Countess Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde

The Countess was born in her family's estate, Rhédey castle in Sankt Georgen auf der Heide (Hungarian: Erdőszentgyörgy), Transylvania (then part of the Austrian Empire, today Sângeorgiu de Pădure, Romania) to Count László Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde and his wife, Baroness Ágnes Inczédy de Nagy-Várad. Most notable member of her family was Ferenc Rhédey, the reigning Prince of Transylvania who ruled Principality of Transylvania between 1657 and 1658. At birth, she was styled as Countess Klaudina (Claudine) Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde.

In 1835, she married Duke Alexander of Württemberg, the son of Duke Louis of Württemberg, younger brother of King Frederick I of Württemberg. Due to the German laws relating to the line of succession, she was viewed as being of non-royal rank and the marriage was declared morganatic. She was denied the title of Duchess, but was created Countess von Hohenstein on 16 May 1835, shortly after her marriage.[2]

The crypt of the Rhédey family is in the Reformed Church of Sângeorgiu de Pădure in present-day Romania.

Claudine died in Austria in 1841 after being thrown from her horse and trampled to death in front of a cavalry charge at a military review; other sources say she died in a carriage accident.

Countess Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde and Countess von Hohenstein had three children with Duke Alexander of Württemberg:

• Princess Claudine of Teck (1836–1894).
• Prince Francis of Teck (1837–1900); later created 1st Duke of Teck (1863); married, on 12 June 1866 at St. Anne's Church, Kew, Surrey, West London, Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge,[3] and had issue. He was granted the style of Highness by Queen Victoria on 1 July 1887, as a gift to celebrate her Golden Jubilee.
  • Princess Victoria Mary "May" of Teck (1867–1953); later Queen Mary, queen consort of the United Kingdom.
  • Prince Adolphus of Teck (1868–1927); later Duke of Teck and Marquess of Cambridge.
  • Prince Francis of Teck (1870–1910).
  • Prince Alexander of Teck (1874–1957); later Earl of Athlone.
• Countess Amalie of Hohenstein (1838–1893); married, on 24 October 1863 Baron (later Count) Paul von Hügel (1835-1897). They lived in Castle Reinthal, near Graz.
  • Paul-Julius, Graf von Hügel; married, Anna Pauline Homolatsch.
    • Huberta Amelia Maximilienne Pauline, Gräfin von Hügel
    • Ferdinand Paul, Graf von Hügel

All children were initially styled as Count or Countess von Hohenstein, taking their titles from their mother. However, in 1863, the children were created Prince and Princesses of Teck, with the style Serene Highness in the Kingdom of Württemberg.

Prince Francis of Teck was later created Duke of Teck. He married Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, a granddaughter of George III and became a member of the British Royal Family. His only daughter, Mary of Teck, married Prince George, Duke of York in July 1893, becoming queen consort on her husband's accession to the throne in May 1910. The current British monarch, Elizabeth II, is Mary's granddaughter and thus Claudine's great-great-granddaughter.

The Rhédey family has been known from the 13th century. It is one of the Hungarian noble families descending from the house of Aba.[4] The most notable ancestor of the Aba noble house was Samuel Aba, the third king of Hungary between 1041 and 1044, married to a sister of St. Stephen I, the first Roman Catholic king of Hungary.

• Mary of Teck
• Aba (family)
• Family tree of the British royal family

• Siebmachers Wappenbuch Die Wappen des Adels von Ungarn
• ROMÁNIAI MAGYAR IRODALMI LEXIKON, SZÉPIRODALOM, KÖZÍRÁS, TUDOMÁNYOS IRODALOM, MŰVELŐDÉS, III Kh–M KRITERION KÖNYVKIADÓ, BUKAREST 1994, ISBN 973-26-0369-0
• MARY, 1867–1953, Queen Consort of George V of the United Kingdom, The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press.
• Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon főszerkesztő: Kristó, Gyula, szerkesztők: Engel, Pál és Makk, Ferenc (Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1994)
• Kristó, Gyula - Makk, Ferenc: Az Árpád-ház uralkodói (IPC Könyvek, 1996)
• the Peerage
• Das Haus Württemberg - Ein Biographisches Lexikon, Kohlhammer Verlag Stuttgart (1997) ISBN 3-17-013605-4