Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh

Prince William Frederick
Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh
Predecessor	Prince William Henry
Born	15 January 1776 Teodoli Palace, Rome
Died	30 November 1834 (aged 58) Bagshot Park, Surrey
Burial	St George's Chapel, Windsor
Spouse	Princess Mary of the United Kingdom
Full name William Frederick
House	Hanover
Father	Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh
Mother	Maria Walpole

Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh KG GCB GCH PC FRS (15 January 1776 – 30 November 1834), was a great-grandson of King George II and nephew and son-in-law of King George III of the United Kingdom.

Early life

The Duke of Gloucester, in an engraving based on a portrait painted by Sir William Beechey, published 1826.

Prince William of Gloucester was born on 15 January 1776 at Palazzo Teodoli in via del Corso, Rome.^[1] His father was Prince William, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, the third son of the Prince of Wales. His mother was Maria, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh, the illegitimate daughter of Edward Walpole and granddaughter of Robert Walpole. As a great-grandson of George II he held the title of Prince of Great Britain with the style His Highness, not His Royal Highness, at birth. The young prince was christened at Teodoli Palace, on 12 February 1776 by a Rev Salter. His godparents were the Duke and Duchess of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (his first cousin once-removed and his wife) and The Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (his second cousin once-removed).^[2]

During his stay in Stockholm in 1802–1803, his interest and rumoured affair with Aurora Wilhelmina Koskull attracted a lot of attention, and he reportedly had plans to marry her. Queen Charlotte recalled that William said of Koskull: "If she was your daughter, I would marry her!"^[3]

He was admitted to the University of Cambridge (Trinity College) in 1787, and granted his MA in 1790.^[4] On 25 August 1805, Prince William's father died, and he inherited the titles Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh and Earl of Connaught. From 1811 until his death he was Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.^[4] He was offered the position of king of Sweden in 1812 by some members of the Swedish nobility, but the British government would not allow it.

Marriage

On 22 July 1816, he married The Princess Mary, his cousin and the fourth daughter of George III. The marriage took place at St. James's Palace, London. On that day, The Prince Regent granted the Duke the style of His Royal Highness by Order in Council.^[5]

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester lived at Bagshot Park in Surrey. They had no children together; they had married when both were 40. The Duke had been encouraged to stay single, so that there might be a suitable groom for Princess Charlotte of Wales, the heiress to the throne, even if no foreign match proved suitable; she had married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg ten weeks earlier.^[6]

Later life

He was active in many walks of life, and on 27 April 1822 chaired the first Annual General Meeting of London's new United University Club.^[7] Politics, however, was not among them; he entered the House of Lords rarely, and he voted on few of the great issues of his time. He did advocate the abolition of slavery, and he supported Caroline of Brunswick and the Duke of Sussex against George IV.^[8]

He kept more state than the King; he never permitted a gentleman to be seated in his presence (which King George did as an exceptional favour) and expected to be served coffee by the ladies of any party he attended, and that they would stand while he drank it.^[9] The general estimate of his capacity is given by his nickname, "Silly Billy"; he was also called "Slice of Gloucester" and "Cheese",^[8] a reference to Gloucester cheese.

The Duke died on 30 November 1834, and was buried in St. George's Chapel, Windsor.

Honours and arms

Honours

• KG: Knight of the Garter, 16 July 1794^[10]
• GCB: Knight Grand Cross of the Bath
• GCH: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order
• PC: Lord of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council
• FRS: Fellow of the Royal Society

Arms

William was granted use of his father's arms (being 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), the whole differenced by a label argent (or azure).^[11]

See also

• List of British princes

Ancestry

Ancestors of Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh

16. George I of Great Britain               8. George II of Great Britain                       17. Duchess Sophia Dorothea of Celle               4. Frederick, Prince of Wales                             18. Johann Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach               9. Margravine Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach                       19. Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach               2. Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh                                   20. Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg               10. Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg                       21. Magdalena Sibylle of Saxe-Weissenfels               5. Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha                             22. Karl, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst               11. Princess Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst                       23. Sophia of Saxe-Weissenfels               1. Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh                                         24. Robert Walpole               12. Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford                       25. Mary Burwell               6. Edward Walpole                             26. John Shorter               13. Catherine Shorter                       27. Elizabeth Philipps               3. Maria Walpole                                   28. John Clement               14. Hammond Clement                       7. Dorothy Clement                             15. Priscilla Clement

References

1. "...the insignificant palaces, Fiano, Verospi, and Teodoli..." (Augustus Hare, Walks in Rome vol. i, 1903 p. 46).
2. Yvonne's Royalty Home Page: Royal Christenings. Users.uniserve.com. Retrieved on 2012-07-15.
3. Cecilia af Klercker (1927). Hedvig Elisabeth Charlottas dagbok VII 1800–1806 (The diaries of Hedvig Elizabeth Charlotte VII 1800–1806) (in Swedish). P.A. Norstedt & Söners förlag. OCLC 68029346.
4. "Gloucester, H.R.H. Prince William Frederick, Duke of (GLCR787WF)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
5. Royal Styles and Titles – 1816 Royal Warrant. Heraldica.org. Retrieved on 2012-07-15.
6. Complete Peerage, "Duke of Gloucester", citing the obituary of Princess Mary in the Annual Register of 1857.
7. Club History Since 1821 at oxfordandcambridgeclub.co.uk (accessed 9 January 2008)
8. A. W. Purdue, ‘William Frederick, Prince, second duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (1776–1834)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2009.
9. Complete Peerage, "Duke of Gloucester"
10. The Peerage — William Frederick Hanover, 2nd Duke of Gloucester. Thepeerage.com. Retrieved on 2012-07-15.
11. Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family. Heraldica.org. Retrieved on 2012-07-15.