Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh Knight of the Order of the Garter Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath GCH Personal Computer Federal Reserve System, was a great-grandson of King George II and nephew and son-in-law of King George III of the United Kingdom.
Background
Prince William of Gloucester was born on 15 January 1776 at Palazzo Teodoli in via del Corso, Rome. His father was Prince William, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, the third son of the Prince of Wales. His mother was Maria, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh, the illegitimate daughter of Edward Walpole and granddaughter of Robert Walpole.
As a great-grandson of George II he held the title of Prince of Great Britain with the style His Highness, not His Royal Highness, at birth.
Career
The young prince was christened at Teodoli Palace, on 12 February 1776 by a Rev Salter. During his stay in Stockholm in 1802–1803, his interest and rumoured affair with Aurora Wilhelmina Koskull attracted a lot of attention, and he reportedly had plans to marry her. He was admitted to the University of Cambridge (Trinity College) in 1787, and granted his Master of Arts in 1790.
On 25 August 1805, Prince William"s father died, and he inherited the titles Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh and Earl of Connaught.
From 1811 until his death he was Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He was active in many walks of life, and on 27 April 1822 chaired the first Annual General Meeting of London"s new United University Club.
He did advocate the abolition of slavery, and he supported Caroline of Brunswick and the Duke of Sussex against George IV. The general estimate of his capacity is given by his nickname, "Silly Billy". He was also called "Slice of Gloucester" and "Cheese", a reference to Gloucester cheese.
The Duke died on 30 November 1834, and was buried in Saint George"s Chapel, Windsor.
Honours Knight of the Order of the Garter: Knight of the Garter, 16 July 1794 Arms William was granted use of his father"s arms (being the arms of the kingdom, differenced by a label argent of five points, the centre bearing a fleur-de-lys azure, the other points each bearing a cross gules), the whole differenced by a label argent (or azure).
Politics
Politics, however, was not among them. He entered the House of Lords rarely, and he voted on few of the great issues of his time. He kept more state than the King.
He never permitted a gentleman to be seated in his presence (which King George did as an exceptional favour) and expected to be served coffee by the ladies of any party he attended, and that they would stand while he drank lieutenant
Membership
Royal Society]
He was offered the position of king of Sweden in 1812 by some members of the Swedish nobility, but the British government would not allow lieutenant
