Alexander, Earl of Athlone, 1874-1957

It is unusual in Royal Society Biographical Memoirs to list the Public Appointments of Fellows like the Earl of Athlone, but it will not be possible for the reader to appreciate his very great versatility and industry unless the notice is prefaced by a certain amount of detail of his public life. Born in 1874 he was the youngest son of the first Duke of Teck and Princess Mary and was thus a great-grandson of King George III. He was a brother to Queen Mary and, therefore, a great-uncle to the present Queen. Known up to 1917 as His Serene Highness Prince Alexander, he was educated at Eton, leaving there to enter Sandhurst and in 1894 was gazetted a 2nd Lieutenant of the 7th Hussars. He saw a considerable amount of active service and fought right through the South African war and for these services he was awarded the D.S.O. In 1904 he married Princess Alice, the only daughter of the Duke of Albany who it will be remembered was Queen Victoria’s youngest son. From his marriage to the onset of the war in 1914, Prince Alexander was very active, and in view of the heavy commitments of the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) he and his wife found themselves very busily occupied on royal occasions. He found time during this period, however, to play a decisive part in the affairs of the Middlesex Hospital, but reference to this will be made in detail later.