roses on the grave of the Unknown Warrior. No doubt she was thinking of her brother Fergus Bowes-Lyon and all the other British soldiers who had died in World War I. It has become a tradition that royal brides have their bouquets placed on the grave of the Unknown Warrior.

The wedding ceremony, the typical Church of England service, was conducted by Randall Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of York, Arthur Winnington-Ingram, Bishop of London, and Herbert Ryle, Dean of Westminster.

The signing of the register took place in Edward the Confessor’s Chapel, among the tombs of five kings and six queens. The register was signed by the bride and groom and attested by King George V and Queen Mary; Henry Lascelles, 5th Earl of Harewood and Florence Lascelles, Countess of Harewood; Randall Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury; Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of York; and Herbert Ryle, Dean of Westminster.

Music

Before the wedding, as the guests arrived, the following music was played on the organ by Sidney Nicholson, organist of Westminster Abbey:

“Solemn Melody” by Walford Davies

“Trumpet Voluntary” by Henry Purcell

“Marche Nuptiale” by Alexandre Guilmant

Four Movement from “Water Music” by Georg Friedrich Handel

“Benediction Nupitale” by Camille Saint-Saens

“Bridal March” by Hubert Parry

“Imperial March” by Edward Elgar

During the wedding, the following was performed by Sidney Nicholson, organist of Westminster Abbey and the Choir of Westminster Abbey:

Procession of the Bride: The hymn “Lead Us, Heavenly Father” was sung

After the solemnization of matrimony, as the couple moved to the altar: Psalm 67 “God be merciful unto us” with music by Thomas Tertius Noble was sung

After the address by the Archbishop of Canterbury: The hymn “Praise My Soul The King of Heaven” by Sir John Goss was sung

Before the signing of the register: The National Anthem, “God Save The King” was sung

During the signing of the register: The anthem “Beloved, Let Us Love One Another” written especially for the occasion by Sidney Nicholson was sung

Procession of the Bride and Groom, Clergy, King and Queen, Royal Family: Bridal March from “Romeo and Juliet” by Charles Gounod and “Wedding March” by Felix Mendelssohn were played on the organ

After the Wedding

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Buckingham Palace Balcony Appearance: Left to Right – King George V, Princess Mary, Viscount Lascelles, Queen Alexandra, and Queen Mary

The newlyweds proceeded back to Buckingham Palace, with huge crowds cheering them along the way. The wedding breakfast at Buckingham Palace was a small affair, only a hundred people were present, members of the bride and groom’s families and some of the bridesmaids.

Each table sat ten people and was decorated with white lilacs and pink tulips. At the main table, King George V sat with Princess Mary on his right. Continuing around the circular table on the right sat the groom’s mother the Countess of Harewood, Mary’s brother Prince Henry, the Dowager Countess of Bradford (the groom’s maternal grandmother), Mary’s brother The Duke of York (the future King George VI), Queen Alexandra, the groom’s father the Earl of Harewood, Queen Mary and the groom Viscount Lascelles.

As the newlyweds were ready to leave the palace, everyone went to the Grand Hall where the newlyweds were pelted with rose-leaf confetti. A huge crowd had waited patiently outside Buckingham Palace to see the couple as they left for the honeymoon. At 3:45 PM, an open landau drawn by four gray horses carrying the bride and groom appeared in the quadrangle. King George V and his four sons and walked to where the guests had gathered in the forecourt. They all took up positions on either side of the arch through which the landau was to pass. They were joined by some of the bridesmaids and two little pages. They were all given confetti shaped like horseshoes and silver slippers. As the landau passed the crowd, the bride and groom were pelted with the confetti so hard by the King and the Princes that the couple had to duck down. Everyone laughed, especially the King.

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King George V, The Duke of York, Prince Henry and Prince George, throwing confetti in the shape of small horseshoes and silver slippers as Princess Mary and Viscount Lascelles leave Buckingham Palace

As the couple made their way to Paddington Station, they were greeted by throngs of people cheering loudly. At Paddington Station, the couple boarded a train to their honeymoon destination, Weston Park in Weston-under-Lizard, Staffordshire, England, the country home of the Earls of Bradford, the family of Viscount Lascelles’ mother. After some days of seclusion, the newlyweds traveled to Italy and then spent time with Bernard Forbes, 8th Earl of Granard and Beatrice Forbes, Countess of Granard at their Paris home.

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