Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Prince Richard
Duke of Gloucester
Heir-Apparent	Alexander, Earl of Ulster
Spouse	The Duchess of Gloucester
Issue
Alexander, Earl of Ulster Lady Davina Lewis Lady Rose Windsor
Full name
Richard Alexander Walter George Windsor
Detail Titles
HRH The Duke of Gloucester HRH Prince Richard of Gloucester
Royal house	House of Windsor
Father	Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester
Mother	Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester
Born	26 August 1944 Barnwell Manor, Northamptonshire
Baptised	20 October 1944 St. George's Chapel, Windsor
Occupation	prev. Architecture

Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard Alexander Walter George Windsor; born 26 August 1944) is a member of the British Royal Family, a grandson of George V. He has been Duke of Gloucester since his father's death in 1974. The Duke is currently 18th in the line of succession.

The Duke of Gloucester carries out royal engagements on behalf of his cousin, Elizabeth II.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2.1 Education 2.2 Architecture 3 Marriage 4 Duke of Gloucester 5 Titles, styles, honours and arms 5.1 Titles 5.2 Honours 5.2.1 Honorary military appointments 5.3 Arms 6 See also 7 External links 8 References

[edit] Early life

Prince Richard was born on 26 August 1944 at Barnwell Manor in Northamptonshire. His father was Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, the third-eldest son of George V and Queen Mary. His mother was The Duchess of Gloucester (née Lady Alice Montagu-Douglas-Scott), a daughter of the 7th Duke of Buccleuch.

He was baptised in the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle on 20 October 1944 by Lord Lang of Lambeth and his godparents were: Queen Elizabeth, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (for whom her daughter, Lady May Abel Smith stood proxy), The Duke of Buccleuch, The Marquess of Cambridge, Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein, Lady Sybil Phipps and Sir Harold Alexander (for whom his wife, Lady Alexander stood proxy).

As a grandson of the British monarch in the male line, he was styled His Royal Highness Prince Richard of Gloucester at birth. At the time of his birth he was fifth in the line of succession to the throne, and second in line to his father's Dukedom, behind his brother, Prince William of Gloucester.

When he was four months old, Prince Richard accompanied his parents to Australia, where his father was Governor-General from 1945 to 1947. The family returned to Barnwell Manor in 1947.

[edit] Career

[edit] Education

Prince Richard's early education was at home, later attending school at Wellesley House in Broadstairs, and then Eton College. In 1963, he went to Magdalene College, Cambridge to read architecture. He received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in June 1966.

[edit] Architecture

After university, Prince Richard joined the (then) Offices Development Group of the Ministry of Public Building and Works for a year of practical work, returning to Cambridge in 1967. In June 1969, he passed both parts of his Diploma in Architecture at the university. After completing his training, he went into practice as a partner in a firm of London architects.

Although he planned to practice full time as an architect, the death of his brother, Prince William of Gloucester, left Richard first in line to his father's Dukedom, and increasing Royal duties. He therefore resigned his partnership, and began to represent his cousin, The Queen, on Royal occasions.

[edit] Marriage

On 8 June 1972, Prince Richard of Gloucester married Birgitte van Deurs, a Danish subject, the daughter of Asger Henriksen and Vivian van Deurs, at St Andrew's Church in Barnwell in Northamptonshire. The event was relatively low key compared to the large royal weddings of his cousins Princess Margaret and the Duke of Kent.

British Royalty
Royal Family
HM The Queen
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
HRH The Prince of Wales HRH The Duchess of Cornwall HRH Prince William of Wales HRH Prince Henry of Wales HRH The Duke of York HRH Princess Beatrice of York HRH Princess Eugenie of York HRH The Earl of Wessex HRH The Countess of Wessex Lady Louise Windsor HRH The Princess Royal HRH The Duke of Gloucester HRH The Duchess of Gloucester HRH The Duke of Kent HRH The Duchess of Kent HRH Prince Michael of Kent HRH Princess Michael of Kent HRH Princess Alexandra This box: view • talk • edit

Together the couple have three children:

• Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster, born 24 October 1974; married Claire Booth; has issue, Xan Windsor, Lord Culloden (b. 2007)
• The Lady Davina Lewis, born 19 November 1977; married Gary Lewis
• The Lady Rose Windsor, born 1 March 1980

None of the children carries out royal duties, and they have no royal titles. As great-grandchildren of George V in the male line, they are styled as the children of a Duke.

[edit] Duke of Gloucester

On 10 June 1974, Prince Richard's father died and he succeeded to the titles Duke of Gloucester, Earl of Ulster and Baron Culloden.

Both the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester make many public appearances and are popular members of the royal family. The Duke is particularly interested in architecture and conservation. He became a corporate member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 1972; and serves as a commissioner of the Historic Building and Monuments Commission for England (English Heritage).

A keen motorist, Prince Richard was president of the Institute of Advanced Motorists for 32 years. This post became a matter of review when, on 23 December 2004, he was banned from driving for six months and fined for speeding, it being his fourth similar offence in three years. He resigned in January 2005^[1].

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester's official residence is at Kensington Palace in London. They have leased Barnwell Manor since 1994. On 29 October 2004, the Duke's mother, Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, died at the age of 102, the longest-living member of the British Royal Family ever.

[edit] Titles, styles, honours and arms

Styles of HRH The Duke of Gloucester
Reference style	His Royal Highness
Spoken style	Your Royal Highness
Alternative style	Sir

[edit] Titles

• 26 August 1944-10 June 1974: His Royal Highness Prince Richard of Gloucester
• 10 June 1974-: His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester

[edit] Honours

British Honours

• KG: Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, 1997
• GCVO: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, 1974
• Grand Prior of the Order of St. John, 1975
• Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation Medal, 1953
• Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee Medal, 1977
• Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee Medal, 2002

Foreign Honours

• Grand Cross of the Order of St Olav, 1973
• The Royal Order of the Northern Star, 1975

[edit] Honorary military appointments

British

• Colonel-in-Chief, of the Royal Anglian Regiment
• Colonel-in-Chief, of the Royal Army Medical Corps
• Deputy Colonel-in-Chief, of the Royal Logistic Corps
• Deputy Colonel-in-Chief, of the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment
• Royal Colonel, of the 6th (V) Battalion, The Rifles
• The Royal Honorary Colonel, of the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia)
• Honorary Air Commodore, of RAF Odiham
• Honorary Air Commodore, of 501 (County of Gloucester) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force
• Honorary Air Marshal, Royal Air Force

Commonwealth

• Colonel-in-Chief, of the Royal Australian Army Education Corps ^[2]

[edit] Arms

As a descendant of Queen Victoria, the Duke of Gloucester's arms are based on the Royal Arms. The following explains the way in which his arms are differenced from those of the Queen.

• Arms: Is that of the Royal Arms, differenced by a label of five points argent (white), the centre and two outer points charged with a cross gules (red), and the inner points with a lion passant guardant also of gules (red).

• Crest: On a coronet composed of four crosses-patées alternated with four strawberry leaves, a lion statant guardant or (gold), crowned with the like coronet, and differenced with the label as in the Arms.

• Supporters: Are those of the Royal Supporters, differenced with a coronet as in the crest, and label as in the Arms. [1]

[edit] See also

• List of British princes

[edit] External links

• Official biography

[edit] References

1. ^ Resignation Press Release
2. ^ Burke's Peerage

Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by The Prince Henry	Duke of Gloucester 1974-	Succeeded by Incumbent
Other Offices
Preceded by Arthur Chatto	Line of succession to the British throne	Succeeded by Earl of Ulster
Order of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by Prince Harry of Wales	United Kingdom order of precedence Gentlemen	Succeeded by Prince Edward, Duke of Kent