Later Life
Although she spent most of her adult life in Germany, the Grand Duchess Augusta retained close personal ties to the British royal family. She frequently visited her mother, the Duchess of Cambridge, at her Kensington Palace apartments.
After her mother's death in 1889, the Grand Duchess acquired a house in London's Buckingham Gate area, where she spent a portion of the year until advanced old age made it impossible for her to travel abroad.
In making preparations for the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra in 1901, the Duke of Norfolk consulted her on matters of etiquette and attire. This was due to her presence at the Coronation of King William IV and Queen Adelaide seventy-one years earlier. She was nine years old at the time and kissed the Queen's hand. She was also able to provide details of the Coronation of Queen Victoria, for which no written records existed (she was then sixteen).
The Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was particularly close to her niece, the future Queen Mary. However, old age prevented her from attending the Coronation of King George V (who was her first cousin twice removed; i.e., George III was her grandfather, whereas he was the great-great-grandfather of George V) and Queen Mary at Westminster Abbey on 22 June 1911.
Following the outbreak of World War I, the British Government suspended the pension she had been receiving as a member of the British Royal Family. During the war, the Swedish Embassy passed letters from the Queen to her aunt, who still lived in Germany.
As an elderly lady, she was known for being cantankerous. When Princess Maud of Wales became Queen of Norway, Augusta said she had "become the Queen of a revolutionary throne". During Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations, Augusta said in a loud voice, "Why is she thanking God in the street?" as Queen Victoria sat in her carriage for a blessing.
She was also known as being quite shrewd and intelligent. In his book, Queen Mary (London, 1959), the Queen's official biography, James Pope-Hennessy reports that the Queen's Aunt Augusta was not fond of the new science of photography, fearing it would intrude deeply into the private lives of Royal personages; at pp. 101-105 he offers a masterly sketch of this formidable lady.
The Dowager Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz died in Neustrelitz and was buried in Mirow. As the longest-lived grandchild of George III, she was the last link to the British branch of the House of Hanover.
At the time of her death, she was 94 years, 4 months and 16 days old, making her the longest-lived British Princess of the Blood Royal until Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, a male-line granddaughter of Queen Victoria, broke the record in 1977. Princess Alice died aged over 97 years old.
Read more about this topic: Princess Augusta Of Cambridge
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