Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone

Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone (Alexander Augustus Frederick William Alfred George; born Prince Alexander of Teck; 14 April 1874 – 16 January 1957), was a member of the extended British royal family, as a great-grandson of King George III, a brother of Queen Mary, uncle to the Kings Edward VIII and George VI, and the husband of Princess Alice of Albany. He was a British Army commander, who served as Governor-General of the Union of South Africa and Governor General of Canada.

Prince Alexander was born in London 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, receiving numerous honours and decorations.

A cousin and also brother-in-law of King George V, Alexander relinquished his German titles in 1917, including that of Prince of Teck in the Kingdom of Württemberg, and was elevated to the peerage as the Earl of Athlone. In 1923, the King appointed Lord Athlone as South Africa's governor-general, on the recommendation of British prime minister Stanley Baldwin, and he occupied the viceregal post until 1930. Athlone then served as Chancellor of the University of London until, in 1940, his nephew George VI appointed him as Canada's governor general, on the recommendation of Canadian prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. He occupied the post until 1946. Athlone helped galvanise 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 organising committee for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, his great-niece. He died at Kensington Palace in 1957 and was interred in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore.