William, Duke of Gloucester

Portrait of Williams by Godfrey Kneller around 1700

William, Duke of Gloucester (born July 24, 1689 in Hampton Court Palace , London , † July 30, 1700 in Windsor Castle , Windsor (Berkshire) ) was an English heir to the throne .

He was the only son of Princess Anne , the future Queen of Great Britain, and George, Prince of Denmark , who survived childhood and could have secured the line of succession to the House of Stuart . He was, however, developmentally retarded, had epileptic fits and hydrocephalus .

Before his mother came to power, he died at the age of eleven of an infectious disease, possibly smallpox . His body was buried in Henry VII's Chapel in Westminster Abbey . His death forced the English parliament to establish the succession to the throne in a legally binding manner in order to prevent there being another Catholic king. It did so with the Act of Settlement in 1701.

From birth he held the courtesy title of Duke of Gloucester ; his early death, however, preceded an official award of this title. On January 6, 1696 he was accepted as a Knight Companion in the Order of the Garter.

Individual evidence

^ William Arthur Shaw: The Knights of England. Volume 1, Sherratt and Hughes, London 1906, p. 39.

Web links

Commons : William, Duke of Gloucester - album with pictures, videos and audio files

William Henry Oldenburg, Duke of Gloucester on thepeerage.com

personal data
SURNAME	Gloucester, William, Duke of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	English heir to the throne
DATE OF BIRTH	July 24, 1689
PLACE OF BIRTH	Hampton Court Palace , London
DATE OF DEATH	July 30, 1700
Place of death	Windsor Castle , Windsor

[1] William Arthur Shaw: The Knights of England. Volume 1, Sherratt and Hughes, London 1906, p. 39.