Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh

Infobox British Royalty|royal


name =Prince William
title =Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh
succession = Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh
successor =Prince William Frederick of Gloucester
spouse =Maria Walpole
issue =Princess Sophia of Gloucester
Princess Caroline of Gloucester
Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester
royal house =House of Hanover
full name = William Henry
titles ="HRH" The Duke of Gloucester
"HRH" Prince William"The London Gazette" calls him "His Royal Highness Prince William" [http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.aspx?pdf=10212&gpn=2] [http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.aspx?pdf=10247] [http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.aspx?pdf=10411] ]
father =Frederick, Prince of Wales
mother =Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha
date of birth =birth date|1743|11|25|df=y
place of birth =Leicester House, Westminster
date of christening =6 December 1743
place of christening =St Anne, London
date of death =death date and age|1805|8|25|1743|11|25|df=y
place of death =Gloucester House, Westminster
date of burial =4 September 1805
place of burial =St George's Chapel, Windsor|

Prince William, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh KG PC FRS (William Henry; 25 November 1743 – 25 August 1805) was a member of the British Royal Family, a grandson of George II and a younger brother of George III.

Early life

Prince William [http://ftp.cac.psu.edu/~saw/royal/r10.html#I336 Henry Churchyard's "Royal Genealogies, Part 10"] holds that the Prince's name was Edward Henry, although the source for this claim is unclear] was born at Leicester House, London. His father was The Prince Frederick, Prince of Wales, eldest son of King George II and Caroline of Ansbach. His mother was The Princess of Wales (née Augusta of Saxe-Gotha). He was christened at Leicester House eleven days later. His godparents were his paternal uncle by marriage, The Prince of Orange; his paternal uncle, The Duke of Cumberland; and his paternal aunt, The Princess Amelia Sophia. As a grandchild of the sovereign, he was styled "His Royal Highness" Prince William at birth. He was fourth in the line of succession at birth.

Prince William later joined the British Army. His father died in 1751, leaving the Prince's elder brother, Prince George, heir-apparent to the throne. He succeeded as George III on 25 October 1760, and created William Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh and Earl of Connaught on 19 November 1764 [http://mypage.uniserve.ca/~canyon/peerage_titles.htm#Holders Yvonne's Royalty: Peerage] ] . He had been made a Knight of the Garter on 27 May 1762, and invested on 22 September of that year [ [http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.aspx?pdf=10247&geotype=London&gpn=1&type=ArchivedIssuePage&all=&exact=&atleast=&similar= The London Gazette, 25 September 1762] .

Marriage

The Duke was Warden of Windsor Forest and resided at Cranbourne Lodge. He was most known for his secret marriage 1766 to Maria Walpole, the Dowager Countess of Waldegrave, an illegitimate granddaughter of Sir Robert Walpole, from nearby Frogmore House. This marriage and that of his brother prompted the passing of the Royal Marriages Act 1772. They lived at St Leonard's Hill in Clewer, near Windsor, and had three children:
*HRH Princess Sophia of Gloucester ("Sophia Matilda"; 29 May 1773 – 29 November 1844)
*HH Princess Caroline of Gloucester ("Caroline Augusta Maria"; 24 June 1774 – 14 March 1775)
*HRH Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (15 January 1776 – 30 November1834)

Princess Caroline died aged nine months following a smallpox inoculation, intended to protect her from the disease [ [http://www.berkshirehistory.com/bios/mwalpole.html Berkshire History: Biographies: Maria Walpole, Duchess of Gloucester (1737-1807) ] ] . As great-grandchildren in the male line of King George II, Prince William's children were styled "Highness" from birth and used the territorial designation of Gloucester in conjunction with their princely styles. After William Frederick married his cousin Princess Mary, he and his surviving sister Sophia received the style of Royal Highness.

Illegitimate Issue

The Duke also had an illegitimate daughter by his mistress Lady Almeria Carpenter, a daughter of the Earl of Tyrconnell.
*Louisa Maria La Coast (6 January 1782 Esher, Surrey – 10 February 1835 Bossall, Yorkshire), who married on 29 December 1803 in Norwich, Norfolk to Godfrey Macdonald, 3rd Baron Macdonald of Slate, later the 3rd Baron Macdonald of Slate. They had three children born before their marriage (legitimized by Scottish law, but not by Irish law) and ten children born after their marriage. (A previous marriage in Scotland was considered of doubtful validity). These children and their posterity are the only descendants of Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh.

Later life

The Duke was appointed (in an honorary fashion) to Colonel of the 13th Regiment of Foot, 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards, and 1st Regiment of Foot Guards, and he became a Field Marshal on 12 October 1793.

He served as the thirteenth Chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin from 1771 to 1805.

He died at Gloucester House in London.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

*14 November 1743–19 November 1764: "His Royal Highness" Prince William
*19 November 1764–25 August 1805: "His Royal Highness" The Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh

Honours

*27 May 1762: Knight of the Garter

Arms

William was granted use of the arms of the kingdom, differenced by a "label argent of five points, the centre bearing a fleur-de-lys azure, the other points each bearing a cross gules". [ [http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/cadency.htm Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family] ]

Ancestors

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1= 1. Prince William, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh
2= 2. Frederick, Prince of Wales
3= 3. Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha
4= 4. George II of Great Britain
5= 5. Margravine Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach
6= 6. Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
7= 7. Princess Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst
8= 8. George I of Great Britain
9= 9. Sophia Dorothea of Celle
10= 10. John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
11= 11. Eleanor Erdmuthe Louise of Saxe-Eisenach
12= 12. Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
13= 13. Magdalena Sibylle of Saxe-Weissenfels
14= 14. Charles of Anhalt-Zerbst
15= 15. Sophia of Saxe-Weissenfels
16= 16. Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover
17= 17. Sophia, Princess Palatine of the Rhine
18= 18. George William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
19= 19. Eleonore d'Esmier d'Olbreuse
20= 20. Albert, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
21= 21. Sophia Margaret of Oettingen-Oettingen
22= 22. John George I, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach
23= 23. Johanetta of Sayn-Wittgenstein
24= 24. Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha
25= 25. Princess Elisabeth Sophie of Saxe-Altenburg
26= 26. Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels
27= 27. Anna Maria of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
28= 28. John VI, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
29= 29. Sophie Augusta, Princess of Holstein-Gottorp
30= 30. Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels (= 26)
31= 31. Anna Maria of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (= 27)

Footnotes

References

* [http://ftp.cac.psu.edu/~saw/royal/r10.html#I336 Henry Churchyard "Royal Genealogies, Part 10"]
* [http://www.anusha.com/pafg733.htm#24060 Sam Sloan "Big Combined Family Trees (pafg733)"]

External links

*, for the Duke's remark on The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
* [http://www.berkshirehistory.com/bios/william_dofg.html Royal Berkshire History: Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester]