by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

The Duchy of Lancaster is one of the two royal duchies in England and is held in trust for the Sovereign to provide income for the use of the British monarch.  The other royal duchy is the Duchy of Cornwall which provides a similar purpose for the eldest son of the reigning British monarch.  The monarch, regardless of gender, has the style of Duke of Lancaster.  The duchy comprises of 46,000 acres and includes urban developments, historic buildings, and farmland in many parts of England and Wales, and large holdings in Lancashire.  At the end of March 2013, the Duchy of Lancaster had £428 million of net assets under its control. The Sovereign is not entitled to the capital of the Duchy’s portfolio or to capital profits.  Revenue profits are distributed to the Sovereign and are subject to income tax.

• Official Website: Duchy of Lancaster

In 1265, King Henry III of England granted lands forfeited by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester to his second son Edmund Crouchback and created him Earl of Lancaster and Leicester. Over the years, more land was added to the original holdings making it quite profitable.  In 1315, Edmund Crouchback’s grandson Henry of Grosmont was created Duke of Lancaster and the lands were thereafter called the Duchy of Lancaster.  Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster became the wealthiest and most powerful peer in England.  So how did the Duchy of Lancaster get into the hands of the British Sovereign?  The connection is Blanche of Lancaster, Henry of Grosmont’s younger daughter.

The date of Blanche of Lancaster’s birth is not known for certain.  Many sources give March 25, 1345, as her birth date, and some sources believe her birth year was 1347, but she was born in Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, England.  Blanche’s father was Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, a great-grandson of King Henry III.  Her mother was Isabel de Beaumont, the youngest daughter of Henry de Beaumont, Earl of Buchan and Alice Comyn.  Blanche had only one sibling, an elder sister Maud.

On May 19, 1359, Blanche married John of Gaunt, the third surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault, in the Queen’s Chapel at Reading Abbey in Reading, England.  The bride was 14 and the groom was 19.  Blanche and John were third cousins, both being great-great-grandchildren of King Henry III.  This was an excellent match for both Blanche and John.  Blanche was marrying into the royal family and John’s wealth was greatly increased by marrying one of the richest heiresses in England.

Description of the above painting from the Reading Museum where the painting is on display: In this painting, John of Gaunt and his bride walk from beneath a gilded canopy towards the officiating Bishop of Salisbury. Four lords support the wedding canopy. The one nearest to Blanche is her father, Henry Duke of Lancaster. Close by is the poet Chaucer, clothed in black and bearing a scroll. On the throne is John’s father, King Edward III, beneath a crimson canopy decorated with the lions of England. Beside the King are two of the royal princes, Edward the Black Prince and Prince Lionel.

Blanche and John had seven children:

• Philippa (1360 – 1415), married King John I of Portugal, had nine children
• John (c.1362/1364), died in infancy
• Elizabeth (1364 – 1426), married (1) John Hastings, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, no children, marriage annulled (2) John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, had six children (3) John Cornwall, 1st Baron Fanhope, had two children
• Edward (born and died 1365)
• John (born and died 1366), died in early infancy
• King Henry IV of England (1367 – 1413), married (1) Mary de Bohun, had six children (2)  Joanna of Navarre, no children
• Isabella (born 1368), died young

Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster died of the plague in 1361.  Since Blanche’s father did not have any sons, Blanche and her sister Maud became his co-heiresses. Maud had first married Ralph, the son of Ralph, Lord Stafford when she was very young and was widowed at the age of eight.  When she was 13, Maud married Wilhelm I, Duke of Bavaria, Count of Zeeland, Holland, and Hainault.  The groom was a nephew of Blanche’s mother-in-law Queen Philippa.  Maud did not have any surviving children from either of her two marriages.  Maud died of the plague on April 10, 1362, but some believed she was poisoned at the instigation of her brother-in-law John of Gaunt.  Maud’s portion of her inheritance passed to Blanche and her husband upon her death.

At this time, it was common for extinct titles of heiresses’ fathers to pass to their husbands.  John of Gaunt was created Duke of Lancaster on November 13, 1362.  By that time, his wealth was immense.  He owned thirty castles and estates in England and France. His household was comparable in size and organization to that of a monarch and his annual income between £8,000 and £10,000 a year would be several million pounds in today’s terms.

Blanche died at age 23, possibly of the plague or possibly from childbirth complications, on September 12, 1368, while John was away at sea.  Her funeral was held at the Old St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, England, and was attended by most of England’s nobility and clergy.  John held annual commemorations of Blanche’s death for the rest of his life and had a magnificent double tomb built at St. Paul’s for Blanche and himself.  Despite the fact that he married two more times, when John died in 1399, he was buried with Blanche.  Unfortunately, the Great Fire of 1666 destroyed Old St. Paul’s Cathedral and the tomb of Blanche and John.  Through her daughter Philippa who married King John I of Portugal, Blanche is the ancestress of many European monarchs.

So how did the Duchy of Lancaster get into the hands of the British monarchs?  When King Edward III died in 1377, he was succeeded by his ten-year-old grandson, King Richard II, the only child of King Edward III’s deceased eldest son Edward the Black Prince.  In 1398, John of Gaunt’s eldest son Henry Bolingbroke made an enemy of his cousin King Richard II and was banished for six years.  When John of Gaunt died in 1399, King Richard II confiscated the holdings of the Duchy of Lancaster and banished Henry Bolingbroke for life.  However, Henry was not having any of this.

While Richard was on a military campaign in Ireland, Henry returned to England to claim his inheritance. Supported by leading families, Henry regained control of the Lancastrian strongholds and captured Richard II. Richard abdicated and was imprisoned in Pontefract Castle where he later died.  Henry Bolingbroke was crowned King Henry IV on October 13, 1399.  The first act of King Henry IV was to declare that the Duchy of Lancaster would be held separately from the other possessions of the Crown, and should descend to his male heirs. This separation was confirmed in 1461 by King Edward IV when he stipulated that the Duchy would be held separate from other inheritances by him and his heirs, Kings of England.  Ever since, the Duchy of Lancaster has effectively passed to each reigning monarch. And it all started with the marriage of a 14-year-old girl in 1359.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Of course, it is well known that Diana, Princess of Wales tragically died in a car accident at the end of August. However, several other recent British royals died tragically during the last week of August before her death.

• August 25, 1942 – Prince George, Duke of Kent, son of King George V and brother of King George VI, died when a military plane taking him to Iceland, crashed in Scotland
• August 27, 1968 – Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, widow of Prince George, Duke of Kent, died just hours after it was announced that she was seriously ill with a brain tumor
• August 28, 1972 – Prince William of Gloucester, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, was killed in an airplane accident at an air show
• August 27, 1979 – Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Prince Philip’s uncle and a great-grandson of Queen Victoria,  was assassinated by an Irish Republican Army bomb
• August 31, 1997 – Diana, Princess of Wales was killed in a car accident in Paris, France

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August 25, 1942 – Prince George, Duke of Kent, aged 39, son of King George V and brother of King George VI, died when a military plane taking him to Iceland, crashed in Scotland
Unofficial Royalty: Prince George, Duke of Kent

Prince George, the fourth son and fifth of six children of King George V and Mary of Teck, was born on December 20, 1902, at York Cottage on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England.  On November 29, 1934, he married his second cousin Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark at Westminster Abbey.  Shortly before his marriage, George was created Duke of Kent.  The Duke and Duchess of Kent had three children:

• Prince Edward of Kent, who succeeded his father as Duke of Kent (born 1935)
• Princess Alexandra of Kent (born 1936)
• Prince Michael of Kent (born 1942)

The Duke of Kent spent eight years on active duty in the Royal Navy serving on the dreadnought battleship HMS Iron Duke and the Nelson-class battleship HMS Nelson. After retiring from the navy in 1929, the Duke of Kent held posts at the Foreign Office and the Home Office, becoming the first member of the British Royal Family to work as a civil servant.  At the start of World War II, the Duke of Kent returned to active military service and served in the Intelligence Division of the Admiralty.  In April 1940, he transferred to the Royal Air Force and assumed the post of Staff Officer at RAF Training Command.

On August 25, 1942, the Duke of Kent and fourteen others, took off from Invergordon, Scotland in an RAF Short S.25 Sunderland flying boat. The official story was that the Duke was on a morale-building visit to RAF personnel stationed in Iceland.  The crew had been carefully selected. The pilot Flight Lieutenant Frank Goyen was considered one of the best Sunderland pilots in the RAF. The co-pilot was Wing Commander Thomas Lawton Mosley, one of the RAF’s most experienced pilots. He was also a navigation specialist and a former instructor at the School of Navigation.  Also on board was the Duke of Kent’s private secretary John Lowther, his equerry Michael Strutt, and his valet John Hales.

The Short S.25 Sunderland flying boat took off from Invergordon on the east coast of Scotland at 1:10 p.m.  This type of aircraft had standing orders to fly over water, only crossing land when necessary. The flight plan was to follow the coastline to the northernmost tip of Scotland and then turn northwest towards Iceland.  The aircraft crashed into Eagle’s Rock near Dunbeath, Caithness, Scotland later that afternoon at an altitude of around 650 feet. The aircraft was off course when the accident happened and the exact time of the crash is disputed.  2,500 gallons of fuel, carried in the wings, exploded and 14 of the 15 passengers perished.  The Duke of Kent was 39 at the time of his death and six weeks earlier the Duchess of Kent had given birth to the couple’s third child Prince Michael.  The Duke’s widow was only 35 years old and his children were aged 6, 5, and 6 weeks.  There still is much mystery surrounding this plane crash.

The Duke of Kent’s funeral was held on August 29, 1942, at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor.  The Duchess of Kent entered the chapel with Queen Elizabeth and the Duke’s mother, Queen Mary.  They were dressed in black and their faces were covered with heavy crepe veils.  Queen Elizabeth helped the Duchess of Kent step up to her seat in the choir stalls. Behind the coffin came Admiral Halsey (representing the Duke of Windsor), King Haakon VII of Norway, King George II of Greece, King Peter II of Yugoslavia, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, Crown Prince Olav of Norway,  and other members of the British Royal Family.  Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands also attended the funeral. As the casket was lowered onto the purple-covered bier, the Duchess of Kent sank to her knees in prayer.  Queen Elizabeth comforted her as she resumed her seat and The Very Rev. Albert Baillie, the Dean of Windsor, began the service.  The Duchess of Kent wept and almost collapsed during the service and there were tears in the eyes of Duke of Kent’s brothers, King George VI and the Duke of Gloucester.  After the service, King George VI, with tears in his eyes, moved forward and sprinkled earth upon the coffin as it slowly descended into the vaults below St. George’s Chapel.

There was a moving scene when the King of Arms recited the styles and titles of the Duke of Kent. The Duchess, still with tears in her eyes, rose to her feet. Members of the Royal Family began to weep, and then Queen Elizabeth, holding the Duchess by the arm, led her from the choir stalls. The Duchess looked down into the gaping space where her husband’s body had descended and stood for several minutes with her lips moving in prayer. The King and the Duke of Gloucester stood nearby. Then Queen Elizabeth led the weeping Duchess from the chapel and King George VI took the arm of his mother Queen Mary.  The coffin of the Duke of Kent was transferred to the Royal Burial Grounds at Frogmore on August 29, 1968, the day before his wife’s funeral.

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August 27, 1968 – Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, aged 61, widow of Prince George, Duke of Kent, died just hours after it was announced that she was seriously ill with a brain tumor
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark

Princess Marina was born in Athens, Greece on December 13, 1906.  Her father was Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark, the third son of King George I of Greece.  Her mother was Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia, a granddaughter of Tsar Alexander II of Russia. The fathers of Princess Marina and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh were brothers, so Marina and Philip were first cousins.

In 1934, Princess Marina married Prince George, Duke of Kent, the son of King George V of the United Kingdom, and was styled the Duchess of Kent.  (See above.)  After her husband’s death, the Duchess of Kent continued to be an active member of the British Royal Family and carried out official engagements.  She was the president of the Wimbledon All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club for 26 years, a position her elder son, the current Duke of Kent, holds now.  Just before the current Duke of Kent’s wedding in June of 1961 to Katharine Worsley, the Duchess announced that she wished to be known as HRH Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent instead of HRH The Dowager Duchess of Kent, a change in the traditional style that was granted by her niece, Queen Elizabeth II.

On July 16, 1968,  Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent was admitted to the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases.  She was discharged six days later.  On August 27, 1968, at 12:05 PM, Kensington Palace issued the following statement: “Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, died peacefully in her sleep at her home Kensington Palace, at 11.40 this morning, Tuesday, 27th August.”  Her doctors had issued this statement: “The Princess had for some weeks been suffering from an inoperable tumour of the brain and her condition rapidly deteriorated during the past 24 hours.”  At her bedside at the time of her death were her son, the Duke of Kent and his wife the Duchess of Kent; her daughter Princess Alexandra of Kent and her husband Angus Ogilvy; and her son Prince Michael of Kent.  It was only several hours earlier that the severity of her condition became public when Kensington Palace issued a statement that her condition “was giving rise to anxiety.”

Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent’s funeral was held on August 30, 1968, at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor and attended by Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, Princess Anne, the Queen Mother, and Princess Margaret.  They sat next to the children of Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent in the front pew.  Behind them sat the Duke of Windsor, the former King Edward VIII, who had flown from his home in France.  Eight officers from the three regiments of which Marina was Colonel-in-Chief carried her coffin. Dr. Arthur Ramsey,  Archbishop of Canterbury and Archimandrite Gregory Theodorus of the Greek Orthodox Church, the religion into which the Duchess was born, conducted the service.  Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent was buried at the Royal Burial Grounds at Frogmore next to her husband whose coffin had been moved there from the vault at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor the day before.

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August 28, 1972 – Prince William of Gloucester, aged 30, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, was killed in an airplane accident at an air show
Unofficial Royalty: Prince William of Gloucester

Prince William of Gloucester was born on December 18, 1941, at Hadley Common in Hertfordshire, England.  His father was Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, the third son of King George V and Queen Mary, and his mother was Lady Alice Christabel Montagu Douglas Scott, the third daughter of the 7th Duke of Buccleuch.  Prince William was the elder son of his parents and would have succeeded his father as Duke of Gloucester.  His younger brother Prince Richard is the current Duke of Gloucester.

Prince William attended Wellesley House Preparatory School, Broadstairs in Kent, and Eton College. In 1960, he went to Magdalene College, Cambridge to read history, graduating with a BA degree in 1963, which was raised to an MA degree in 1968. Following Cambridge, he spent a year at Stanford University in California studying political science, American history, and business.  Upon his return to the United Kingdom, he worked for Lazard, an investment bank.  In 1965, he became the second member of the British Royal Family (after his uncle Prince George, Duke of Kent) to work in the civil service or the diplomatic service.  Prince William was employed by the Commonwealth Office and was posted to Lagos, Nigeria as the third secretary at the British High Commission. In 1968, he transferred to Tokyo to accept the post of second secretary in the British Embassy.

Prince William was a licensed pilot, owned several airplanes, and enjoyed competing in air shows. On August 28, 1972, the prince planned on competing at the Goodyear International Air Trophy at Halfpenny Green, near Wolverhampton, England. He was flying with his co-pilot Vyrell Mitchell who also died. Express and Star photographer Ray Bradbury, an eyewitness, described what happened: “I saw Prince William’s Piper, number 66, and another Piper, number 69, take off. Number 69 appeared to get airborne before the prince. Then it seemed he was in some sort of trouble.  He banked to port. It looked as though the Prince might have been troubled by the other aircraft making a turn but at a higher altitude. His port wing seemed to hit the trees and he disappeared from view. Then there was an explosion.”

Prince William of Gloucester’s funeral was held on September 2, 1972, at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor.  Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen Mother, and Princess Margaret had been at Balmoral and flew from Scotland for the funeral.  The Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Anne arrived from Munich, Germany where they had been attending the Olympics.  Prince William’s gold and crimson personal standard was draped over his coffin carried by eight Scots Guards.  After the service, Prince William of Gloucester was buried at the Royal Burial Grounds at Frogmore.  The Prince of Wales was close to the older Prince William of Gloucester and named his first child in honor of him.

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August 27, 1979 – Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, aged 79, Prince Philip’s uncle and a great-grandson of Queen Victoria,  was assassinated by an Irish Republican Army bomb
Unofficial Royalty: Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma

His Serene Highness Prince Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas of Battenberg was born on June 25, 1900, at Frogmore House in Windsor, Berkshire, England.  His father was Prince Louis of Battenberg.  His mother Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria.  Princess Alice, Queen Victoria’s third child, was Louis’ grandmother.  In the family, Prince Louis was known as Dickie.  His siblings were: Alice, who married Prince Andrew of Greece and was the mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; Louise, who married King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden; and George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven.

Louis was raised mainly in England and attended the Royal Naval College at Osborne.  As a child, Louis visited his first cousins, the children of his aunt Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.  He developed a romantic interest in Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna and kept her photo next to his bed his entire life.

During World War I, King George V changed the name of the British Royal House from the Germanic Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the English-sounding Windsor.  The King requested that his relatives with German names and titles do likewise.  In 1917, Louis’ father relinquished the title Prince of Battenberg in the Grand Duchy of Hesse, along with the style of Serene Highness, and anglicized his family name, changing it from Battenberg to Mountbatten.  King George V created Louis’ father Marquess of Milford Haven, Earl of Medina, and Viscount Alderney in the peerage of the United Kingdom.  Louis’ mother stopped using her title of Princess of Hesse and became known as the Marchioness of Milford Haven.  Louis, his brother George, and his sister Louise assumed the courtesy titles as children of a British marquess. Therefore, Louis was styled Lord Louis Mountbatten.   Louis’ eldest sister Alice had married into the Greek Royal Family in 1903 and never used the surname Mountbatten. However, her only son, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, adopted the name when he became a British subject in 1947.

Louis followed his father’s example and had a distinguished career in the Royal Navy during World War II.  He was the last Viceroy of India and the first Governor-General of India. From 1954 – 1959 he was the First Sea Lord, a position that had been held by his father, Prince Louis of Battenberg, forty years earlier. He served as Chief of the Defence Staff until 1965, making him the longest-serving professional head of the British Armed Forces to date. During this period, he also served as Chairman of the NATO Military Committee.  In 1946, he was created Viscount Mountbatten of Burma and in the following year, Earl Mountbatten of Burma.  After that time, he was informally known as Lord Mountbatten.

Lord Mountbatten married Edwina Cynthia Annette Ashley on July 18, 1922, at St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster.  Edwina was the favorite granddaughter of the banker Sir Ernest Cassel and had been the principal heir to his fortune.  When Cassel died in 1921, Edwina received £2 million (£75.1 million in today’s pounds), the country house Broadlands and the London townhouse, Brooke House.  The couple had two daughters, Patricia (born 14 February 1924) and Pamela (born 19 April 1929).  Since Lord Mountbatten had no sons, when he was created Viscount Mountbatten of Burma and then Earl Mountbatten of Burma and Baron Romsey, the Letters Patent were written to allow the titles to pass to his daughters, in order of seniority of birth, and to their heirs male respectively if there were no sons or issue in the male line.  After Lord Mountbatten’s death, his elder daughter Patricia became the 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma in her own right.

Lord Mountbatten and his family traditionally vacationed at Classiebawn Castle in Mullaghmore, a village in County Sligo, Ireland and they did so during August of 1979.  On August 27, 1979, Lord Mountbatten and his family members planned to go lobster-potting and tuna fishing despite security warnings.  Unbeknownst to anyone, Irish Republican Army (IRA) member Thomas McMahon slipped onto the unguarded boat the previous night and attached a radio-controlled bomb.  When Lord Mountbatten and his family were just a few hundred yards from shore, the bomb was detonated.  A witness said the bomb blew the boat “to smithereens” and hurled all seven occupants into the water.

Nearby fishermen pulled Lord Mountbatten, aged 79, out of the water. His legs had been almost severed by the explosion and he died shortly afterward. Also killed by the bomb were Nicholas Knatchbull, the 14-year-old son of Lord Mountbatten’s elder daughter; 83-year-old Doreen Knatchbull, Dowager Baroness Brabourne, the mother-in-law of Lord Mountbatten’s elder daughter; and Paul Maxwell, a 15-year-old from County Fermanagh who was a crew member.  Lord Mountbatten’s elder daughter Patricia Knatchbull; her husband John Knatchbull, 7th Baron Brabourne; and their son Timothy Knatchbull, the twin of Nicholas, survived the explosion but were seriously injured.

The attack called into question the security arrangements surrounding the Mountbatten family. Lord Mountbatten never had a bodyguard. The boat had been left unguarded in the public dock in Mullaghmore, a village that is only 12 miles from the Northern Ireland border and was near an area known to be used by IRA members as a refuge.  Thomas McMahon was convicted of the murders, and sentenced to life imprisonment but was released in 1998 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.

Lord Mountbatten received a ceremonial funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 5, 1979, attended by Queen Elizabeth II, other members of the British Royal Family, foreign royalty, and leaders and politicians from all over the world.  Members of Britain’s armed forces were joined by representatives of Burma, India, the United States, France, and Canada in escorting the naval gun carriage carrying Lord Mountbatten’s body to Westminster Abbey.   The Prince of Wales read the lesson from Psalm 107 and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Donald Coggan, highlighted Lord Mountbatten’s various achievements and his “lifelong devotion to the Royal Navy”.   After the public ceremony, the coffin was taken to Romsey Abbey near Broadlands, the Mountbatten family home in Hampshire, and buried at a private service.

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August 31, 1997 – Diana, Princess of Wales, aged 36, was killed in a car accident in Paris, France
Unofficial Royalty: Diana, Princess of Wales
Unofficial Royalty: In Memoriam: Diana, Princess of Wales (1961-1997)

The Honourable Diana Frances Spencer, the youngest daughter of John Spencer, Viscount Althorp (later the 8th Earl Spencer) and The Honourable Frances Roche, was born on July 1, 1961, at Park House on the Sandringham Estate. She had two older sisters – Sarah and Jane – and two younger brothers – John (died in infancy) and Charles, 9th Earl Spencer.

On February 24, 1981, Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of The Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer.  Diana and Charles married on July 29, 1981, at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Entering on her father’s arm as Lady Diana Spencer, she later emerged from the Cathedral as Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales, the 3rd highest-ranked lady of the land. Soon it was announced that the Princess was expecting her first child. On June 21, 1982, Diana gave birth to Prince William. Two years later, on September 15, 1984, Prince Harry was born.

On December 9, 1992, after several years of media speculation, Buckingham Palace announced the separation of the Prince and Princess of Wales. Following disastrous television interviews given by both Charles, in June 1994, and Diana, in November 1995, Buckingham Palace announced that The Queen had sent letters to both Diana and Charles, advising them to divorce as quickly as possible. Following many private meetings and negotiations with Prince Charles and representatives of The Queen, Diana agreed to a divorce in February 1996. Their divorce became final on August 28, 1996.

After her divorce in 1996, Diana had a relationship with Dr. Hasnat Khan, a British-Pakistani heart surgeon, which ended in June 1997. She then became involved with Dodi Fayed, son of Mohamed Al-Fayed, the owner of Harrods and the Ritz in London. Diana and her sons joined the Fayed family in the south of France for a summer vacation where she and Dodi reportedly began their romance. Following her trip to Bosnia, Diana joined Dodi Fayed on a private cruise aboard the Fayed’s yacht, returning to Paris on August 30. Later that night, hounded by paparazzi, the couple left the Ritz Hotel to go to Dodi’s apartment in Paris. Just minutes later, their car crashed in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel, killing Dodi and the car’s driver, Henri Paul, instantly. Diana was critically injured and eventually taken to the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital. Diana, Princess of Wales was pronounced dead at 4 am.

The Prince of Wales and Diana’s two sisters flew to Paris to accompany her body back to England. Draped with the Royal Standard, Diana’s coffin was taken to the Chapel Royal at St. James’s Palace where it remained for several days, before returning to her home at Kensington Palace. On Saturday, September 6, 1997, a procession began at Kensington Palace and ended at Westminster Abbey where Diana’s funeral was held. Following the funeral, the coffin was taken to Althorp, where it was privately interred on an island in the center of a lake.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Note: Prince Alfred is “of Great Britain” because it was not until 1801, after his death, that his father’s title changed to “of the United Kingdom.”

Prince Alfred was born at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England on September 22, 1780, the ninth and youngest son and fourteenth child of King George III and his wife Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Alfred was probably a “blue baby” due to a heart defect and was always in delicate health.

Alfred was christened on October 21, 1780, in the Great Council Chamber at St. James’ Palace in London, England by Frederick Cornwallis, The Archbishop of Canterbury. His godparents were:

• The Prince of Wales, his brother, the future King George IV
• Prince Frederick, his second brother
• Charlotte, Princess Royal, his eldest sister, the future Queen of Württemberg

Alfred had fourteen siblings:

• King George IV (1762 – 1830), married Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, had issue: Princess Charlotte of Wales who died in childbirth as did her child
• Prince Frederick, Duke of York (1763 – 1827), married Frederica of Prussia, no issue
• King William IV (1765 – 1837), married Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, no surviving legitimate issue, has illegitimate descendants
• Charlotte, Princess Royal (1766 – 1828), married King Friedrich I of Württemberg, no surviving issue
• Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (1767 – 1820), married Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, had issue: Queen Victoria, present British Royal Family are his descendants
• Princess Augusta Sophia (1768 – 1840), never married, no issue
• Princess Elizabeth (1770 – 1840), married Friedrich, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg, no issue
• King Ernest Augustus I of Hanover, Duke of Cumberland (1771 – 1851), married Friederike of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; had issue
• Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (1773 – 1843), married twice, both in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act of 1772 1) Lady Augusta Murray, had issue, marriage annulled 2) Lady Cecilia Buggin (later 1st Duchess of Inverness), no issue
• Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (1774 – 1850), married Augusta of Hesse-Kassel, had issue, present British Royal Family are his descendants through his granddaughter Mary of Teck who married King George V of the United Kingdom
• Princess Mary (1776 – 1857), married Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester, no issue
• Princess Sophia (1777 – 1848), never married, possible illegitimate issue
• Prince Octavius (1779 – 1783), died in childhood
• Princess Amelia (1783 – 1810), never married, no issue

Smallpox, now eradicated, was a serious contagious disease that killed many and left many survivors scarred. The disease knew no class boundaries and royalty was as likely to suffer from it as the common folk. Smallpox was a leading cause of death in the 18th century. It killed an estimated 400,000 Europeans each year in the 18th century. By having their children inoculated against smallpox, King George III and Queen Charlotte were trying to protect them and starting down the long road that would eventually lead to the terrible disease’s eradication. During the 17th century, the British House of Stuart was greatly affected by smallpox.  King William III’s parents William II, Prince of Orange and Mary, Princess Royal (daughter of King Charles I) both died of smallpox as did King William III’s wife and co-ruler Queen Mary II.  Other Stuarts who died from smallpox were: Henry, Duke of Gloucester (son of King Charles I), Charles, Duke of Cambridge (son of King James II), and William, Duke of Gloucester (only surviving child of Queen Anne).  In addition, King Charles II, Henrietta (daughter of King Charles I), King William III, and Queen Anne all had smallpox and survived.

Before Edward Jenner developed the smallpox vaccine that contained the cowpox virus in 1796 and that led to the eradication of smallpox, there was another way to possibly prevent smallpox called variolation, first seen in China in the fifteenth century. Live smallpox virus in the liquid taken from a smallpox blister in a mild case of the disease was put into a cut of a healthy person who developed a very mild case of smallpox. However, there was some risk in using a live virus. About 3% of those inoculated developed a severe case of smallpox and died but that was preferable to catching smallpox with its mortality rate of 20–40% and scarred survivors. In 1722, King George I allowed the inoculation of two of his grandchildren, the children of the Prince and Princess of Wales, and they survived.  The inoculation gained acceptance and was used until Edward Jenner developed his much safer vaccination using the cowpox virus instead of the smallpox virus.

• Unofficial Royalty: Smallpox Knew No Class Boundaries

Two of the 3% who died after receiving the smallpox inoculation were the two younger sons of King George III, Prince Octavius and Prince Alfred.

In 1782, Alfred received the smallpox inoculation by having two small holes made in each arm with the point of a lancet. The smallpox virus was then “inserted” by drawing a thread several times under the skin.  After the inoculation, Alfred did not recover as he should have.  His face and his eyelids had eruptions from the smallpox inoculation and he had difficulty with breathing. The doctors agreed that he would survive for only a few weeks more which came as a great shock to his family.

After suffering from prolonged bouts of fever, Alfred died on August 20, 1782, a month short of his second birthday.  However, there was no formal mourning for Alfred as it was not customary for the deaths of those under the age of seven.  Alfred was initially buried at Westminster Abbey in London, England.  His remains were moved to the Royal Tomb House at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle on February 11, 1820, shortly after his father’s death.  Alfred was the first of his parents’ fifteen children to die and his parents were devastated. Lady Charlotte Finch, the children’s governess, reported that Queen Charlotte “cried vastly at first and…though very reasonable – she dwelt on her good fortune in having thirteen healthy children…and she was very much hurt by her loss and the King also.”

King George said that if it had been three-year-old Prince Octavius who had died, he would have died too.  Ironically, less than a year later, on May 3, 1783, Prince Octavius died also from complications of a smallpox inoculation.  King George said, “There will be no Heaven for me if Octavius is not there.”

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

by Scott Mehl and Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2013

On August 4, 1900, The Honorable Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was born, the youngest daughter and ninth child of the ten children of Claude Bowes-Lyon, Lord Glamis (later the 14th and 1st Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne) and Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck. The exact place of her birth is unknown. She was alleged to have been born in her parents’ home in London, but her birth was registered at Hitchin, Hertfordshire, near her family’s English country house, St Paul’s Walden Bury, which was also given as her birthplace in the census the following year.  The infant Elizabeth was christened on September 23, 1900, at All Saints Church in St Paul’s Walden, the local village. Because the christening records are incomplete, only two godparents are known: Lady Maud Bowes-Lyon (her father’s unmarried sister) and Mrs. Arthur James (the former Venetia Cavendish-Bentinck, her mother’s second cousin). When Elizabeth was four years old, her father became Earl Strathmore and Kinghorne, and her courtesy title was elevated to Lady Elizabeth.

The Bowes-Lyon family is an old Scottish family. King Robert II of Scotland, the first of the House of Stewart, granted Sir John Lyon the Thaneage of Glamis in 1372 as a reward for service. In 1376, Sir John married Joanna, a daughter of Robert II of Scotland. Their grandson Patrick was created Lord Glamis in 1445. The 9th Lord Glamis, also a Patrick, was created Earl of Kinghorne in 1606. His grandson, the 3rd Earl, obtained a charter in 1677 stating that he and his heirs “should in all future ages be styled Earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne, Viscounts Lyon, Barons Glamis, Tannadyce, Sidlaw, and Strathdichtie.” The 9th Earl married a Durham heiress, Mary Eleanor Bowes. As a condition of the marriage settlement, he assumed the surname Bowes. Their sons, the 10th and 11th Earls, and their great-grandson, the 12th Earl, adopted the surname Lyon-Bowes, but the 13th Earl reversed the order to the current Bowes-Lyon.

Elizabeth had nine siblings who were the aunts and uncles of Queen Elizabeth II:

• The Honorable Violet Bowes-Lyon (1882 – 1893), died of diphtheria at age 11
• Lady Mary Bowes-Lyon (1883 – 1961), married Sidney Elphinstone, 16th Lord Elphinstone, had issue
• Patrick Bowes-Lyon, 15th and 2nd Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne (1884 – 1949), married Lady Dorothy Godolphin-Osborne, had issue including Timothy Bowes-Lyon, 16th and 3rd Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
• The Honorable John Bowes-Lyon (1886 – 1930), married The Honorable Fenella Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, had issue
• The Honorable Alexander Bowes-Lyon (1887 – 1911), unmarried, died from a brain tumor at age 24
• The Honorable Fergus Bowes-Lyon (1889 – 1915), married Lady Christian Dawson-Damer, had issue, killed in the Battle of Loos during World War I.  See Unofficial Royalty: Royalty and World War I – September 1915
• Lady Rose Bowes-Lyon (1890 –  1967), married William Leveson-Gower, 4th Earl Granville, had issue
• The Honorable Michael Bowes-Lyon (1893 – 1953), married Elizabeth Cator, had issue including Michael Bowes-Lyon, 17th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
• The Honorable Sir David Bowes-Lyon (1902 – 1961), married Rachel Clay, had issue

Elizabeth spent much of her childhood at St Paul’s Walden Bury, her family’s English country home, and Glamis Castle, her father’s ancestral home in Scotland. She was educated at home by a governess and developed a fondness for field sports, ponies, and dogs.  Her brother David, who was two years younger, was especially close to his sister.

In 1914, on Elizabeth’s 14th birthday, the United Kingdom declared war on Germany.  All four of her eldest surviving brothers saw action in World War I. The three elder surviving brothers were already in the British Army: Patrick, John, and Fergus were all in the Black Watch. The next brother Michael had just completed his first year at Magdalen College, Oxford, but he volunteered for the Scots Guard at once.   Glamis Castle was turned into a convalescent home for wounded soldiers which the teenage Elizabeth helped to run.

Fergus was sent to the Western Front in 1915, where the British Army and the French Army were attacking the German lines in Champagne and Artois in France to relieve pressure on their Russian allies. On September 27, 1915, during the Battle of Loos, Fergus was ordered to remove a group of Germans who had infiltrated a trench by the Hohenzollern Redoubt, a defensive strongpoint of the German 6th Army, which the Black Watch had captured on September 26. Fergus and his men had been fighting continuously for the previous two days and nights. They had been relieved at 4 AM on September 27 and were preparing breakfast when the new orders were received. Fergus led his men forward, but a German bomb exploded at his feet. His right leg was blown off and he suffered chest wounds. At the same time, bullets hit him in the chest and shoulder. Fergus was removed from the battlefield and died a few hours later at the age of 26.

At the time of Fergus’ death, his brother John was also serving with the Black Watch. His younger brother Michael was at home recovering from wounds and his eldest brother Patrick had recently left the Black Watch after being wounded. His mother was severely affected by the loss of her son, and after his death became an invalid, withdrawn from public life until the marriage of Elizabeth to the future King George VI in 1923.

In 1916, Elizabeth had been introduced to the second son of King George V, Prince Albert, known as Bertie, at a tea party.  The two had actually first met in 1905 at a children’s party, but neither recalled that meeting. Bertie, who was created Duke of York in June 1920, and Elizabeth had their first significant meeting on July 8, 1920, at the Royal Air Force Ball at the Ritz in London. Bertie had come to the ball with his equerry The Honorable James Stuart (the future 1st Viscount Stuart of Findhorn), the youngest son of the 17th Earl of Moray. Elizabeth and James were old friends from Scotland and shared a dance. Bertie questioned James about his dance partner and asked to be introduced. Although the meeting did not make much of an impression on Elizabeth, Bertie fell in love that evening and started courting Elizabeth.

Bertie first proposed to Elizabeth in 1921 but was rejected because Elizabeth feared the changes in her life being a member of the Royal Family would require. Elizabeth served as a bridesmaid at the wedding of Bertie’s sister Mary, Princess Royal in February 1922. The following month, Bertie again proposed to her and was turned down once more. On January 2, 1923, after taking Elizabeth to dinner at Claridge’s and the theater, Bertie proposed a third time. After talking to friends and relatives and expressing her feelings in her diary, Elizabeth decided on January 14, 1923, to accept Bertie’s proposal although she still has misgivings. The wedding of The Duke of York and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was held on April 26, 1923, at Westminster Abbey, London. As Elizabeth was proceeding down the aisle, she passed the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, whose remains had been brought from France and buried in the Abbey floor three years earlier. Elizabeth laid her bouquet of white roses on it. No doubt she was thinking of her brother Fergus and all the other British soldiers who died in World War I.

• Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of George VI and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon

The couple had two daughters:

• Queen Elizabeth II (1926 – 2022), married Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, created Duke of Edinburgh, had three sons and one daughter
• Princess Margaret (1930 – 2002), married and divorced Antony Armstrong-Jones, created 1st Earl of Snowdon, had one son and one daughter

The Duke and Duchess of York took up residence at 145 Piccadilly in London and threw themselves into royal duty.  They made a successful visit to Northern Ireland in July 1924 and toured East Africa from December 1924 to April 1925.  Bertie had a stammer, which affected his ability to deliver speeches, and starting in October 1925, Elizabeth assisted him with the therapy devised by Lionel Logue, portrayed in the 2010 film The King’s Speech.  In 1927, a year after their first child was born, Bertie and Elizabeth took a long tour by sea on behalf of King George V via the Atlantic Ocean to Jamaica, the Panama Canal, and the Pacific Ocean to Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji. Elizabeth, in her own words, was “very miserable at leaving the baby”.

By 1930, the couple’s two daughters had been born. The family enjoyed a rather quiet life, aside from the Duke and Duchess’ royal duties. However, the situation would soon change for the York family. On January 20, 1936, King George V passed away at Sandringham. Bertie’s elder brother became King Edward VIII and Bertie became heir-presumptive to the throne. The new king was unmarried and involved with Wallis Simpson, a twice-divorced American. This relationship would soon bring about unheard-of events in the British monarchy. Failing to reach an agreement with the Government to marry Mrs. Simpson, King Edward VIII abdicated on December 11, 1936, giving his famous “without the woman I love” speech on the radio. Upon Parliament’s passing of the Abdication Act, Bertie became the new King of the United Kingdom, taking the regnal name George VI, in honor of his father, and to stress the continuity of the British monarchy.  Bertie and Elizabeth’s coronation took place on May 12, 1937, at Westminster Abbey.

• Unofficial Royalty: Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth

Bertie and Elizabeth worked to restore the standing of the monarchy after the abdication and presented a united front along with their two daughters. They would face World War II without fleeing their country as many other monarchs did. Instead, they continued to be seen and toured war-damaged areas. While their daughters were safely in residence at Windsor Castle, Bertie and Elizabeth would continue working daily at Buckingham Palace. When it was suggested that the royal family leave the country for their safety during The Blitz, Elizabeth said, “The children will not leave unless I do. I shall not leave unless their father does, and the king will not leave the country in any manner whatever.” During The Blitz, Buckingham Palace and its grounds were bombed on sixteen separate occasions, nine of which were direct hits. Elizabeth felt solidarity with other Londoners who had been bombed, particularly the East End when she said, “I’m glad we have been bombed.  I feel I can look the East End in the face.”

• YouTube: King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Reviewing bomb damage at Buckingham Palace

After the war, their elder daughter Princess Elizabeth married Lt Philip Mountbatten (formerly Prince Philippos of Greece), and two of the four children of Princess Elizabeth were born, Charles in 1948 and Anne in 1950. On February 6, 1952, Bertie passed away at just 56 years old and their 25-year-old elder daughter became Queen Elizabeth II. Not liking the title Queen Dowager, and not wanting to be confused with her daughter, Elizabeth took on the title of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. Devastated by the loss of her husband, The Queen Mother shied away from public duties for some time, until Winston Churchill convinced her that she was just as needed as always. She began to take on royal duties and appearances again. For the next 50 years, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother would be one of the most beloved members of the Royal Family and was particularly close to her eldest grandchild Charles.

On March 30, 2002, less than a month after the death of her younger daughter Princess Margaret, The Queen Mother passed away at Royal Lodge, her home in Windsor Great Park. Her daughter Queen Elizabeth II and two of her grandchildren, the children of Princess Margaret, David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon and his sister Lady Sarah Chatto, were with her. At the time, she was the longest-lived member of the British Royal Family at age 101.  For The Queen Mother’s lying-in-state at Westminster Hall, her four grandsons, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, the Earl of Wessex, and Viscount Linley (now 2nd Earl of Snowdon) stood guard, repeating what the four sons of King George V did at his lying-in-state in 1936.

• YouTube: Queen Mother: Lying in State – “The Vigil of the Princes “

 

After a funeral at Westminster Abbey, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother was buried in the George VI Chapel at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, beside her husband and the ashes of her daughter Margaret, and where her son-in-law Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh and daughter Queen Elizabeth II were later buried.

• Wikipedia: Funeral of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
• Unofficial Royalty: March 30, 2002 – Death of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
• Unofficial Royalty: In Memoriam – Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (1900-2002)

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

United Kingdom Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Index
• House of Windsor Index
• Birth of the House of Windsor
• British Royal Weddings
• Children, Grandchildren, Great-Grandchildren, and Great-Great-Grandchildren of King George V
• Coronations after the Norman Conquest (1066 – present)
• History and Traditions: Windsor Weddings Part 1 – Children of King George V
• History and Traditions: Windsor Weddings Part 2 – Later Windsor Weddings
• House of Windsor Christenings
• House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and House of Windsor Burial Sites
• Line of Succession to the British Throne
• Windsor Weddings Part 1 – Children of King George V
• Windsor Weddings Part 2 – Later Windsor Weddings
• When The British Monarch Dies

Works Cited

• “King George VI Of The United Kingdom”. Unofficial Royalty. N.p., 2017. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.
• Longford, Elizabeth. The Queen. 1st ed. New York: Knopf, 1983. Print.
• “March 30, 2002 – Death Of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother”. Unofficial Royalty. N.p., 2017. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.
• “Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother”. En.wikipedia.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.
• Shawcross, William. Queen Elizabeth. 1st ed. London: Pan Books, 2010. Print.
• “Wedding Of George VI And Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon”. Unofficial Royalty. N.p., 2017. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.
• Williamson, David. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell, 1996. Print.

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

July 31, 2004 – Wedding of Lady Davina Windsor, daughter of HRH The Duke of Gloucester, and Gary Lewis, at Kensington Palace in London, England, divorced in 2018

• YouTube: Wedding of Lady Davina Windsor and Gary Lewis

In 2000 in Bali, Indonesia, a young British woman on vacation from her university studies met a man from New Zealand on a surfing vacation.  The two fell in love and on July 31, 2004, Lady Davina Windsor, daughter of HRH The Duke of Gloucester, married Gary Lewis, a Maori builder and former sheep shearer.

The Lady Davina Elizabeth Alice Benedikte Windsor was born on November 19, 1977, at St. Mary’s Hospital in London, the same hospital where Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince George of Cambridge, and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge were born.  Lady Davina’s father Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester is a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and a grandson of King George V. Her mother was born Birgitte Eva Henriksen in Odense, Denmark, and took her mother’s name, van Deurs, when her parents separated.  Lady Davina has two siblings: an older brother Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster, and a younger sister Lady Rose (Windsor) Gilman.  She attended Kensington Preparatory School in the Notting Hill section of London and then St. George’s School in Ascot near Windsor Castle.  Lady Davina graduated from the University of the West of England with a degree in media studies.

Gary Christie Lewis was born on August 15, 1970, in Gisborne, New Zealand.  He is the son of Larry Lewis, a champion sheep shearer in the 1980s, and Vikki Smiler who worked as a maid.  Gary is a Maori, the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand.  His uncle is the prominent Maori author Witi Ihimaera who wrote The Whale Rider which became a film of the same name.  Gary grew up on the East Cape of New Zealand, one of New Zealand’s poorest areas where Maoris make up 70% of the population and high unemployment.  He attended the village school in the Maori settlement of Te Wharau before attending Lytton High School in Gisbourne.  He is a carpenter who runs a property renovation business and a surfing enthusiast and has a son from a previous relationship, Ari who was born in 1992.

Lady Davina and Gary’s engagement was announced in the Court Circular of March 26. 2004: “The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester are delighted to announce the engagement of their daughter, The Lady Davina Windsor, to be married to Mr. Gary Lewis, son of Mr. Larry Lewis and Mrs. Vikki Carr.”  Gary’s grandfather Tom Smiler remarked, “All I know is he is in England somewhere with a girl and she is related to the Queen or something like that.  It is wonderful.”

The wedding was a private affair held in the Chapel Royal at Kensington Palace, where Lady Davina grew up, and her great-great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria was born.  Except for the bride’s immediate family, no members of the royal family attended, but one of the guests was Captain Mark Phillips, former husband of Princess Anne. Thirty-six members of the groom’s family came from New Zealand to attend the wedding.   The bride’s 102-year-old grandmother Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, was too infirm to attend the wedding.  She died later in the same year.

The bride, who wore a cream satin bustier dress with a lace over-blouse, was given away by her father HRH The Duke of Gloucester.  The bridesmaids included Lady Davina’s sister, Lady Rose Windsor, and the best man was  Nick Harvey, an old friend of the groom’s from New Zealand.  The wedding ceremony was conducted by the Reverend Prebendary Willie Booth and the groom’s 12-year-old son from a previous relationship, Ari, gave a reading of a Gaelic prayer.

The couple had two children: a daughter Senna Kowhai born on June 22, 2010, and a son Tāne Mahuta born on May 25, 2012.  Tāne Mahuta is named after the Tāne Mahuta, a giant kauri tree in the Waipoua Forest of Northland Region in New Zealand.  Lady Davina does not carry out official functions but does attend British Royal Family events such as royal weddings.  Sadly, the couple divorced, amicably, in 2018.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

In the summer of 1689, Princess Anne was nearing the end of her seventh pregnancy.  Anne, who was married to Prince George of Denmark, was the younger of the two surviving children of King James II of England and his first wife Lady Anne Hyde.  Earlier in 1689, Mary, Anne’s elder sister, had become joint monarch with her husband and first cousin Willem III, Prince of Orange after the Glorious Revolution had overthrown her father King James II.  King William III and Queen Mary II were childless, so Anne was the next in the line of succession.

Anne’s six previous pregnancies had resulted in two miscarriages, two stillbirths, and two live births.  Unfortunately, Mary and Anna Sophia, the two children who were born alive, died, probably of smallpox, within six days of each other in 1687. The House of Stuart needed an heir for its survival.  Anne gave birth to a live child on July 24, 1689, at 5 AM at Hampton Court Palace.  The baby was christened William Henry three days later and was declared, but never created, Duke of Gloucester by his godfather King William III.  The other godparents were his paternal uncle King Christian V of Denmark and the Marchioness of Halifax. After William’s birth, his mother went on to have ten unsuccessful pregnancies: two premature babies who lived for about two hours, four stillbirths, and four miscarriages.

When William was born, he was described as “a brave lively-like boy” by George Melville, 1st Earl of Melville, but shortly thereafter, he had convulsions that caused the doctors to worry that he would die.  Little William was given his own household at Campden House near the Kensington gravel-pits because of the purer air.  He was taken outside every day in a tiny coach pulled by Shetland ponies.  William did not walk or talk until the age of three, and as he grew older it became more apparent that something was wrong.

Some modern medical experts feel that William had hydrocephalus, a condition in which there is an excessive accumulation of fluid in the brain.  Some symptoms of hydrocephalus are an enlarged head, problems with balance, poor coordination, difficulty walking, slowing or loss of developmental progress, lethargy, drowsiness, and irritability.  Certainly, some of these symptoms can be seen in the writings of William’s devoted Welsh servant Jenkin Lewis: “[William’s] head was grown very long and was so big round that his hat was big enough for most men [William was five years old]…[it] made it difficult to fit his head with a peruke [wig].  Although he was active and lively yet he could not go up and down stairs without help, nor raise himself when down; and he tottered when he walked…”

William loved stories of war and had a troop of local boys called “Horse Guards” whom he loved to drill before King William and Queen Mary.  William was close to his aunt and uncle and his childless aunt enjoyed showering him with gifts of toys.  His education had been delayed due to his speech difficulties, but eventually, a tutor was appointed and William had lessons in geography, mathematics, Latin, and French. On his seventh birthday, William was installed as a Knight of the Order of the Garter at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.  When William was eight, he began lessons in government and religion and was making good academic progress.

William celebrated his eleventh birthday at a party held at Windsor Castle.  Jenkin Lewis, his servant, reported, “He complained a little the next day, but we imputed that to the fatigues of a birthday so that he was much neglected.”  In the evening, William complained of a sore throat and chills.  Two days later, he was no better and had developed a fever and was delirious.  The doctors suspected smallpox, but no rash appeared, so they used the usual treatments of the time, bleeding and blistering, which no doubt, made William’s condition worse.  William died on the morning of July 30, 1700, at Windsor Castle.  His body was taken to the Palace of Westminster where it lay in state in his apartments.

William was interred in the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey during the evening of August 7, 1700.  His uncle, King William III wrote to the Duke of Marlborough, that William’s death was “so great a loss to me as well as to all of England, that it pierces my heart.”  Indeed, the House of Stuart had no Protestant heir and it was William’s death that caused Parliament to enact the 1701 Act of Settlement giving the British throne to Sophia of Hanover and her Protestant heirs, a granddaughter of King James I, who was the nearest Protestant in the line of succession.  Upon the death of Queen Anne, William’s mother, Sophia of Hanover’s son ascended to the British throne as King George I.

So what killed William?  There was an autopsy done on William’s body the day after his death and a detailed post-mortem report was written.  Frederick Holmes in his book The Sickly Stuarts: The Medical Downfall of a Dynasty reprinted the report and analyzed it.  Holmes writes, “This autopsy report painstakingly describes inflammation and infection in the throat and larynx, with a grossly swollen neck and pus expressed from lymph nodes in this region.  The lungs are described as both being full of blood, likely this was pus or fluid stained with blood.  Put in context with the clinical course of the illness, this is a picture of an acute bacterial infection of the throat with an associated pneumonia in both lungs.”  Holmes further writes, “Interestingly, the surgeons opened the head and took fluid from the ventricles (the cavities within the brain), and found it to be greatly increased in amount…This confirms the diagnosis of hydrocephalus…”

When Virginia’s General Assembly created Williamsburg as the colony’s capital in 1699, it ordered that its main street “in honor of his Highness William Duke of Gloucester shall for ever hereafter be called and knowne by the Name of Duke of Gloucester Street.”  If you visit Colonial Williamsburg, you can walk on Duke of Gloucester Street which runs from the House of Burgesses to the main entrance of The College of William and Mary.  It’s called DOG Street by the locals and college students.  My son is a William and Mary alumni so I’ve spent lots of time on DOG Street.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.