Double signed VAD photo Mary of Teck and Mary Princess Royal

MARY OF TECK [Queen Consort]; MARY [Princess Royal] – VAD Photo (double signed and dated)
 
*A scarce photo signed by mother and daughter in 1919 when the Princess Royal was a serving nurse at Great Ormond Street Hospital*
 
An A6 sized original photograph of Queen Consort and wife of George V with her young daughter Mary, who was wearing her nurse’s uniform; in black and white; with one small tear to the bottom edge and some browning to the edges on the reverse; overall a very good condition photograph. This was a common and popular image that was circulated amongst the press at that time, but this photograph is particularly scarce as it is signed by Mary of Teck in her distinctive hand and dated 1919, alongside the signature also in black in of her daughter.
 
Mary, the princess royal was George and Mary’s only daughter. When the war broke in 1914 young Mary would have only been 17 and decided to join her mother in her charitable work concentrating on the welfare of the soldiers, women and girls. Mary was patron of the Princess Mary gift fund, that raised the equivalent today of several million pounds to soldiers and their families, and then as the war raged on, she would get involved in supporting the girl guides, the VADs and the women’s land army.  Then in 1918, 21-year-old Princess Mary, amidst a flurry of publicity, volunteered as a trainee nurse at Great Ormond Street Hospital, and worked there for 2 days a week. There was an illustration at around this time in the popular Sphere magazine, showing a caring Nurse Mary with a sick child on her lap. This photo was taken and signed by both at around this time. Provenance: The photograph was removed from an album owned by former groundskeeper at Sandringham House, Frederick Bland, by a previous owner. The signatures were obtained directly by him. A scarce photo with the signatures of Mary of Teck and the nurse princess royal.