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Duchess of Gloucester | |
---|---|
First holder | Eleanor de Bohun |
Present holder | Birgitte van Deurs Henriksen |
Status | Current |
Duchess of Gloucester is the principal courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Gloucester. There have been five titles referring to Gloucester since the 14th century. The current duchess is Birgitte, the wife of Prince Richard. He inherited the dukedom on 10 June 1974 upon the death of his father, Prince Henry, the third son of George V.
When Thomas of Woodstock, youngest son of Edward III and Philippa of Hainault, was created duke of Gloucester around 1385, his wife Eleanor de Bohun, daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford, and Joan Fitzalan, became duchess of Gloucester. [1] Thomas was stripped of his dukedom after being declared guilty of treason in 1397. Their son Humphrey, 2nd Earl of Buckingham, did not inherit. Thomas died in 1397 and his duchess, Eleanor in 1399.[ citation needed ]
The next duchess was Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut, daughter of William II, Duke of Bavaria, and Margaret of Burgundy, the wife of Humphrey of Lancaster, Duke of Gloucester, who had been created duke in 1414. They married in 1422 but the marriage was annulled in 1428. [2] Humphrey then married his mistress, Eleanor Cobham, of the Cobham family, after the annulment of his marriage of Jacqueline, but this married was also annulled. [3] Humphrey died in 1447 with no legitimate issue, thus the dukedom was extinct. [ citation needed ]
Anne, Dowager Princess of Wales, widow of Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, married Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who had been made duke in 1461, in 1472. The dukedom merged with the crown upon his accession to the throne in 1483 and Anne became queen consort. [4]
The next dukes of Gloucester, Henry Stuart, died unmarried. The next two, Prince William and Prince Frederick, were only styled as Duke of Gloucester and died unmarried or were unmarried during their time styled as duke.[ citation needed ]
The next iteration of the title was as the joint dukedom of Gloucester and Edinburgh, created in 1764 for Prince William Henry, younger brother of George III. Prince William Henry married Maria Waldegrave, Dowager Countess Waldegrave, the illegitimate daughter of Sir Edward Walpole, in 1766, thus making her the first Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh. [5] Prince William Henry died in 1805. His son and successor, Prince William Frederick, married his first cousin Princess Mary in 1816. They had no children and Prince William Frederick died in 1834, the dukedom becoming extinct on his death. [6]
George V created his third son Prince Henry duke of Gloucester in 1928. When he married Lady Alice Montagu Douglas Scott in 1935, she became his duchess. [7] They had two sons, Prince William and Prince Richard. Prince Henry died in 1974, Prince William predeceased him and he was thus succeeded by his second son Prince Richard, whose wife, Birgitte van Deurs Henriksen, whom he had married in 1972, became duchess and has remained so since. [8]
Other titles: Duchess of Aumale, Countess of Buckingham, Countess of Essex
Duchess | Portrait | Birth | Marriage(s) | Death |
---|---|---|---|---|
Eleanor de Bohun Bohun family 1385–1397 | c. 1366 – daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford, and Joan Fitzalan | 1376 Thomas of Woodstock 5 children | 3 October 1399 aged 32 or 33 |
Other titles: Countess of Pembroke
Duchess | Portrait | Birth | Marriage(s) | Death |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut House of Wittelsbach 1422–1428 | 15 July 1401 Le Quesnoy, County of Hainaut – daughter of William II, Duke of Bavaria, and Margaret of Burgundy | 1422–1428 (annulled) Humphrey of Lancaster 1 child (stillborn) | 8 October 1436 aged 35 | |
Eleanor Cobham Cobham family 1428–1441 | c. 1400 Starborough Castle, Surrey – daughter of Reynold Cobham, 3rd Baron Cobham, and Eleanor Culpeper | 1428–1441 (annulled) Humphrey of Lancaster 2 children | 7 July 1452 aged 51 or 52 |
Duchess | Portrait | Birth | Marriage(s) | Death |
---|---|---|---|---|
Anne, Dowager Princess of Wales House of Neville 1472–1483 | 11 June 1456 Warwick Castle, Warwickshire – daughter of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, and Anne Beauchamp | 1472 Richard, Duke of Gloucester 1 child | 16 March 1485 aged 28 |
Other titles: Countess of Connaught
Duchess | Portrait | Birth | Marriage(s) | Death |
---|---|---|---|---|
Maria Waldegrave, Dowager Countess Waldegrave Walpole family 1766–1805 | 10 July 1736 St James's, Westminster – daughter of Sir Edward Walpole and Dorothy Clement | 6 September 1766 Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh 3 children | 22 August 1807 aged 71 | |
The Princess Mary House of Hanover 1816–1834 | 25 April 1776 Buckingham House, London – daughter of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz | 22 July 1816 Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh No children | 30 April 1857 aged 81 |
Other titles: Countess of Ulster, Baroness Culloden
Duchess | Portrait | Birth | Marriage(s) | Death |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lady Alice Montagu Douglas Scott Montagu Douglas Scott family 1935–1974 | 25 December 1901 Montagu House, London – daughter of John Montagu Douglas Scott, 7th Duke of Buccleuch and 9th Duke of Queensberry, and Lady Margaret Bridgeman | 6 November 1935 Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester 2 children | 29 October 2004 aged 102 | |
Birgitte van Deurs Henriksen Henriksen family 1974–present | 20 June 1946 Odense, Denmark – daughter of Asger Henriksen and Vivian van Deurs | 8 July 1972 Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester 3 children | – now 78 years, 61 days old |
Richard and Birgitte's only son Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster, married Claire Booth in 2002. They are currently known by the courtesy titles Earl and Countess of Ulster. As Alexander is three generations removed from the crown he is not a prince. Upon his accession Claire would be styled Her Grace The Duchess of Gloucester.
Alexander and Claire’s only son Xan, born in 2007, is currently unmarried.
Duke of Edinburgh, named after the capital city of Scotland, Edinburgh, is a substantive title that has been created four times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produce any revenue for the title-holder.
Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester is a member of the British royal family. He is the second son of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, the youngest of the nine grandchildren of George V, nephew of Edward VIII and George VI, and first cousin of Elizabeth II. He is 31st in the line of succession to the British throne, and the highest person on the list who is not a descendant of George VI. At the time of his birth, he was 5th in line to the throne.
Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester was the fifth surviving son and youngest child of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault.
Humphrey of Lancaster, Duke of Gloucester was an English prince, soldier and literary patron. He was "son, brother and uncle of kings", being the fourth and youngest son of Henry IV of England, the brother of Henry V, and the uncle of Henry VI. Gloucester fought in the Hundred Years' War and acted as Lord Protector of England during the minority of his nephew. A controversial figure, he has been characterised as reckless, unprincipled, and fractious, but is also noted for his intellectual activity and for being the first significant English patron of humanism, in the context of the Renaissance.
Duke of Gloucester is a British royal title, often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the current creation carries with it the subsidiary titles of Earl of Ulster and Baron Culloden.
Duke of Buckingham, referring to Buckingham, is an extinct title that has been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There were creations of double dukedoms of Buckingham and Normanby and of Buckingham and Chandos. The last holder of the dukedom died in 1889.
Duke of Kent is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of Great Britain and the United Kingdom, most recently as a royal dukedom for the fourth son of King George V. Since 1942, the title has been held by Prince Edward, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.
Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester is a Danish-born member of the British royal family. She is married to Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, a grandson of King George V.
Duke of Buccleuch, formerly also spelt Duke of Buccleugh, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created twice on 20 April 1663, first for James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, and second suo jure for his wife Anne Scott, 4th Countess of Buccleuch. Monmouth, the eldest illegitimate son of King Charles II, was attainted after rebelling against his uncle King James II and VII, but his wife's title was unaffected and passed on to their descendants, who have successively borne the surnames Scott, Montagu-Scott, Montagu Douglas Scott and Scott again. In 1810, the 3rd Duke of Buccleuch inherited the Dukedom of Queensberry, also in the Peerage of Scotland, thus separating that title from the Marquessate of Queensberry.
Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, was a grandson of George II and a younger brother of George III of the United Kingdom.
The use of the title of Princess of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is entirely at the will of the sovereign, and is now expressed in letters patent. Individuals holding the title of princess will usually also be granted the style of Her Royal Highness (HRH). The current letters patent were issued in 1917 during the World War I, with one extension in 2012.
The title of Earl of Ulster has been created six times in the Peerage of Ireland and twice in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since 1928, the title has been held by the Duke of Gloucester and is used as a courtesy title by the Duke's eldest son, currently Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster. The wife of the Earl of Ulster is known as the Countess of Ulster. Ulster, one of the four traditional provinces of Ireland, consists of nine counties: six of these make up Northern Ireland; the remainder are in the Republic of Ireland.
Anne of Gloucester, Countess of Stafford was the eldest daughter and eventually sole heiress of Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester, by his wife Eleanor de Bohun, one of the two daughters and co-heiresses of Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford, 6th Earl of Essex (1341–1373) of Pleshey Castle in Essex.
Maria, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh was a member of the British royal family. She was the Countess Waldegrave from 1759 to 1766, as a result of her first marriage to James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave. Her second husband was Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, whom she married in 1766.
William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu, was an English knight created by King Henry V 1st Count of Eu, in Normandy.
Joan FitzAlan, Countess of Hereford, Countess of Essex and Countess of Northampton was the wife of the 7th Earl of Hereford, 6th Earl of Essex and 2nd Earl of Northampton. She was the mother of Mary de Bohun, the first wife of Henry of Bolingbroke who later reigned as King Henry IV, and Eleanor de Bohun, Duchess of Gloucester. She was the maternal grandmother of King Henry V.
Elizabeth Fitzalan, Countess of Arundel, Countess of Surrey, was a member of the Anglo-Norman Bohun family, which wielded much power in the Welsh Marches and the English government. She was the first wife of Richard FitzAlan, a powerful English nobleman and military commander in the reigns of Edward III and Richard II. She was the mother of seven of his children, and as the wife of one of the most powerful nobles in the realm, enjoyed much prestige and took precedence over most of the other peers' wives.
St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is a Royal Peculiar, and the Chapel of the Order of the Garter. St George's Chapel was founded in the 14th century by King Edward III and extensively enlarged in the late 15th century. It is located in the Lower Ward of the castle.
Duchess of Edinburgh is the principal courtesy title held by the wife of the Duke of Edinburgh. There have been five Duchesses of Edinburgh since the title's creation. Following the accession of Charles III in 2022, the 3rd creation of the Dukedom of Edinburgh merged in the Crown. Following his parents’ wishes, on 10 March 2023, Charles III conferred the title Duke of Edinburgh on his youngest brother, Prince Edward, and his wife, Sophie, became the Duchess of Edinburgh.
Charlotte FitzRoy, Countess of Euston, was the wife of George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton. Although she is sometimes referred to as "Duchess of Grafton", her husband did not inherit the dukedom until 1811, after his wife's death.