Duchess of Gloucester

Duchess of Gloucester
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.

History[edit]

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]

List of titleholders[edit]