Countess Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde

Countess Claudine Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde (Hungarian: Rhédey Klaudia Zsuzsanna; 21 September 1812 – 1 October 1841) was the wife of Duke Alexander of Württemberg. Her son, Francis, Duke of Teck, was the father of Mary of Teck, queen consort to George V of the United Kingdom.

Life

She was born as a Hungarian Countess in Erdőszentgyörgy, Transylvania (then part of the Austrian Empire, today Sângeorgiu de Pădure, Romania) to Count László Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde and his wife, Baroness Ágnes Inczédy de Nagy-Várad, as a direct descendant of Ferenc Rhédey, the Hungarian prince of Transylvania between 1657 and 1658. At birth, she was styled as Countess Klaudina (Claudine) Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde.

In 1835, she married Duke Alexander of Württemberg, the son of Duke Louis of Württemberg, younger brother of King Frederick I of Württemberg. Due to the German laws relating to the line of succession, she was viewed as being of non-royal rank and the marriage was declared morganatic. She was denied the title of Duchess, but was created Countess von Hohenstein on 16 May 1835, shortly after her marriage.

Claudine died in Austria in 1841 after being thrown from her horse and trampled to death in front of a cavalry charge at a military review; other sources say she died in a carriage accident.

Issue

Countess Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde and Countess von Hohenstein had three children with Duke Alexander of Württemberg:

• Princess Claudine of Teck (1836–1894).
• Prince Francis of Teck (1837–1900); later created 1st Duke of Teck (1863); married, on 12 June 1866 at St. Anne's Church, Kew, Surrey, West London, Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, and had issue (including the future Queen Mary of Teck). He was granted the style of Highness by Queen Victoria on 1 July 1887, as a gift to celebrate her Golden Jubilee.
  • Princess Victoria Mary "May" of Teck (1867–1953); later Queen Mary, queen consort of the United Kingdom.
  • Prince Adolphus of Teck (1868–1927); later Duke of Teck and Marquess of Cambridge.
  • Prince Francis of Teck (1870–1910).
  • Prince Alexander of Teck (1874–1957); later Earl of Athlone.
• Princess Amelie of Teck (1838–1893); married, on 24 October 1863 Carl, Graf von Hügel (1835-1897).
  • Paul-Julius, Graf von Hügel; married, Anna Pauline Homolatsch.
    • Huberta Amelia Maximilienne Pauline, Gräfin von Hügel
    • Ferdinand Paul, Graf von Hügel

All children were initially styled as Count or Countess von Hohenstein, taking their titles from their mother. However, in 1863, the children were created Prince and Princesses of Teck, with the style Serene Highness in the Kingdom of Württemberg.

Descendants

Prince Francis of Teck was later created Duke of Teck. He married Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, a granddaughter of George III and became a member of the British Royal Family. His only daughter, Mary of Teck, married Prince George, Duke of York in July 1893, becoming queen consort on her husband's accession to the throne in May 1910. The current British monarch, Elizabeth II, is Mary's granddaughter and thus Claudine's great-great-granddaughter.

Ancestors

The Rhédey family has been known from the 13th century. (EST in 1270) It is one of the Hungarian noble families descending from the house of Aba. The most known central forefather of the Aba noble house is Samuel Aba, the third king of Hungary between 1041 and 1044, married to a sister of St. Stephen I, the founding king of Hungary.