Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, (15 January 1776 – 30 November 1834) was a great-grandson of

King George II of Great Britain , house = Hanover , religion = Protestant , father = George I of Great Britain , mother = Sophia Dorothea of Celle , birth_date = 30 October / 9 November 1683 , birth_place = Herrenhausen Palace,Cannon. or Leine ...

and the nephew and son-in-law 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 ...

. He was the grandson of both

Frederick, Prince of Wales Frederick, Prince of Wales, (Frederick Louis, ; 31 January 170731 March 1751), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen Caroline. Frederick was the fath ...

(George II's eldest son), and

Edward Walpole Sir Edward Walpole KB PC (Ire) (1706 – 12 January 1784) was a British politician, and a younger son of Sir Robert Walpole, Prime Minister from 1721 to 1742. Early life The second son of Sir Robert Walpole, he was educated at Eton (1718) a ...

. Prince William married Princess Mary, the fourth daughter of George III.

Early life

Prince William Frederick was born on 15 January 1776 at Palazzo Teodoli in

via del Corso The Via del Corso is a main street in the historical centre of Rome. It is straight in an area otherwise characterized by narrow meandering alleys and small piazzas. Considered a wide street in ancient times, the Corso is approximately 10 metres w ...

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 ...

. His father was

Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, (25 November 1743 – 25 August 1805), was a grandson of King George II and a younger brother of George III of the United Kingdom. Life Youth Prince William Henry was born at Leicester ...

, the third son of the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

. His mother,

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

, was the illegitimate daughter of

and granddaughter of

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader ...

. As a great-grandson of

George II George II or 2 may refer to: People * George II of Antioch (seventh century AD) * George II of Armenia (late ninth century) * George II of Abkhazia (916–960) * Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051) * George II of Georgia (1072–1089) ...

he held the title of Prince of Great Britain with the style ''

His Highness Highness (abbreviation HH, oral address Your Highness) is a formal style (manner of address), style used to address (in grammatical person, second person) or refer to (in grammatical person, third person) certain members of a reigning or formerl ...

'', not ''His Royal Highness'', at birth. The young prince was baptized at Teodoli Palace, on 12 February 1776 by a Rev Salter. His godparents were his father's cousin and cousin-in-law, the Duke and Duchess of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg; and the Duke of Gloucester's second cousin, the Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach. During his stay in Stockholm in 1802–1803, William's interest and rumoured affair with

Aurora Wilhelmina Koskull Aurora Wilhelmina Brahe née Koskull (22 November 1778 – 19 February 1852) was a Swedish lady-in-waiting and politically active salonist. Life Aurora Wilhelmina Koskull was the daughter of the courtier Baron Otto Anders Koskull and Amalia Be ...

attracted a lot of attention, and he reportedly had plans to marry her.

Queen Charlotte Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and of Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until the union of the two kingdoms ...

recalled that William said of Koskull: "If she was your daughter, I would marry her!" William was admitted to the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

(

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

) in 1787, and granted his MA in 1790. He set up his London home at 31

Upper Grosvenor Street Upper Grosvenor Street is a one-way Georgian street in Mayfair, London, United Kingdom. It runs from the north side of the Grosvenor House Hotel (fronting Park Lane) to the south side of the London Chancery Building (fronting Grosvenor Squ ...

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

. On 25 August 1805, Prince William's father died, and he inherited the titles

Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh () was a British title (after Gloucester and Edinburgh) in the Peerage of Great Britain; the sole creation carried with it the subsidiary title of Earl of Connaught. It existed for the brother of King George ...

and

Earl of Connaught Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

. From 1811 until his death William was Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He was offered the throne of Sweden in 1812 by some members of the Swedish nobility, but the British government would not allow it; the French marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte was eventually selected to become King

Charles XIV John sv, Karl Johan Baptist Julius , spouse = , issue = Oscar I of Sweden , house = Bernadotte , father = Henri Bernadotte , mother = Jeanne de Saint-Jean , birth_date = , birth_place = Pau, ...

Marriage

On 22 July 1816, Prince William married his first cousin Princess Mary, the fourth daughter of

. The marriage took place at St. James's Palace,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. On that day,

the Prince Regent George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

granted the Duke the style of ''

His Royal Highness Royal Highness is a style used to address or refer to some members of royal families, usually princes or princesses. Monarchs and their consorts are usually styled ''Majesty''. When used as a direct form of address, spoken or written, it takes ...

'' by

Order in Council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' Ki ...

. The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester lived at

Bagshot Park Bagshot Park is a royal residence located near Bagshot, a village south of Windsor. It is on Bagshot Heath, a tract of formerly open land in Surrey and Berkshire. Bagshot Park occupies within the designated area of Windsor Great Park. The ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. 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 Princess Charlotte of Wales may refer to: * Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796–1817), the only child of George, Prince of Wales, later King George IV of the United Kingdom ** Princess Charlotte of Wales (1812 EIC ship), a ship named after the pri ...

, the heiress to the throne, even if no foreign match proved suitable; she had married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg ten weeks earlier.

Later life

William was active in many walks of life, and on 27 April 1822 he chaired the first Annual General Meeting of

's new

United University Club The United University Club was a London gentlemen's club, founded in 1821. It occupied the purpose-built University Club House, at 1, Suffolk Street, London, England, from 1826 until 1971. Formation and membership The Club was founded at a meetin ...

. Politics, however, was not among them; he entered the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

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 Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (Caroline Amelia Elizabeth; 17 May 1768 – 7 August 1821) was Queen of the United Kingdom and Hanover from 29 January 1820 until her death in 1821, being the estranged wife of King George IV. She was Pr ...

and

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 ...

, against

King George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

.A. W. Purdue
‘William Frederick, Prince, second duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (1776–1834)’
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, May 2009. The Duke of Gloucester 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. The general estimate of his capacity is given by his nickname, "Silly Billy"; he was also called "Slice of Gloucester" and "Cheese", a reference to Gloucester cheese. Because of the unequal character of his parents' marriage, the Duke was excluded from the

House of Hanover The House of Hanover (german: Haus Hannover), whose members are known as Hanoverians, is a European royal house of German origin that ruled Hanover, Great Britain, and Ireland at various times during the 17th to 20th centuries. The house orig ...

, being considered only a British prince. For instance, he and his sister Sophia were not listed in the genealogical listing of the electoral house of Hanover in the ''Königlicher Groß-Britannischer und Kurfürstlicher Braunschweig-Lüneburgscher Staats-Kalender''. He was also not invited to sign the family compact of the house of Brunswick-Lüneburg in 1831, which means that he was not considered an agnate of the royal (electoral) house in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The Duke died on 30 November 1834 at Bagshot Park, and was buried in

St. George's Chapel, Windsor St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is both a Royal Peculiar (a church under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch) and the Chapel of the Order of the Gart ...

Honours

*KG:

Knight of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George ...

, ''16 July 1794''

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'').Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family
Heraldica.org. Retrieved on 15 July 2012.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:William Frederick, Duke Of Gloucester And Edinburgh, Prince 1776 births 1834 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Princes of Great Britain Princes of the United Kingdom British field marshals Chancellors of the University of Cambridge

102 102 may refer to: * 102 (number), the number * AD 102, a year in the 2nd century AD * 102 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC * 102 (ambulance service), an emergency medical transport service in Uttar Pradesh, India * 102 (Clyde) Field Squadron, Royal ...

Grenadier Guards officers House of Hanover Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knights of the Garter Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People from Bagshot Fellows of the Royal Society Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers officers Scots Guards officers Burials at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle