Dying aged 81 at Gloucester House, Weymouth, Mary was the longest-lived and last survivor of George III's fifteen children (thirteen of whom lived to adulthood).

Mary was baptised on 19 May 1776, in the Great Council Chamber at St. James's Palace, by Frederick Cornwallis, The Archbishop of Canterbury.

Engaging in active play with his young children, he behaved quite informally in contrast to the dignified Queen Charlotte, who had more difficulty abandoning the formal behaviour expected of their class.

Faced with less time due to her public duties and close marriage to the king, she appointed Lady Charlotte Finch to manage the royal nursery and administer her ideas.

Mary danced a minuet for the first time in public at the age of sixteen in June 1791, during a court ball given for the king's birthday.

Mary's youngest sister and beloved companion Princess Amelia called her "Mama's tool" because of her obedient nature.

Princess Mary was quite close to her eldest brother, and she shared his antipathy toward his wife, their cousin Caroline of Brunswick.

[7] The historian A. W. Purdue suggests that Mary's motive for marrying her cousin sprang from her dislike of Queen Charlotte's restrictive household.