Lady Helena Gibbs (Helena Frances Augusta; née Cambridge; 23 October 1899 – 22 December 1969), born Princess Helena of Teck, was a relative of the British royal family, great-great-granddaughter of King George III, and a niece of Queen Mary and King George V.
During the First World War, the British royal family and their near relatives (including the House of Teck), relinquished their German titles, and Princess Helena assumed the style Lady Helena Cambridge.[1]
Helena married Colonel John Evelyn Gibbs (22 December 1879 London – 11 October 1932 Tetbury),[2] a veteran of the Boer Wars and World War I and grandson of famed Victorian businessman William Gibbs, on 2 September 1919 at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.[7][8] While Gibbs was a commoner,[9][10] the marriage was approved by the King,[11] although it was later determined that King's Consent was not required.[12] The King was originally to be present for the wedding,[11] but later was not able to attend[13] and instead sent a telegram of congratulations on the day after the wedding.[14] Upon the announcement of her engagement to Gibbs, Country Life placed her on the cover of their August 2, 1919 magazine.[15] The wedding was covered in a multi-page article with photographs in The Sketch a British illustrated journal[16] and also in the Tatler in the week following the wedding.[17] The wedding, which her parents wished to be a "quiet, ordinary wedding",[11] hosted between four and five hundred people, and the party following the wedding was held at Frogmore Cottage. She wore a simple necklace of small pearls for the wedding,[18] a dress of white Royal beaute material,[14][19] and had six bridesmaids, including Lady May Cambridge.[20] The best man was Lancelot Gibbs, the brother of the bridgegroom.[14]
In 1921, Lady Helena Gibbs helped open a children's home in Kingsdown in honor of her late sister-in-law, Victoria Gibbs.[21] She also served as honorary host of a 1931 flower show in Montpellier.[22]
Lady Helena and Colonel John Evelyn Gibbs had no children. Lady Helena survived her husband by 37 years and died at Badminton House, home of her sister.[23] Her funeral service was in Gloucestershire at the Church of St. Mary, Tetbury on 27 December 1969.[24]
^Huberty, Michel; Giraud, Alain; Magdelaine, F. and B. (1979). L'Allemagne Dynastique, Tome II – Anhalt-Lippe-Wurtemberg. France: Laballery. pp. 497, 539–540, 547. ISBN2-901138-02-0.
