Prince George, Duke of Southampton
| Prince George | |||||
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| Duke of Southampton | |||||
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| Born | George William Leopold 7 May 1869 Buckingham Palace, London | ||||
| Died | 30 December 1962 (aged 93) Montpelier, Vermont | ||||
| Spouse | Rita Hayworth (m. 1942) | ||||
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| House | Hanover | ||||
| Father | William V | ||||
| Mother | Charlotte of Belgium | ||||
| Religion | Protestant | ||||
| Military service | |||||
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| Years of service | 1889-1924 | ||||
| Rank | Admiral | ||||
Prince George, Duke of Southampton (George William Leopold; 7 May 1869 - 30 December 1962) was a British prince and a noted Royal Navy officer. A lifelong enthusiast in exploration, George himself was notable for having taken part in a large number of expeditions to multiple places across the world, which spanned across both the African and Asian continents. Since then, the duke's own recollections of his international travels have been compiled together from his personal memoirs into a single and official publication, titled The Travels of the Duke of Southampton.
Having first been married to Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, with whom he has three children, from 1889 to 1920, he was later controversially remarried to American actress, Rita Hayworth in 1942, almost two decades after the grand duchess's passing. His second marriage, in stark contrast to the first, became a subject of considerable notoriety, particularly due to the couple's differing Christian denominations, along with the noticeably large age difference between the two. Nevertheless, he later fathered two children with the actress, both of whom were initially disqualified from the line of succession due to their mother's Catholic faith, but were later restored to the line of succession decades after the prince's death in 1962, thanks to the Succession to the Crown Act 1997 spearheaded by his great grand nephew, William VI.
Prior to his death on December 1962, he was the last living legitimate descendant of the late King William V, having also been the youngest of the king's four legitimate children. However, in overall terms, he was succeeded by his youngest half brother, Frederick FitzRoy, 1st Viscount FitzRoy, whom passed away in 1992 at the age of ninety-six, and was the youngest illegitimate child of his father and British socialite, Alice Keppel.
Early Life
Personal Information
Titles & Honours
- 7 May 1869 - 11 January 1889 His Royal Highness The Prince George
- 11 January 1889 - 30 December 1962 His Royal Highness The Duke of Southampton
Honours
Ancestry
| Ancestors of Prince George, Duke of Southampton |
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