As my 2017 biography binge winds down, so does my current exploration of the modern British monarchy. I have been lucky to collect a number of biographical pieces that link together, from George III and his daughters, to Victoria, to her five consort granddaughters, and now to Mary of Teck. Queen Mary's life is an interesting piece of biographical glue all her own: great- granddaughter to George III, niece to Victoria, a fellow Queen consort, and the grandmother to Elizabeth II. Anne Edwards pulls all this together and formulates a fabulous biography of the women who stood by George V as the House of Windsor evolved while erasing its Germanic titular foundation. Mother to two kings and a woman of some intellectual renown all her own, Mary of Teck proved to be more that the 'poodle-like' coiffure for which she is known. She will surely go down in history has have many strong links during the late 19th and well into the 20th century, shaping the modern British Royal Family. A great piece for the curious reader, especially one such as myself who has seen this monarchical period from many angles already.Born Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes in 1867, this Princess of Teck (who went by Mary or 'May') was raised in England and lived her entire life there. Daughter of Francis, Duke of Teck, and Princess Mary Adelaide, a granddaughter of George III, Mary had regal blood coursing through her. As a young princess, she proved highly intelligent and apt with numbers and engaging with others on a social basis, though Edwards does not spend much time on these early years. One theme that does pervade the early narrative is Mary's desire to one day become Queen of England, married to the reigning monarch. At 24, Mary was betrothed to the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, Prince Eddie, but their engagement ended when he died of pneumonia. Still harbouring this queenly desire, Mary sought to win the heart of the next son of the Prince of Wales, the boisterous George. Mary and George quickly fell in love after Queen Victoria encouraged the royal cousins together and they married in 1893. They established themselves quickly with two sons, David and Albert 'Bertie', before adding three more boys and a single princess. George and Mary lived happily in successive titles as Duke and Duchess of York, then Cambridge, and eventually Prince and Princess of Wales, after Edward VII ascended to the Throne. Edwards speaks highly of Mary's abilities to keep her family running smoothly, while devoting herself to George. The narrative builds on a tangential topic of the boys upbringing, with David and Bertie proving to be polar opposites. While David excelled at sport and in the classroom, Bertie developed a strong stutter and clung to the bottom rung of the scholastic rankings, something that would haunt him for much of his life, always living in the shadows of his father and elder brother. However, Mary would offer love to her children as best she could, including her youngest, Prince John, whose childhood epilepsy left him out of the public eye before his death at age 14. When Edward VII died in 1910, Mary and George ascended to the Throne. Mary finally earned her life-long dream to be Queen of England, while George V's nightmare began, as he had little interest in the position.Edwards offers some wonderful narration about the coronation ceremony of King George V and Queen Mary, alongside the elder princes, who also had roles. George sought to reign as best he could, even though his interest in the job was less a passion than a requirement of birth. Mary used her time not to dictate, but to shape England as it came into the early 20th century. Compassion and a closer connection to the people, as she visited the sick and poor, became Mary's trademark, though she could be found traipsing through the shopping district to purchase items whenever time permitted. Edwards recounts how a single purchase by Mary left the item on the 'must have' list for long periods thereafter by commoner and lady of the court alike. She valued money and was able to stretch a pound as far as it would go, but did also enjoy the luxurious life of diamonds and fancy gowns. One thing she was never seen to do was express emotion, be it a coy smile or a small tear during a sad revelation. Historians (and Edwards here) hints that she was the most stoic of women, both in public and behind the palace doors, which proved to present her in an uncaring light, even though her actions contradict this. When war ravaged Europe, George and Mary spent much time liaising with Parliament and trying to create a firm stance for the British, which proved to be a strain on George, as the main aggressor in the war was his cousin, Kaiser Wilhelm II. George sought to propel England forward and held firm to his Anglo roots, so much so that when it was hinted that he might have German leanings because of his ancestry House, George undertook to scrub his Royal House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, changing it to the more neutral Windsor. He also changed all Germanic sounding titles to an Anglophone equivalent, which was surely a major move at the time, supported strongly by Mary, whose 'Teck' ancestry also had Germanic roots. After the bloody Great War, George and Mary sought to strengthen England and the Empire as best they could, holding strong during the post-War years, while also honing the future princes (David and Bertie) into settling down. Bertie struggled with his foibles and turned to drink, but soon found the reluctant love of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, while David remained without a spouse. George and Mary celebrated their Silver Jubilee in 1935, with the ailing king barely making it through the process, indicating that a succession was surely not far off, though the Prince of Wales had little change of marriage. As all eyes began to turn towards the Prince, he continued his private philandering and dabbling with mistresses. Edwards explores the Prince's refusal to enter a loveless marriage, even for his own subjects. George and Mary fretted over this greatly, but would not intervene, feeling that this was not their place. However, when King George V died in early 1936, David (going by Edward VIII) ascended the Throne and pushed England into a constitutional crisis as Mary began her life as Queen Mother.With the death of George V and ascension of Edward VIII, England soon found itself in a situation that was evolving with every passing day. As Edwards explores thoroughly, the emergence of Bessie Wallis Warfield (better known as Wallis SImpson), a woman who had been married and divorced twice before with two living husbands, proved to be a quiet thorn in the side of the royal family. Her relationship when Edward was Prince of Wales was scandalous throughout the American press, became a calamity after the ascension and rumours built within Britain. Edward VIII would not put her aside and was prepared to defy Parliament and marry Simpson and make her Queen. While she refused to meddle in the life of her son, Queen Mary adamantly sought to ensure that the monarchy was not sullied with this and pushed to have the Cabinet stand firm. With Bertie in the wings, Mary worried that her second son may not be able to handle the pressures of reigning, so no one was pushing for an abdication. However, Mary knew Bertie would step up if asked, even though he continued to battle with the bottle and had a young family all his own. As the tumult of the constitutional crisis came to a head and Edward VIII chose to step down, Mary applauded the move, even though it meant a temporary exile for Edward VIII, away from the English tabloids. Mary and the rest of the world turned to Bertie, reigning as George VI. The new King took Britain through the crisis and into the dreaded Second World War. Edwards explores some of the parallels that the two Kings George faced in their respective international conflicts, with Queen Mary there both times to offer support and encouragement. There is also some interesting talk of the Queen Mother's relationship with her granddaughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, which the reader may find interesting. The George VI years were calmer, especially after the war, and Mary could enjoy life and her numerous charitable events. Cancer and speculative cirrhosis due to excessive drinking brought George VI's reign to an end, allowing Queen Mary to live under her fifth monarch, though she was now 85 years of age. The first person to greet the new Elizabeth II upon her emergency return from Africa, Queen Mary sought to instil the dignity and pride that the world has seen in the current English monarch for close to seven decades. Mary's health quickly diminished and she missed seeing her granddaughter crowned by only a few months in 1953. The end to a life full of excitement and much fanfare.Anne Edwards has crafted a wonderful biography that complements a number of the other biographies I have undertaken in the last month. There is the strong argument that Mary proved to be a strong glue that bound the reigns of Queens Victoria and Elizabeth II, ushering in the change of an era that saw a crisis stretch the seams of the idea of constitutional monarchy in the United Kingdom. With a smooth narrative and wonderful research, Edwards offers readers a superior foundation on which to build a modern history of the British monarchy. Using history, tradition, and individual characters to flavour the larger story, Edwards argues her points effectively and with ease. If there were one weak spot that became noticeable, it was that upon ascending the Throne through to her death, things became a whirlwind, collapsing years into a single phrase or paragraph. Surely, this was meant to condense such periods and focus on key events (the wars, the abdication, the deaths of Georges V and VI), I felt rushed at times, but never cheated, which makes for a powerful biography. The true test of a superior biography is not only that it leaves the door open for more exploration on the subject, but that other characters also become of interest, creating a hunger for additional learning. Any reader with a passion for the British monarchy or who has followed by biography binge and seen some of the other royal pieces I have devoured will find this book a welcome addition. It fills in some of the gaps in those other biographies while opening countless new avenues of exploration.Kudos, Madam Edwards for impressing the reader so much with your collection of vignettes. I found your book resourceful, well paced, and thoroughly captivating. I hope that I can read more of your work, when time permits.Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at: http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/