Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester
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| Prince Henry | |
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| Photographic Portrait as Governor-General | |
| Duke of Gloucester | |
| Successor | Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester |
| Spouse | Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester |
| Issue | |
| Prince William of Gloucester Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester |
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| Full name | |
| Henry William Frederick Albert | |
| Titles and styles | |
| HRH The Duke of Gloucester HRH The Prince Henry HRH Prince Henry of Wales HRH Prince Henry of Cornwall and York HRH Prince Henry of York |
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| Royal house | House of Windsor House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha |
| Father | George V |
| Mother | Mary of Teck |
| Born | 31 March 1900 York Cottage, Sandringham |
| Baptised | 17 May 1900 St George's Chapel |
| Died | 10 June 1974 (aged 74) Barnwell Manor, Northamptonshire |
| Burial | Frogmore Royal Mausoleum |
| Occupation | Governor-General of Australia; Military |
The Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (Henry William Frederick Albert; 31 March 1900 – 10 June 1974) was a member of the British Royal Family, the third son of George V of the United Kingdom and Queen Mary, and thus uncle to Elizabeth II. He was appointed potential regent for his niece, when his brother (George VI) came to the throne in 1936, and was required to stay in the United Kingdom until she came of age in case her father died and she ascended the throne under-age.
The Duke served as the eleventh Governor-General of Australia, from 1945 to 1947. At his death, he was the last surviving knight of the Order of St. Patrick.
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[edit] Early life
Prince Henry was born, on March 31, 1900, at York Cottage, on the Sandringham Estate. His father was Prince George, Duke of York, the eldest surviving son of Prince Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. His mother was The Duchess of York, the only daughter of The Duke and Duchess of Teck. In 1898, Queen Victoria issued letters patent granting the children of the Duke and Duchess of York the style Royal Highness. Thus he was styled His Royal Highness Prince Henry of York from birth.
He was baptised, at the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle, on May 17, 1900, by Randall Thomas Davidson, Bishop of Winchester, and his godparents were Queen Victoria, William II, German Emperor, Princess Henry of Battenberg, the Duchess of Cumberland, Princess Carl of Denmark, Prince George of Greece, Prince Alexander of Teck and the Earl Roberts.
Prince Henry attended Eton College from September 1913 and during the First World War the house in which he lived, Mr. Lubbock's was also home to Crown Prince Leopold of Belgium (later Leopold III).
[edit] Military service
Unlike his brothers, Prince Henry joined the Army instead of the Royal Navy. He attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1919. He later served with The King's Royal Rifle Corps and the 10th Royal Hussars before retiring from active service in 1937. Following the outbreak of World War II, he rejoined the Forces, serving as a Chief Liaison Officer. He was appointed a Field Marshal in 1955 and a Marshal of the Royal Air Force in 1958.
[edit] Duke of Gloucester
On 31 March 1928[1], his father, by now King, created him Duke of Gloucester, Earl of Ulster, and Baron Culloden, three titles that linked him with three parts of the United Kingdom, namely England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. On November 2, 1930 he attended the coronation of Haile Selassie of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa. In 1934, with the agreement of the Irish President of the Executive Council, Eamon de Valera,[citation needed] George V (as King of Ireland) made him a Knight of St Patrick, Ireland's chivalric order. It was the second to last time this order was awarded (the last appointment being the Duke of York, later George VI, in 1936); at the time of his death the Duke of Gloucester was the only remaining knight.
[edit] Marriage
On November 6, 1935, Henry married Lady Alice Christabel Montagu-Douglas-Scott, a daughter of the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry. The marriage was originally planned to take place at Westminster Abbey, but was moved to the more low key Chapel Royal at St James's Palace owing to the death of Lady Alice's father shortly before the wedding.
Following their wedding, Alice was known as HRH The Duchess of Gloucester. Together they had two sons:
- Prince William of Gloucester, 1941-1972
- Prince Richard of Gloucester, born 1944; now Duke of Gloucester.
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[edit] Governor-General of Australia
In late 1944 the Duke was unexpectedly appointed Governor-General of Australia. The Labor Party of the Prime Minister, John Curtin, had a policy of appointing Australians to the vice-regal post. But in the circumstances of wartime Curtin decided that appointing a member of the Royal Family would have two advantages. It would improve the likelihood that Britain would maintain its commitment to the defence of Australia, and make the point that Australia had not become a dependency of the United States. Curtin also thought that appointing an Australian would cause unnecessary partisan division.
Although Gloucester formed a close friendship with Curtin, the appointment was not an enormous success. The Duke was a man of limited outlook and rigid views. He was shy and appeared stiff and formal to those he didn't know, and did not get on well with many Australians, although the Duchess softened his image somewhat. When Curtin died in 1945, the Duke's appointment of Frank Forde to the Prime Ministership without consultation and the end of war, the justification for his appointment lost its relevance. Gloucester left Australia in March 1947, after only two years in the job.
[edit] Later life
Returning to the UK, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester acquired Barnwell Manor in Northamptonshire, while retaining an apartment in Kensington Palace.
In May 1949, the Duke temporarily served in the office of Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. This appointment afforded him, for its duration, its Scottish precedence (immediately below the King) and style, His Grace The Lord High Commissioner.
The Duke attended the coronation of his niece, Elizabeth II in 1953. Both the Duke and Duchess carried out royal engagements, including several overseas tours.
In 1972, the Duke's eldest son, Prince William, died in a plane crash. The Duke was the last surviving child of King George V and Queen Mary. When he died on June 10, 1974, his second eldest son, Prince Richard inherited the title of Duke of Gloucester. The Duke's wife, Alice, received permission from Queen Elizabeth II to be styled Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester to distinguish herself from Prince Richard's wife. She survived until 2004, becoming the longest-lived member of the British Royal Family in history.
[edit] Titles, styles, honours and arms
[edit] Titles
- 31 March 1900–22 January 1901: His Royal Highness Prince Henry of York
- 22 January 1901–9 November 1901: His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Cornwall and York
- 9 November 1901–6 May 1910: His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales
- 6 May 1910–31 March 1928: His Royal Highness The Prince Henry
- 31 March 1928–10 June 1974: His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester
[edit] Honours
- KG: Knight of the Garter
- KT: Knight of the Thistle
- KP: Knight of St Patrick
- GCB: Knight Grand Cross of the Bath
- GCMG: Knight Grand Cross of St Michael and St George
- GCVO: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
- Royal Victorian Chain
- Order of the Chrysanthemum, 1929 (Japan).[2]
[edit] Military
[edit] Arms
In 1921, Prince Henry was granted a personal coat of arms, being the royal arms, differenced by a label argent of three points, the centre bearing a lion rampant gules, and the outer points crosses gules.[3]
[edit] Ancestry
[edit] Notes
- ^ Yvonne's Royalty: Peerage
- ^ "Imperial Garter," Time Magazine, May 13, 1929.
- ^ Heraldica – British Royal Cadency
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Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester
Cadet branch of the House of Wettin
Born: 31 March 1900 Died: 10 June 1974 |
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| Government offices | ||
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| Preceded by The Lord Gowrie |
Governor-General of Australia 1945 – 1947 |
Succeeded by Sir William McKell |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn |
Great Master of the Order of the Bath 1942 – 1974 |
Succeeded by Charles, Prince of Wales |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Duke of Gloucester 5th creation 1928 – 1974 |
Succeeded by Prince Richard |
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