Wriothesley Russell, 3rd Duke of Bedford (25 May 1708 – 23 October 1732) was an English nobleman and peer. He was the son of Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford. He was marginally involved in the politics of

Hanoverian Succession The Act of Settlement ( 12 & 13 Will. 3. c. 2) is an act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catho ...

Russell married his sister's stepdaughter, Lady Anne Egerton, daughter of Scroop Egerton, 1st Duke of Bridgwater, on 22 April 1725. Russell courted Egerton, trying to get Sarah Churchill, Queen Anne's famous

favourite A favourite was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In Post-classical Europe, post-classical and Early modern Europe, early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated signifi ...

, as a go-between, for political reasons, as he has opposed Walpole. He died in 1732, aged 24 at Corunna, Spain, without issue. He was buried on 14 December 1732 in the 'Bedford Chapel' at St. Michael's Church, Chenies,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, and his titles passed to his brother,

John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford (30 September 17105 January 1771) was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig statesman and peer who served as the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1757 to 1761. A leading member of the Whig party durin ...

. It has been suggested that his marriage had been " purely for show." His widow re-married, had offspring, and ultimately became an ancestor of

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William, ...

, and thus

William, Prince of Wales William, Prince of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982), is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales. William was born during the reign of his pat ...

. In any case, it was clearly more of a marriage about politics, than sex or love.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedford, Wriothesley Russell, 3rd Duke of 1708 births 1732 deaths 403 Wriothesley Wriothesley