Prince George, Duke of Southampton

Prince George
Duke of Southampton
Born	George Nicholas Frederick William (1871-05-22)22 May 1871 Buckingham Palace, London
Died	4 April 1970(1970-04-04) (aged 98) Southampton, England
Burial	10 April 1970 Westminster Abbey, London
Spouse	Princess Viktoria of Prussia (m. 1887; died 1929) Rita Hayworth (m. 1945)
Issue Detail	Frederick William, Duke of Southampton Henry, Duke of Gloucester Victoria, Duchess of Södermanland Princess Irene Princess Anne
Full name George Nicholas Frederick William
House	Hanover
Father	William V
Mother	Charlotte of Belgium
Religion	Protestant

Prince George, Duke of Southampton (George Nicholas Frederick William; 22 May 1871 - 4 April 1970) was a British prince and explorer. He is the youngest out of four children of King William V and Queen Charlotte and is also the longest living, having outlived both his parents and siblings until his death in 1970.

Early Life

George was born on the 22nd of May 1871 as the fourth and youngest child of King William V. In contrast to his siblings, George's birth proved a difficult affair for his mother, though this would immediately bring him into the "spotlight" of his mother's affections. Noted for his striking similarities to the German Crown Prince Frederick, George's given name was also a subject of debate between his parents, for his father had insisted on a different name, while George's mother opted to name her newborn son in honour of her eldest living son and prematurely deceased son of the same name.

Like his siblings, George underwent a fairly stable and harmonious upbringing. As he was the youngest of his siblings and was deemed unlikely to ever succeed to the throne, the younger George's upbringing was left entirely in the hands of his mother, who avidly professed a liberal-minded upbringing. Regardless, George found solace in the activities of horse riding and archery, where his prowess in those activities were reportedly unmatched. At the same time, George was quick to embrace his exposure to the liberal arts.

Adulthood

As the youngest of his siblings, the younger George was allowed free rein in determining his own fate, unlike his brothers who were used by their father as diplomatic tools through the form of arranged marriages. For the young prince, he came to inhibit a deep sense of passion for exploration, much to the chagrin of his parents. However, this was initially cut short by a hasty marriage to the German princess Viktoria. Regardless, in 1888, George personally underwent a private trip to the northernmost part of Iceland, where his findings were extensively documented in his writings. Consequently, the prince further went on several consecutive trips to the northern areas of Canada, Norway and Greenland. In 1900, an expedition consisting of the prince and a group of specialists to Antarctica was unexpectedly thwarted when the group were forced to return to Britain after nearly being shipwrecked while journeying through the Atlantic Sea.

Marriage

First Marriage

As the younger George was deemed unlikely to ever succeed to the throne, he was also consequently deemed as being less of importance by his father. As a result, George was theoretically allowed to choose his spouse, opposed to that of his siblings. However, as a result of unexpected complications, the young George was hastily married to the German princess Viktoria, who is five years his senior as a compromise while his brother, who was previously engaged to Viktoria married the princess's younger sister instead in a dual marriage ceremony. Almost expectedly, the newlyweds initially found no sense of attraction towards the other, exemplified by their respective refusals to reside in the same bedroom.

For the next seven years, the couple, with the encouragement of both of their parents began undergoing a lengthy process of reconciliation. However, at the same time this was complicated by a blooming liaison between George and Alice Keppel, a young British hostess. As it was generally accepted that Keppel proved to be far more attractive compared to Viktoria herself, this led the German princess to a considerable degree of mental instability, which ultimately led to a timely intervention that annulled George's two years long affair, which purportedly resulted in a child claimed to be that of George and Keppel's. Luckily, the intervention proved a fruitful decision when the two agreed to reconcile once more.

Within a month into the process, signs of success was first shown when Viktoria gave birth to their first born child. This further drew the two closer into a lifelong harmonious marriage, a stark opposite compared to their first few years together, followed by a couple of pregnancies which resulted in the birth of an another son and the couple's only daughter. Subsequently, Victoria began to indulge herself in her husband's explorations and numerous other activities, to which she would then often writs in passion and excitement in her recounts. However, Viktoria's death from pneumonia in 1929 proved a difficult blow to the prince who was then already in his 60's. Almost immediately, the prince drastically limited himself to only his close circles, though this did not prevent him from entering into a liaison with prominent British socialite, Freda Dudley Ward who is almost twice his junior.

The couple's affair quickly became an interest of the public, and even in the aristocratic circle, with George's nephew Edward remarking that "it is not a surprise should they decide to marry". Amidst much public speculation and rumours of an awaited marriage, neither did George nor Freda ever formalised their affair, with the former instead moving to the United States on the onset of the Second World War. Despite the separation, the two briefly exchanged letters with each other for a short period and was said to had remained cordial friends until their respective deaths.

Second Marriage

Following likely rumours of an impending German attack on Britain, the prince and a select number of his close contacts decided to move to the United States where they were warmly received by President Roosevelt, while his nephew and his immediate family chose to remain in Britain. Regardless, throughout the duration of the war, George was an avid supporter of the Allied war effort. At the same time, George came into contact with his grandnephew Charles, the future Charles III.

In 1944, the prince who had been residing in the United States first came into contact with Rita Hayworth, an up-and-coming American actress who had prior starred in numbers of films, largely of moderate success. Hayworth's unpleasant marriage, coupled with the prince's own sense of attraction immediately led the two into a private relationship, though it was quickly deduced by the public. Following an imminent divorce between Hayworth and her husband in 1945, the two were subsequently wed a day after the prince's birthday. Almost immediately, as Hayworth herself was a Roman Catholic, George found himself disqualified from the line of succession, though this did not affected the standing of his children shared with his first wife. Regardless, with the intervention of his grandnephew who was coincidentally married to the upcoming Jewish American actress Lauren Bacall, Hayworth was permitted to style herself as Duchess of Southampton.

Despite the glaring disparity in their ages, both George and Hayworth endured an extremely stable and peaceful marriage, in contrast to those of the latter's previous marriages. The two often traveled around the world, at times in conjunction with the then king and queen, whom the couple enjoyed close relations due to the similar nature of their respective marriages; a British royal and an American commoner that is not of the Anglican faith. Additionally, both Hayworth and Bacall had been upcoming actresses prior to their respective marriages. While Hayworth would go on to survive her husband for seventeen years, the two were survived by their two daughters, Irene and Anne, with their respective births regarded as a miracle due to George's old age at the time of their marriage, in contrast to Hayworth's much younger age. Following the implementation of the Succession To The Crown Act 1996, George's position in the line of succession was posthumously restored, alongside that of his two living daughters from his second marriage and their respective descendants.

Titles & Honours

• 22 May 1871 - 22 August 1887 His Royal Highness Prince George of Wales
• 22 August 1887 - 4 April 1970 His Royal Highness The Duke of Southampton

Ancestry

Ancestors of Prince George, Duke of Southampton

8. George III of the United Kingdom 4. William IV of the United Kingdom 9. Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 2. William V of the United Kingdom 10. George I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen 5. Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen 11. Luise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg 1. Prince George of the United Kingdom 12. Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld 6. Leopold I of Belgium 13. Countess Augusta Reuss-Ebersdorf 3. Charlotte of Belgium 14. Louis Philippe I of France 7. Louise of Orléans 15. Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily