Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, Credit – Wikipedia

Henry William Frederick Albert was the third son and fourth child of King George V of the United Kingdom and Princess Victoria Mary of Teck (Queen Mary).  He was born on March 31, 1900, at York Cottage on the Sandringham estate.  His great-grandmother Queen Victoria had created Letters Patent giving the style of Royal Highness to the children of the Duke and Duchess of York, so Henry was HRH Prince Henry of York from birth.  He had five siblings:

Prince Henry (front center) with his siblings, 1910. source: Wikipedia

Prince Henry (known as Harry) was christened on May 17, 1900, in the Private Chapel at Windsor Castle, by the Bishop of Winchester.  His godparents were:

Henry attended St. Peter’s Court School in Kent and then Eton College near Windsor which was unusual for a royal child at that time.  He also attended the Royal Military College at Sandhurst and Trinity College, Cambridge. On his 28th birthday, his father King George V created him Duke of Gloucester.

Henry had a military career in the British Army and served with The King’s Royal Rifle Corps and the 10th Royal Hussars.  He retired from active duty in 1937 but served with the British Expeditionary Force during World War II. In 1940, he was wounded when the car he was in was attacked from the air.  The highest ranks Henry attained were Field Marshal (1955) and Marshal of the Royal Air Force (1958).

On November 6, 1935, Henry married Lady Alice Montagu Douglas Scott, a daughter of John Montagu Douglas Scott, 7th Duke of Buccleuch.  The wedding was originally set to be held at Westminster Abbey, but when Lady Alice’s father died on October 19, 1935, the wedding venue was changed.  It was deemed more appropriate to have the wedding at the Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace. Among the bridesmaids were the groom’s nieces Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret Rose.

The couple had two sons and the family lived at the 16th-century Barnwell Manor in Northamptonshire and York House, St. James’s Palace in London.

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, 1945. source: Wikipedia

The Duke of Gloucester served as Governor-General of Australia from 1945 – 1947.  During the early reign of the Duke’s niece Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester carried out royal engagements including some overseas tours.

In 1965, while driving back to Barnwell Manor after attending the funeral of Winston Churchill, the Duke suffered a stroke causing a car accident.  The Duchess suffered injuries to the face which required 57 stitches.  Three years later, the Duke suffered another stroke which left him incapacitated. The Duchess continued to talk and read to her husband hoping he could hear and understand.  She never did tell him about the death of their son in a plane crash, but she thought he understood from watching television.

Graves of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. photo: www.findagrave.com

On June 10, 1974, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester died at Barnwell Manor, his country home at the age of 73.  He was buried at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore near Windsor Castle.  After the Duke’s death, his widow received permission from Queen Elizabeth II to style herself Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester to distinguish herself from her son’s wife.  Princess Alice died in 2004 at the age of 102, the longest-living member of the British Royal Family ever.

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