He was the father of Queen Mary, the consort of King George V. Francis held the Austrian title of Count of Hohenstein (Graf von Hohenstein), and the German titles of Prince (Fürst) and later Duke of Teck (Herzog von Teck), and was given the style of Serene Highness in 1863.

Francis was born on 28 August 1837 in Esseg, Slavonia (now Osijek, Croatia), and christened Franz Paul Karl Ludwig Alexander.

He served during the Austro-Prussian War[citation needed] and retired from the Austrian Army when he married and moved to England in 1866.

As the product of a morganatic marriage, and without succession rights to the throne, Francis was not acceptable as a husband for princesses in most of the European royal houses.

He thus married into a richer family, by marrying his father's third cousin (in descent from George II of Great Britain) Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, the younger daughter of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, the 7th and youngest son of King George III.

[8] The Duke of Teck was made Colonel (Oberst) à la suite of the 25th (1st Württemberg) Dragoons "Queen Olga"[2] on 6 March 1889, and a Generalmajor in the Imperial German Army on 18 October 1891.

[9] Because Francis had no inheritance, the couple lived on Mary Adelaide's Parliamentary allowance of £5,000 per annum (equivalent to ca.

With an Order in Council on 1 July 1887, Queen Victoria granted Francis the style of Highness, as a gift to celebrate her Golden Jubilee.

Their fortunes improved when their only daughter, Princess Victoria Mary of Teck (known as "May" to her family) became engaged to the second-in-line to the British throne, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale.