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. During World War I, the British Royal Family relinquished their Germanic titles, and Princess Helena assumed the style "Lady Helena Cambridge".

Early life

Princess Helena was born at Grosvenor House, London. Her father was Prince Adolphus of Teck (later the 2nd Duke of Teck), the eldest son of Prince Francis, Duke of Teck and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge. Her mother was Lady Margaret Grosvenor, the third daughter of the 1st Duke of Westminster. 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 who were British subjects, including Helena.

In response to this, Helena's father renounced his title of Duke of Teck in the Kingdom of Württemberg and the style "His Highness". 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. Helena was entitled to the style of "The Lady Helena Cambridge" as a daughter of a marquess.

Marriage

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

Titles from birth to death

* "Her Serene Highness" Princess Helena of Teck (1889-1917)
* Miss Helena Cambridge (1917-1917)
* The Lady Helena Cambridge (1917-1919)
* Lady Helena Gibbs (1919-1969)

Ancestry

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1= 1. Lady Helena Gibbs
2= 2. Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge
3= 3. Margaret Grosvenor
4= 4. Francis, Duke of Teck
5= 5. Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge
6= 6. Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster
7= 7. Constance Gertrude Leveson-Gower
8= 8. Duke Alexander of Württemberg
9= 9. Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde
10= 10. Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge
11= 11. Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel)
12= 12. Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster
13= 13. Elizabeth Mary Leveson-Gower
14= 14. George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland
15= 15. Harriet Howard
16= 16. Duke Louis of Württemberg
17= 17. Princess Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg
18= 18. László, Count Rhédey of Kis-Rhéde
19= 19. Agnes Inczédy of Nagy-Várad
20= 20. George III of the United Kingdom
21= 21. Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
22= 22. Prince Frederick of Hesse
23= 23. Princess Caroline Polyxene of Nassau-Usingen
24= 24. Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster
25= 25. Eleanor Egerton
26= 26. George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland
27= 27. Elizabeth Leveson-Gower, 19th Countess of Sutherland
28= 28. George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland (= 26)
29= 29. Elizabeth Leveson-Gower, 19th Countess of Sutherland (= 27)
30= 30. George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle
31= 31. Georgiana Cavendish