Prince Francis of Teck

Prince Francis of Teck GCVO DSO (9 January 1870 – 22 October 1910), was a member of the British Royal Family, the brother of Queen Mary.

Francis Joseph Leopold Frederick, known as "Frank" was born at Kensington Palace and educated at Wellington College and RMA Sandhurst. His father was Prince Francis, Duke of Teck, the son of Duke Alexander of Württemberg and the Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde (created the Countess von Hohenstein). His mother was the Duchess of Teck (née Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge), the youngest daughter of HRH Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge and a granddaughter of King George III. Frank was styled His Serene Highness Prince Francis of Teck at birth. He joined the Royal Dragoons in 1890. On his early death, shortly before his sister's coronation as Queen Consort to George V, his will set a legal precedent when it was sealed, presumably to avoid scandal. The document remains a secret and subsequent royal wills have followed in this legal secrecy.

Potential Marriage

According to Hannah Pakula's Born to Rule, Frank was vigorously pursued by Maud of Wales, his sister's sister-in-law. The two exchanged letters, but it soon became clear that Frank was not interested in Maud, so she set her sights on someone else: her first cousin Prince Carl of Denmark. Frank never married. He died in 1910 at the age of forty.

From her mother Clarice Remnant's father Francis Remnant, Sarah Miles claims to be the great-granddaughter of Prince Francis of Teck and thus a second cousin once removed of Elizabeth II of Great Britain.^[1]

Military career

Royal Military College Sandhurst
1889.01.30 2nd Lieutenant, 9th (Queen's Royal) Lancers
1889.04.17 transferred to 1st Bn, The King's Royal Rifle Corps
1890.10.08 transferred to 1st Royal Dragoons
1891.08.26 Lieutenant, 1st Royal Dragoons
1894.07.25 Captain, 1st Royal Dragoons
1896.11.25 Aide de Camp to the General Officer Commanding, Quetta, India
1897.08.06 attached Egyptian Army
1897-1898 served in Nile Expedition (Atbara and Khartoum) (rcvd: MID twice, DSO, Medal with clasp)
1899.01.11 Aide de Camp to the General Officer Commanding, South Eastern District
1899.07.24 Staff Captain, Remount Establishment, Dublin
1899.05.29 DAAG, Remount Establishment, South Africa
1899-1900 served in the South African War in Transvaal operations (rcvd: MID, brevet Major, Queen's Medal with 3 clasps)
1900.11.29 Major
1901.11.16 retired and transferred to Reserve of Officer