Prince William, Duke of Gloucester

:"This article is about the son of Anne of Great Britain. For the son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, see Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh. For his son, see Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and EdinburghInfobox Danish Royalty|prince
name = Prince William
title = Duke of Gloucester

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caption = The Duke of Gloucester, shortly before his death at age 11.
titles = "HRH" The Duke of Gloucester
"HRH" Prince William of Denmark and Norway
royal house = House of Oldenburg
father = Prince George of Denmark
mother = Anne of Great Britain
date of birth = birth date|1689|6|24|df=yes
place of birth =
date of death = death date and age|1700|7|29|1689|6|24|df=yes
place of death =
place of burial = Westminster Abbey, London|

Prince William of Denmark and Norway, Duke of Gloucester (24 July 1689 – 29 July 1700) was the only child of Princess Anne of Denmark and Norway (later Queen of Great Britain) to survive infancy. His father was Prince George of Denmark and Norway.

As second in line to the English and Scottish thrones, after his mother, William was expected to succeed at some point in the future. On his birth, King William III of England gave him the style Duke of Gloucester (but did not actually create him a duke) and awarded him the Order of the Garter. At the age of nine, his own household was formed.

William's health was poor throughout his life. He suffered convulsions soon after he was born, and his parents feared he would die. He recovered, and Anne moved him to Campden House near Kensington, where the air was believed to be better. By the time he turned three years old, he still neither spoke nor walked, and even as he grew older, he could not climb stairs without assistance. In spite of his physical weakness, his mind was said to be sharp, and William was reputed to be quite precocious. William took ill on the day after his eleventh birthday party. Physicians suspected smallpox, and performed the usual ineffective (and even dangerous) treatments of the day. He died a few days later. After his death, the Duke's autopsy revealed that he had suffered from hydrocephalus, which accounts for his poor balance. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Namesake

The capital of the Colony of Virginia, Williamsburg (founded 1699), named its main thoroughfare in his honor. The Duke of Gloucester Street is a wide avenue that extends from the Capitol building, past the Governor's Palace, to the College of William and Mary.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Arms

As a presumed eventual heir to the throne, Prince William bore the coat of arms of the kingdom, with an inescutcheon "semy of hearts gules three lions passant azure crowned or" (for Denmark), the whole differenced by a "label argent of three points, the centre point bearing a cross gules". [ [http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/cadency.htm Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family] ]

Ancestry

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1= 1. Prince William, Duke of Gloucester
2= 2. Prince George of Denmark
3= 3. Anne of Great Britain
4= 4. Frederick III of Denmark
5= 5. Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg
6= 6. James II of England
7= 7. Anne Hyde
8= 8. Christian IV of Denmark
9= 9. Anne Catherine of Brandenburg
10= 10. George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
11= 11. Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt
12= 12. Charles I of England
13= 13. Princess Henrietta Maria of France
14= 14. Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon
15= 15. Frances Aylesbury
16= 16. Frederick II of Denmark
17= 17. Sofie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
18= 18. Joachim Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg
19= 19. Catherine of Brandenburg-Küstrin
20= 20. William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
21= 21. Princess Dorothea of Denmark
22= 22. Louis V, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
23= 23. Magdalena of Brandenburg
24= 24. James I of England
25= 25. Princess Anne of Denmark
26= 26. Henry IV of France
27= 27. Marie de' Medici
28= 28. Henry Hyde
29= 29. Mary Langford
30= 30. Thomas Aylesbury
31= 31. Anne Denman

References