Francis, Duke of Teck Duchess of Cambridge. Mary Adelaide's requests to her cousin, Queen Victoria, for more funds were met with refusal; however, they were granted a grace-and-favour apartment in Kensington Palace, London and a country house, White Lodge, the former Royal deer-hunting lodge in Richmond Park, Southwest London. The Duke and Duchess lived beyond their means, leading to the build-up of large debts. In 1883, the Tecks fled the UK to continental Europe, where they stayed with relatives in Florence and Germany. They eventually returned to the UK in 1885. With an Order in Council on 1 July 1887, Queen Victoria granted 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