Alexander Paul Ludwig Konstantin von Württemberg

Duke Alexander of Württemberg was born on September 9, 1804, and died on July 4, 1885. He was the only son of Duke Louis of Württemberg and Princess Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg. His father was a brother of King Frederick I of Württemberg and of the Russian Empress Maria Feodorovna. Through his mother, Alexander was also a great-grandson of King George II of Great Britain, as Henriette descended from George’s eldest daughter, Anne, the Princess Royal. Alexander embarked on a military career in the army of the Austrian Empire and remained associated with the cavalry into old age. At a ball in Vienna, he met the Hungarian Countess Claudia Rhédey of Kis-Rhéde, with whom he fell in love. The couple married morganatically on May 2, 1835. Because Claudia did not possess the rank appropriate for a duchess, she was raised to the rank of Countess of Hohenstein. Under the rules governing such a marriage, the couple’s three children likewise received their mother’s name and rank at birth and were excluded from their father’s titles and from any inherited royal status. The marriage produced three children: Princess Claudia of Teck, who remained unmarried; Franz, the future Duke of Teck; and Countess Amalie of Hohenstein. Amalie married Count Paul von Hügel. Franz married Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, who was a distant relative of Alexander and also descended from King George II of Great Britain. Family life was overshadowed by tragedy at an early stage. In 1841, Alexander’s wife was run over by a cavalry squadron during a military parade and fatally injured. She initially survived the accident but remained mentally unstable and died later that same year. Alexander continued his military activities and remained living in Vienna. A later political and dynastic elevation of his family took place under the kings of Württemberg. In 1863, King William I raised Alexander’s unmarried children, Claudia and Franz, to the rank of Princes of Teck. In 1871, five years after his marriage to Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, Franz was granted the title of Duke of Teck by King Charles I of Württemberg. The Duchy of Teck was a title within the Kingdom of Württemberg. Through Franz, Alexander became the grandfather of the future Queen Mary, the wife of King George V of Great Britain. In addition to his military career, Alexander held public and representative positions. He belonged to the Chamber of Lords of the Kingdom of Württemberg. In the Austrian army, he served, among other roles, as inspector of the riding institute, general of artillery, and, from 1850, colonel-proprietor of the 11th Hussar Regiment. He received numerous high distinctions for his service. These included the Grand Cross of the Order of the Württemberg Crown and of the Order of Frederick, as well as the Grand Cross of the Imperial Austrian Order of Leopold. He was also a holder of various Russian, Prussian, Saxon, Dutch, Tuscan, and Baden orders. Alexander remained based in Vienna until his death. He died in Tüffer, in Slovenia, which at the time belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His importance lay chiefly in his connection to two family lines of significance to European monarchy: as a member of the House of Württemberg, as the father of the Duke of Teck, and as the grandfather of Queen Mary, he shaped the dynastic background of the British royal family.