Princess Mary engaged to wed Lord Lascelles

Princess Mary and Viscount Lascelles

November 23, 1921 - In a special cable from London, the New York Times reports "the greatest pleasure of the King and Queen [to] announved the bethrothal of their beloved daughter, princess Mary to Viscount Lascelles, D.S., eldest son of the Earl of Harewood."  It is believed the engagement will prove very popular. Throughout the Lascelles family's Yorkshire estate and on the Yorkshire moors there will be many a tyke who will think Princess Mary has got a great catch in the heir to the title and broad acres of Harewood.

No announcement has yet been made as to when the Princess' marriage will take place. It is presumed, however, that the engagement will not be a long one, and it is suggested that the ceremony will probably be performed between Christmas and the beginning of Lent.

viscount Lascelles is the eldest son and heir of the fifth Earl of Harewood. He was born on Sept. 9, 1882 and pursued a military career. He passed from Eton and Sandhurst to the Grenadier Guards, his father's old regiment before serving as honorary attache at the British Embassy in Rome from 1905-07. He then served as aide-de-camp to the late Earl Grey, the Governor General in Canada. During the great war, he joined his old regiment as Lieutenant to the Third Grenadier Guards, serving in the French trenches. Called the richest soldier in the world, he is not only the heir to the Harewood estates, which comprises nearly 30,000 acres, but in 1916, he inherited around 2.5 million pounds, mostly in cash, under the will of his great undle, the eccentric Lord Clanricarde.

Princess Mary was born at York Cottage, Sandringham, April 25, 1897. She has undergone hospital training as a nurse at the great Ormond Street Hospital for children, taking her duties very seriously and proving herself both capable and patient. She is also an officer of the Girl Guides' organization and appears in uniform at many inspections and parades.