Editing Mary of Teck (section)

==Engagements==
[[File:Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale; Queen Mary when Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, 1891.png|thumb|upright|Victoria Mary ("May") with [[Prince Albert Victor]], 1891]]

In 1886, May was a debutante in her first [[season (society)|season]] and was [[Queen Charlotte's Ball|introduced]] at court. Her status as the only unmarried British princess who was not descended from Queen Victoria made her a suitable candidate for the royal family's most eligible bachelor, [[Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale]],<ref name="times"/> her [[second cousin once removed]] and the eldest son of the Prince of Wales.{{efn|May's maternal grandfather, [[Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge]], was a brother of [[Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent]], who was the father of [[Queen Victoria]], Albert Victor's paternal grandmother.}}

On 3 December 1891 at [[Luton Hoo]], then the country residence of Danish Ambassador Christian Frederick de Falbe, Albert Victor proposed marriage to May and she accepted.<ref name="times"/> The choice of May as bride for the Duke owed much to Queen Victoria's fondness for her, as well as to her strong character and sense of duty. However, Albert Victor died six weeks later, in a recurrence of the worldwide [[1889–1890 pandemic]].<ref>Pope-Hennessy, p. 201</ref>

Albert Victor's brother, [[Prince George, Duke of York]], now second in line to the throne, evidently became close to May during their shared period of mourning, and Queen Victoria still thought of her as a suitable candidate to marry a future king.<ref>Edwards, p. 61</ref> The public was also anxious that the Duke of York should marry and settle the succession.<ref name="times"/> In May 1893, George proposed, and May accepted. They were soon deeply in love, and their marriage was a success. George wrote to May every day they were apart and, unlike his father, never took a mistress.<ref name="dnb">{{cite ODNB|last=Prochaska|first=Frank|title=Mary (1867–1953)|orig-year=September 2004|edition=online|date=January 2008|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/34914|access-date=1 May 2010|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/34914|mode=cs2}}</ref>