Lady Helena Gibbs

Lady Helena Gibbs (Helena Frances Augusta; 23 October 1899 – 22 December 1969), born Princess Helena of Teck, was a descendant of the British royal family, great-great-granddaughter of King George III, and a niece of Queen Mary, the consort of King George V.

Lady Helena Cambridge
Photograph, 1919
Born	Princess Helena Frances Augusta of Teck 23 October 1899 Grosvenor House, Mayfair, Westminster
Died	22 December 1969 (aged 70) Badminton House, Gloucestershire, England
Buried	27 December 1969 St John the Baptist's Church, Shipton Moyne, Gloucestershire
Spouse(s)	John Evelyn Gibbs ​ ​ (m. 1919; died 1932)​
Father	Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge
Mother	Lady Margaret Grosvenor

During World War I, the British royal family and their near relatives (including the House of Teck), relinquished their German titles, and Princess Helena assumed the style Lady Helena Cambridge.[1]

Early life

Photograph, 1903

Princess Helena was born at Grosvenor House, Mayfair, Westminster. Her father was Prince Adolphus of Teck (later the 2nd Duke of Teck and after 1917 the 1st Marquess of Cambridge), the eldest son of Prince Francis, Duke of Teck and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge.[2] Her mother was Lady Margaret Grosvenor, the third daughter of the 1st Duke of Westminster.[2] As a child of Prince Adolphus of Teck, she was styled Her Serene Highness Princess Helena of Teck at birth.

Lady Helena Cambridge

During World War I, anti-German feeling in the United Kingdom led King George V to change the name of the royal house from the Germanic House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to the more English sounding House of Windsor. The King also renounced all his Germanic titles for himself and all members of the British royal family.

In response to this, Helena's father renounced his title of Duke of Teck in the Kingdom of Württemberg and the style His Highness.[2] Adolphus, along with his brother, Prince Alexander of Teck, adopted the name Cambridge, after their grandfather, Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge.

He was subsequently created Marquess of Cambridge, Earl of Eltham, and Viscount Northallerton in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.[2] Helena was entitled to the style of Lady Helena Cambridge as a daughter of a marquess.

Marriage

Helena married Colonel John Evelyn Gibbs (22 December 1879 London – 11 October 1932 Tetbury),[2] a veteran of the Boer Wars and World War I and grandson of famed Victorian businessman William Gibbs, on 2 September 1919 at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. [3] The couple had no children. Helena survived her husband by 37 years and died at Badminton House, home of her sister.[1]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Lady Helena Gibbs

8. Duke Alexander of Württemberg 4. Francis, Duke of Teck 9. Countess Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde 2. Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge 10. Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge 5. Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge 11. Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel 1. Lady Helena Cambridge 12. Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster 6. Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster 13. Lady Elizabeth Leveson-Gower 3. Lady Margaret Grosvenor 14. George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland 7. Lady Constance Leveson-Gower 15. Lady Harriet Howard

Notes and references

1. Huberty, Michel; Giraud, Alain; Magdelaine, F. and B. (1979). ’’L'Allemagne Dynastique, Tome II – Anhalt-Lippe-Wurtemberg’’. France: Laballery. pp. 497, 539–540, 547. ISBN 2-901138-02-0.
2. Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh (editor). Burke's Guide to the Royal Family, Burke's Peerage, London, 1973, pp. 289, 291, 293. ISBN 0-220-66222-3
3. "Marriage". St George's Windsor. Retrieved 5 August 2020.