Sir Augustus Frederick d'Este, KCH (13 January 1794 – 28 December 1848) was a relative of the British royal family and the earliest recorded person for whom a definite diagnosis of multiple sclerosis can be made. He was the only son of Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, and his wife Lady Augusta Murray. He was a grandson of King George III, nephew of Kings George IV and William IV, and a first cousin to Queen Victoria.

Family and career

D'Este was the son of

Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, (27 January 1773 – 21 April 1843) was the sixth son and ninth child of King George III and his queen consort, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He was the only surviving son of George III who did not ...

, and

Lady Augusta Murray Lady Augusta De Ameland (''born'' Murray; 27 January 1761 – 4 March 1830) was the first wife of Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, the sixth son of George III. They married on 4 April 1793 in Rome. Their union was in contravention of t ...

, and a grandson of

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. His parents were secretly married on 4 April 1793, in a Church of England ceremony in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

at the Hotel Sarmiento, and later married again on 5 December 1793 at St George's, Hanover Square,

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, using their correct names but without revealing their identities. Both marriages were in defiance of the

Royal Marriages Act 1772 The Royal Marriages Act 1772 (12 Geo 3 c. 11) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which prescribed the conditions under which members of the British royal family could contract a valid marriage, in order to guard against marriages t ...

and were thus legally null and void, at least in English law. After the birth of their first child, the marriage was discovered by the King and formally annulled, making their son illegitimate in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

. Christened "Augustus Frederick", he was briefly given the surname of "Hanover", but later took the name of

d'Este The House of Este ( , , ) is a European dynasty of North Italian origin whose members ruled parts of Italy and Germany for many centuries. The original House of Este's elder branch, which is known as the House of Welf, included dukes of Bavaria ...

, a family from which both his parents were descended. He attended Harrow School. An active member of the

Aborigines Protection Society The Aborigines' Protection Society (APS) was an international human rights organisation founded in 1837,
...

particularly interested in Native Americans, d'Este gave considerable assistance to Peter Jones, the Mississauga missionary and leader, who argued for Native Americans to have title to their lands in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...

. When his father died in 1843, Sir Augustus d’Este attempted to claim his dukedom of Sussex and other peerages, but the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

decided against his claim, as the prince's marriage had been null and void. Although he had affairs with women, he never married and, therefore, even if he had succeeded to his father's titles, they would have become extinct on his own death.

Illness

Augustus d'Este is the earliest recorded person for whom a definite diagnosis of multiple sclerosis can be made. The course of his MS, which was not diagnosed during his lifetime, is known from the diaries he kept. D'Este left a detailed diary describing his 22 years living with the disease. He began his diary in 1822 and it had its last entry in 1846; only to remain unknown until 1948. His symptoms began at age 28, with a sudden transient visual loss after the funeral of a friend. During the course of his disease he developed weakness of the legs, clumsiness of the hands, numbness, dizziness, bladder disturbances, and erectile dysfunction. By 1843 he was experiencing persistent symptoms including tremor and nocturnal spasms, and in 1844 he began to use a

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

. In his last years he was confined to his bed. Despite his illness, he kept an optimistic view of life.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Este, Augustus 1794 births 1848 deaths Augustus D'Este Deaths from multiple sclerosis Neurological disease deaths in England Equerries Illegitimate children of British princes Knights Bachelor People educated at Harrow School Royalty and nobility with disabilities People with multiple sclerosis