- Cecilia Underwood, Duchess of Inverness
Infobox British Royalty|none
name =Cecilia Underwood
title =Duchess of Inverness
spouse =Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (1831 – 1843)
Sir George Buggin (1815 – 1825)
full name =Cecilia Letitia
titles ="Her Grace" The Duchess of Inverness
"Lady" Cecilia Underwood
"Lady" Cecilia Buggin
"Lady" Cecilia Gore
royal house =House of Hanover
father =Arthur Gore, 2nd Earl of Arran
mother =Elizabeth Underwood
date of birth =c. 1785
date of death =1 August 1873 (aged c. 87)
place of death =Kensington Palace ,London
place of burial =Kensal Green Cemetery |Cecilia Underwood, Duchess of Inverness (née Lady Cecilia Letitia Gore; c.
1785 -1 August 1873 ) was the second wife ofPrince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex , sixth son of George III. As their marriage was in contravention of theRoyal Marriages Act 1772 , it was considered legally void, and she could not be styled either as the Duchess of Sussex or a Princess. She was createdDuchess of Inverness , for life, in her own right, by Queen Victoria, on10 April 1840 .Early life
Cecilia's exact date of birth is not known, although it is around 1785. Her father was
Arthur Gore, 2nd Earl of Arran and her mother Elizabeth Underwood. She was styled "Lady" Cecilia Gore at birth, the courtesy title of a daughter of anEarl .Marriages
Lady Cecilia's first marriage was to Sir George Buggin, in May 1815. The marriage produced no children and George died on
12 April 1825 .She later married
Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex , the sixth son of George III, at Great Cumberland Place, London, on2 May 1831 . The Duke of Sussex had already married Lady Augusta Murray in 1793, but that marriage was annulled in 1794 as it contravened the Royal Marriages Act 1772 which required that all members of the British Royal Family seek permission of the sovereign before marriage. However the Duke of Sussex's second marriage also contravened the Act, making it legally void.Duchess of Inverness
As the marriage was not considered legal in the UK, Lady Cecilia could not take the style "Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex". Instead she assumed the name "Underwood", her mother's maiden name, by Royal Licence and was known as Lady Cecilia Underwood. The couple resided at the Duke's apartments in Kensington Palace.
However, Lady Cecilia was not accepted as a full member of the British Royal Family. Strict royal protocol restricted Lady Cecilia at any functions attended by other members of the Royal Family, as she was unable to take a seat beside her husband due to her low rank. To compensate for this, in 1840 Queen Victoria created her
Duchess of Inverness , in her own right, with remainder to heirs male lawfully begotten. This recognised her husband's subsidiary title ofEarl of Inverness .The Duke of Sussex died at Kensington Palace and was buried at
Kensal Green Cemetery . The Duchess of Inverness continued to reside atKensington Palace until her death in August 1873. She was buried next to her second husband.Titles, styles, honours and arms
Titles
*c. 1785–May 1815: "Lady" Cecilia Gore
*May 1815–c. 1831: "Lady" Cecilia Buggin
*c. 1831–10 April 1840 : "Lady" Cecilia Underwood
*10 April 1840 –1 August 1873 : "Her Grace" The Duchess of Inverness
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