Mary of Teck was queen mother.
Mary of Teck ( Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes ; 26 May 1867 -- 24 March 1953 ) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Empress of India as the wife of King-Emperor George V. As queen consort from 1910 , she supported her husband through World War I , his ill health and major political changes arising from the aftermath of the war , and the rise of socialism and nationalism . After George 's death in 1936 , she became queen mother when her eldest son , Edward , ascended the throne , but to her dismay , he abdicated later the same year in order to marry twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson . She died the following year , during the reign of her granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II , who had not yet been crowned .