Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge Duke and Duchess of Teck chose to reside in London rather than abroad, mainly because Mary Adelaide received £5,000 per annum as a Parliamentary annuity and carried out royal duties. Her mother, the Duchess of Cambridge, also provided her with supplementary income. Requests to Queen Victoria for extra funds were generally refused; however, the queen did provide the Tecks with apartments at Kensington Palace and White Lodge in Richmond Park as a country house. Mary Adelaide requested that her new husband be granted the style "Royal Highness", but this was refused by Queen Victoria. The queen did, however, promote Francis
Duchess Alexandra Petrovna of Oldenburg at her own expense. After the end of the war, Grand Duke Nicholas spent most of his time in Crimea with his mistress while Grand Duchess Alexandra continued to live at their St Peterburg palace. In 1879, determined to get rid of his wife, Grand Duke Nicholas expelled Alexandra from the Nicholas Palace publicly accusing her of infidelity with her confessor Vasily Lebedev. Grand Duchess Alexandra, leaving behind her jewelry, clothes and possessions, had to move to her parents' house. The same year, Alexandra suffered a carriage accident which left her almost completely paralyzed. She could move neither her legs