Duke Alexander of Württemberg (1804–1885)


Duke Alexander Paul Ludwig Konstantin of Württemberg was the father of Francis, Duke of Teck and the grandfather of Mary of Teck, wife of George V of the United Kingdom.
His father was Duke Louis of Württemberg, brother of King Frederick I of Württemberg and Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia. His mother was Princess Henriette of Nassau-Weilburg, a great-granddaughter of George II of Great Britain through his eldest daughter Anne, Princess of Orange.

Life

In 1835, he married, morganatically, Countess Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde, by whom he fathered three children: Claudine, Francis and Amalie. His wife was granted the title "Countess von Hohenstein". The children inherited their mother's title as Count or Countess von Hohenstein from birth, having no rights through their father to any royal title, status or inheritance.
In 1841, his wife was killed — run over by horses after falling from her own horse — and he became mentally unstable, a condition which lasted for the rest of his life.
In 1863, his three children were elevated to the rank of Prince and Princesses Fürst and ''Fürstin von Teck by King William I of Württemberg.
In 1871, his son Francis was raised to the title "Duke of Teck" by King Charles I of Württemberg, five years after his marriage with Alexander's third cousin, Princess Mary of Cambridge. The Dukedom of Teck was a hereditary title, without land attached, in the Kingdom of Württemberg. Alexander's daughters were not given any new status, and remained princesses of Teck.

Issue

In 1835, he married, morganatically, a Hungarian countess, Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde, and had issue: