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.

Athlone then served as Chancellor of the University of London until, in 1940, his nephew George VI appointed him as Governor General of Canada,[1][2][3][4] on the recommendation of Canadian prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King.

[5][6] He was known, however, to his family and friends as Alge, derived from the first two letters of Alexander and George,[7] and was characterised as a meticulous individual with a quick, but short-lived, temper and an ability to be cautious and tactful.

[7] Prior to the outbreak of the Great War in 1914, Prince Alexander, who had been promoted to major in January 1911 and was a brevet lieutenant-colonel commanding the 2nd Regiment of Life Guards,[16] was nominated by the British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith to serve as Governor General of Canada.

[26] In December of the same year, Athlone was appointed by the King as both an honorary major-general and as the Governor-General of the Union of South Africa,[7] replacing his wife's cousin, Prince Arthur of Connaught.

[27] He arrived in Pretoria in January 1924 and was immediately at work with his viceregal duties, opening the newly finished parliament building, just weeks before his South African prime minister, Jan Smuts, suddenly advised him to prorogue the legislature.

He also gained popularity with South Africans of all races through his frequent tours of the country,[7] performing a number of ceremonial duties, including opening Pioneers' Park in Johannesburg.

[29] For his service to the Crown in South Africa, Athlone was appointed by George V as a Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter, on 17 April 1928,[30] and, upon his return to the UK, was made on 4 August 1931 the Governor and Constable of Windsor Castle.

[37] Subsequently, Athlone, along with his wife and his aide-de-camp, Alastair Windsor, Earl of Macduff,[n 1][38] voyaged to Canada to take up his position, their liner using a submarine-evading zig-zag pattern across the Atlantic Ocean to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

[40] Athlone immediately made himself active in the support of the war effort, travelling across the country and focusing much of his attention on the troops, either those training at military facilities or those injured and in hospital.

Viewing his position as governor general as a link between Canadians and their monarch, Athlone also communicated in speeches that the King stood with them in their fight against Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime.

[32] During his time as the Canadian viceroy, Athlone also lent his status to various charitable and other social events, and mounted a number of activities of his own, such as tobogganing parties and skating lessons on the grounds of Rideau Hall, as well as skiing in Gatineau Park.

[32] After Lord Athlone's replacement as governor general was appointed on 21 March 1946, he returned to the United Kingdom to retirement, taking up residence again in a grace and favour apartment at Kensington Palace and, on 1 September of that year, resigning as colonel of the 7th Queen's Own Hussars.

[43] He did not completely remove himself from public activity, however, and was, along with his Canadian viceregal successor, Lord Alexander of Tunis, appointed to the committee charged with organising the coronation in 1953 of Athlone's great-niece, Queen Elizabeth II,[44] and continued to sit as Chancellor of the University of London until 1955.