All you need to know about Gloucester’s prince
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The passing of Queen Elizabeth II means Prince Harry's children can now take the same title as the Duke of Gloucester. Archie and Lilibet can now call themselves a Prince and Princess like Prince Richard, who is commonly known as the Duke of Gloucester.
It's not clear if the pair will use the storybook titles as they grow up on the other side of the Atlantic. Those without a working knowledge of the archaic and complicated rules of the royal family find it hard to understand why, until her death, the late Queen's cousin was a Prince but not her great grandson.
Or why Archie and Lilibet's cousins, George, Charlotte and Louis, used the title Prince and Princess when Prince Harry's children couldn't. According to Buckingham Palace the Queen decreed Archie the Earl of Dumbarton when he was born, but his parents chose for him to be called Master Archie rather than Lord.
Read more: Zara and Mike Tindall were on kindly aunt and uncle duty as the Queen's great grandchildren said final farewell
But many people were perplexed when the Duke of Gloucester appeared on the Buckingham Palace for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations described as Prince Richard. He was the only one of the Queen’s 31 cousins to walk behind the monarch’s coffin in the state cortege from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall on September 14 and took a major part in her funeral.
So who exactly is the Duke of Gloucester and why is he important enough to be a prince when Prince Harry's son Archie Harrison Mountbatten Windsor could not until the Queen died? Well here's what you need to know in simple terms.
That's a bit confusing because the Duke of Gloucester started out life as Prince Richard and as a titled royal does not need a surname. Born at St Matthew's Nursing Home, Northampton, the 77-year-old Prince Richard spent his first two years in Australia where his father, the King's brother, was Governor General.
The King's nephew was mainly brought up at the family seat, Barnwell Manor. After Eton and Cambridge he studied to become an architect but had only been working a short time when he was forced to take on full-time royal duties because his elder brother was killed in an air crash and his father, Prince Henry, became ill.
He met Danish wife Birgitte van Deurs at Cambridge University and they married in 1972 and had three children: Alexander Windsor who is known as the Earl of Ulster, Lady Davina Windsor and Lady Rose Windsor. When his father Henry died in 1974, Prince Richard inherited his titles, the Duke of Gloucester, Earl of Ulster and Baron Culloden.
The Duke of Gloucester is the most senior male-line descendant of Queen Victoria and her husband Albert, Prince Consort. He was first cousin to Queen Elizabeth II and first cousin once removed to her children, Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.
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At one time there was only one Prince and the rest of the monarch's male brood became Dukes but soon the title was awarded to the whole bloodline. At the time of his birth Prince Richard was fifth in line to the throne and became a Prince at birth because he was the grandchild of the monarch, King George V and Queen Mary.
Royal watchers say it is different for Prince Harry and Meghan's son Archie and daughter Lilibet because they were the great grandchildren of the monarch. But as the grandchild of King Charles lll they can claim the title as long as Charles does not change the rules of succession.
Due to a complicated set of circumstances The Duke of Gloucester might have even have become King if the Queen and her sister Margaret had not been born. Prince Richard’s father Prince Henry was the younger brother of King George VI, Queen Elizabeth II’s father.
Prince Henry was the third son born to King George V and Princess Mary of Teck. The couple had six children, with their second son becoming King George VI when their first son King Edward VIII abdicated to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson in 1936.
It was thanks to this abdication that the late Queen Elizabeth II inherited the throne from her father.
But the Prince of Gloucester has an even higher ranking than Prince. Duke is the highest honour. Ranked from highest to lowest, the five possible hereditary titles for men in the peerage are:
There are eight royal dukedoms – Gloucester, Lancaster, Edinburgh, Cornwall, Cambridge, Sussex, York and Kent – and 24 non-royal dukedoms such as the Duke of Beaufort. They are inherited through the male line only, and the word Duchess is only used for the wife of a Duke.
British princes are given the honorary title of “Duke” at the time of of their marriage. Prince William became the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry the Duke of Sussex. Prince Edward, broke with royal tradition when he became Earl of Wessex before his marriage in 1999 but this is because he was the Duke of Edinburgh in waiting.
Prince Richard inherited the title Duke of Gloucester when his father Henry died. In the old days a duke was the ruler of a ‘duchy’ and many of those who have inherited the title are now some of the country's largest landowners. The Duke of Norfolk is the premier Duke.
The Dukedoms where carved into geographical areas in feudal times and it is up to the monarch to decide who becomes Duke or Earl of a particular place when the title reverts to the Crown. Although it is often down to which titles are available, there are a few traditions.
The Duke of Lancaster because it is a title traditionally held by the monarch. The eldest son becomes the Duke of Cornwall, the second-born son is the Duke of York.
Gloucester was probably free when Prince Richard's father was given the title in 1928.
Thomas of Woodstock, the 13th child of King Edward III, was the first Duke of Gloucester and murdered in Calais while in prison for treason. The second Duke of Gloucester, Humphrey of Lancaster, also died in mysterious circumstances after his second wife was accused of witchcraft and he was jailed for treason.
So is the title a magnet for trouble?
Richard lll, the last English king to die in battle, was the third Duke of Gloucester and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. After this the title wasn't very popular and became dormant for more than 150 years.
The fourth Duke of Gloucester was Henry Stuart, youngest son of Charles I. When he was eight his father, who was due to be executed, warned him not to become king or they would cut off his head. He didn't but died at the age of 20 from smallpox.
Eventually Prince Henry, third son of King George V and Queen Mary, was made the fifth Duke of Gloucester on March 31, 1928, and although he suffered ill health in later life, he lived until the age of 74. His eldest son Prince William should have inherited the title but on August 28, 1972 – the keen adventurer was competing in the Goodyear International Air Trophy in the Midlands when the plane crashed into a tree and burst into flames in front of 30,000 spectators, killing him and fellow pilot Vyrell Mitchell.
That meant when Prince Henry died on June 10, 1974 the Duke of Gloucester title went to his second son Prince Richard, the current Duke. Henry's widow, Princess Alice, survived until 2004, becoming the longest-living member of the British royal family in history.
According to unconfirmed reports, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester are worth £13 million but these days you don't get land and money with the title. Until it was replaced by the sovereign grant, the couple received £175,000 year from The Civil List to cover the costs of their royal duties.
For many years the whole family lived in a 21-bedroom apartment at Kensington Palace, which was also home to Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, and is now the London residence of Prince William and Kate. In 2019 the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester auctioned off many of their possessions from Kensington Palace and moved back to the family's Grade I-listed Barnwell Manor in Northamptonshire which had apparently been leased out since 1994.
The official website says he is a full-time working member of the Royal Family who attends national and international events in support of the Queen. Now Charles is on the throne it will be up to him what happens.
As well as representing the Queen around the world, he also attended public duties and engagements of the 150 organisations and charities that mainly reflect his own interests in international humanitarian issues, heritage, the built environment and military veterans. They include the Victorian Society and the International Council on Monuments and Sites and Richard lll groups.
He also supports ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) and the British Homeopathic Association.
The Duchess of Gloucester supports 60 organisations and charities including the Lawn Tennis Association, the Embroiderers' Guild and Turn2us.
Being a Duke doesn't mean he inherits Gloucester but he is a freeman of the city.
His interest in the county is mainly military and he is:
Alexander Windsor, styled Earl of Ulster, is line to become the next Earl of Gloucester, followed by his son Xan Windsor, known as Lord Culloden. But the royal dukedom will devolve into an ordinary one because their direct links to the sovereign will have waned.
Also known as Alex Ulster, the heir to the Duke of Gloucester title was educated at Eton and Sandhurst and joined the army. He left in 2008 as Acting Major and is now Director of Transnational Crisis Project a foreign affairs company.
Preferring to stay out of the limelight, he is married to consultant paediatrician Claire Booth. They have a son, Xan, and daughter, Rose.
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