Earl of Athlone Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

Major General Alexander Augustus Frederick William Alfred George Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone (1874-1957), was born His Serene Highness Prince Alexander of Teck. The son of Prince Francis, Duke of Teck, and the younger brother of Queen Mary, Alexander renounced his German title during WWI, and he was created Earl of Athlone in 1917 (the title became extinct at his death). Alexander, who saw service with the 7th Hussars (1894), in the Boer War (1898-1901) and in WWI, was later appointed Governor-General of South Africa (1924-1931) and Governor-General of Canada (1940-1946), during which time he hosted the Quebec Conferences in 1943 and 1944. He returned to England in 1946, the year before he wrote this letter, and retired at Kensington Palace. Alexander, who witnessed the coronation of his great-niece, Queen Elizabeth II, in 1953, had married Princes Alice of Albany (1883-1981), a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, on February 10, 1904. The couple had two children.