Princess Mary’s First Family Home
Goldsborough Hall was home to HRH Princess Mary, King Charles’s great aunt, in the 1920s after she married Viscount Lascelles, son and heir of the 5th Earl of Harewood. The hall had been in the Lascelles family since the 1750s and had been the childhood home of the Viscount.
Royal Wedding at Westminster Abbey
Princess Mary married Henry, Viscount Lascelles on 28th February 1922 at Westminster Abbey in London. One of her bridesmaids was Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon and this was the first time that the Queen Mother (as she became known later) had been on the Royal stage prior to her marriage to Mary's brother Bertie (George VI).
Lime Tree Walk Started
While renovations were being completed in the hall, Princess Mary and Viscount Lascelles honeymooned for the rest of the year. They moved into Goldsborough Hall and planted the first tree in the Lime Tree Walk on 28th December 1922.
George Christened at Goldsborough Church
Princess Mary's son, George, the 7th Earl of Harewood, was born in London on 7th February 1923 and was christened at St Mary's Church, Goldsborough (adjacent to the Hall) on 25th March 1923.
Attending the christening was King George V, Queen Mary with the Archbishop of York presiding and the christening photographs are taken on the front steps of Goldsborough Hall.
Princess Mary's second son Gerald was also christened at St Mary's Church the following year, but in a far quieter ceremony – and without the King and Queen attending.
Changes to the Hall and Gardens
Princess Mary made many changes to the Hall, both inside and out, using the Leeds architect Sydney Kitson.
It was her vision to create a vista to the south with beech hedges framing herbaceous borders leading down to the quarter of a mile long Lime Tree Walk. Here all the great and the good from the 1920s planted trees including three Kings and two Queens.
Royals who visited her at Goldsborough included her father George V, her mother Queen Mary, her brother then the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) and her brother then the Duke of York (later George VI).
The Move to Harewood
In 1929, Viscount Lascelles became the 6th Earl, following the death of his father. Princess Mary and the now Earl moved to Harewood House the following year.
In the Lime Tree Walk, the last few trees were planted, including one by George, the 7th earl of Harewood, on 14th April 1930, under his new name of Viscount Lascelles.