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Athlone, Earl of
Arms: 1st and 4th grand quarters: Quarterly 1st and 4th Gules three lions passant gardant in pale Or, 2nd Or a lion rampant within a double tressure flory counterflory Gules, 3rd Azure a harp Or stringed Argent, overall an inescutcheon parted per pairle reversed 1st Gules two lions passant gardant in pale Or, 2nd Or a lion rampant Azure amongst seven hearts randomly placed Gules, 3rd Gules a horse at full speed Argent, the grand quarters each differenced by a label of three lappets Argent, the centre one charged with a cross and the outer ones each with two hearts in pale Gules;

2nd and 3rd grand quarters: Parted per pale dexter Or three stag attires fesswise in pale Sable the upper two with four tines each and the lowest with three, sinister Or three lions passant in pale Sable each with its dexter foreleg Gules, overall an inescutcheon paly bendy Sable and Or;

the whole escutcheon differenced by a crescent at the centre point Sable.

Major General Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone (Alexander Augustus Frederick William Alfred George; born Prince Alexander of Teck) (KG, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, DSO, KStJ, PC, ADC & FRS), was a British Army commander and major-general who served as Governor-General of the Union of South Africa and as Governor General of Canada.

Prince Alexander was born in London on 14 Apr 1874 to the Duke and Duchess of Teck and was educated at Eton College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. In 1904, he married Princess Alice of Albany and rose in the military ranks through his service on the western front of the First World War, He was Mentioned in Dispatches three times in his military career and also received numerous honours and decorations throughout his life.

A cousin and also brother-in-law of King George V, he relinquished his German titles in 1917, including that of Prince of Teck in the Kingdom of Württemberg, and was elevated in the English peerage as the Earl of Athlone. It is to be noted that Athlone had declined a marquessate, as he thought the title did not sound British enough.

He was in 1923 appointed as South Africa's governor-general by the King, on the recommendation of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Stanley Baldwin, to replace Prince Arthur of Connaught, and he occupied the viceregal post until succeeded by the Earl of Clarendon in 1930. Athlone then served as Chancellor of the University of London until, in 1940, he was appointed as Canada's governor-general by King George VI, on the recommendation of Prime Minister of Canada Mackenzie King, to replace Lord Tweedsmuir (John Buchan, the famous author who died in Canada in 1940), and he occupied the post until succeeded by Viscount Alexander of Tunis in 1946. Athlone helped galvanize the Canadian war effort and was a host to British and American statesmen during the Second World War.

After returning to the United Kingdom, Athlone sat on the organizing committee for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

He died at Kensington Palace on 16 Jan 1957, age 82, and was interred in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore.

The arms The artwork is an interpretation of John Hamilton Gaylor

2023 0129

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