Prince George, Duke of Cambridge

Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, (George William Frederick Charles; 26 March 1819 – 17 March 1904) was a member of the British Royal Family, a male-line grandson of King George III, cousin of Queen Victoria, and maternal uncle of Queen Mary, consort of King George V. The Duke was an army officer by profession and served as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces (military head of the British Army) from 1856 to 1895. He became Duke of Cambridge in 1850 and field marshal in 1862. Deeply devoted to the old Army, he worked with Queen Victoria to defeat or minimise every reform proposal, such as setting up a general staff. His Army became a moribund and stagnant institution, lagging far behind the French Army and the German Army. Its weaknesses were dramatically revealed by the poor organisation at the start of the Second Boer War.

Not to be confused with Prince George of Cambridge.

Prince George
Duke of Cambridge
Born	26 March 1819 Cambridge House, Hanover
Died	17 March 1904(1904-03-17) (aged 84) Gloucester House, Piccadilly
Burial	22 March 1904 Kensal Green Cemetery, London
Spouse	Sarah Fairbrother ​ ( m. 1847; died 1890)
Issue	George FitzGeorge Adolphus FitzGeorge Augustus FitzGeorge
Full name George William Frederick Charles
House	Hanover
Father	Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge
Mother	Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel
Occupation	Military
Military career
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	Field marshal
Commands held	Commander-in-Chief of the Forces

Early life

Prince George was born at Cambridge House in Hanover, Germany.[1] His father was Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, the 10th child and seventh son of King George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.[1] His mother was the Duchess of Cambridge (née Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel).[2]

He was baptised at Cambridge House on 11 May 1819, by the Reverend John Sanford, his father's Domestic Chaplain. His godparents were the Prince Regent (represented by the Duke of Clarence and St Andrews), the Duke of Clarence and St Andrews (represented by the 4th Earl of Mayo) and the Dowager Queen of Württemberg (represented by the Countess of Mayo).[3]

Military career

Prince George of Cambridge was educated in Hanover and from 1830 in England by the Rev. J. R. Wood, a canon of Worcester Cathedral.[2] Like his father, he embarked upon a military career initially becoming a colonel in the Hanoverian Army and then, on 3 November 1837, becoming a brevet colonel in the British Army.[4] He was attached to the staff at Gibraltar from October 1838 to April 1839.[1] After serving in Ireland with the 12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's), he was appointed substantive lieutenant-colonel of the 8th Light Dragoons on 15 April 1842[5] and colonel of the 17th Lancers on 25 April 1842.[1]

From 1843 to 1845, he served as a colonel on the staff in the Ionian islands,[1] then was promoted Major-General on 7 May 1845.[6] He succeeded to his father's titles of Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Tipperary, and Baron Culloden on 8 July 1850.[1]

The storm in Balaklava Bay on 14 November 1854, during which HRH was on board the steam frigate HMS Retribution

The Duke of Cambridge became Inspector of the Cavalry in 1852.[1] In February 1854, at an early stage in the Crimean War, he received command of the 1st Division (Guards and Highland brigades) of the British army in the East.[7] On 19 June 1854, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general.[8]

Collodion of Prince George, 1855, by Roger Fenton

He was present at the battles of the Alma,[7] Balaclava and Inkerman,[7] and at the siege of Sevastopol.[2]

Owing to illness the Earl of Cardigan returned first to Malta and then to England: before the conclusion of the campaign he was back in London.[9] Meanwhile, Lord Raglan died at 9.30 pm on 28 June 1855 from dysentery and Field Marshal Viscount Hardinge, the serving general commanding-in-chief, was forced to resign in July 1856, on grounds of ill-health.[10]

On 5 July 1856, the Duke was appointed general commanding-in-chief of the British Army,[7] a post that was retitled field marshal commanding-in-chief on 9 November 1862 and commander-in-chief of the forces by Letters Patent on 20 November 1887.[11] In that capacity he served as the chief military advisor to the Secretary of State for War, with responsibility for the administration of the army and the command of forces in the field. He was promoted to the rank of general on 15 July 1856[12] and to the rank of field marshal on 9 November 1862.[13]

Policies

The Duke of Cambridge served as commander-in-chief for 39 years.[7] Although he was deeply concerned about the welfare of soldiers, he earned a reputation for being resistant to doctrinal change and for making promotions based upon an officer's social standing, rather than merit. Under his command, the British Army became a moribund and stagnant institution, lagging far behind its continental counterparts. There were no new ideas. It is said that he rebuked one of his more intelligent subordinates with the words: "Brains? I don't believe in brains! You haven't any, I know, Sir!" He was equally forthright on his reluctance to adopt change: "There is a time for everything, and the time for change is when you can no longer help it."[14]

Equestrian statue of the Duke of Cambridge, Whitehall

Early in his term he encouraged the army to trial various breech-loading carbines for the cavalry, one of which—the Westley-Richards—was so effective that it was decided to investigate the possibility of producing a version for the infantry. In 1861, 100 were issued to five infantry battalions; in 1863, an order of 2,000 was placed for further trials.[15] He was also involved in the creation of the Staff College, the Royal Military School of Music, and became governor of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich:[16] he further sought to improve the efficiency of the army by advocating a scheme of annual military manoeuvres.[2] In 1860, he introduced a new system to restrict corporal punishment: soldiers were then eligible for flogging only in cases of aggravated mutinous conduct during wartime, unless they committed an offence serious enough to degrade to the second class and make them once again subject to corporal punishment. A year's good behaviour would return them to the first class, meaning that only a hard core of incorrigible offenders tended to be flogged.[17]

Opposition to reforms

In the wake of the Prussian victory in the 1870–71 Franco-Prussian War, the Liberal Party government of Prime Minister William Gladstone and Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell called for the Army to undergo major reforms.[18] Cardwell succeeded in pushing through a number of reforms, including one that made the Commander-in-Chief nominally report to the Secretary of State for War.[19]

The Duke was opposed to most of the reforms because they struck at the heart of his view of the Army. According to Theo Aronson, he "stoutly resisted almost every attempt at reform or modernization."[20] He feared that the newly created force of reservists would be of little use in a colonial conflict, and that expeditionary forces would have to strip the most experienced men from the home-based battalions in order to fill the gaps in their ranks.[2] His fears seemed to be confirmed in 1873, when Wolseley raided battalions for the expedition against the Ashanti. In 1881, when the historic numbers of regiments were abolished and facing colours standardised for English, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish regiments, the duke protested that regimental spirit would be degraded; the majority of facing colours were restored by World War I, although their numbers were not.[2]

The reforming impetus, however, continued. Parliament passed the War Office Act 1870, which formally subordinated the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces to the Secretary of State for War and abolished the custom of purchasing an office which had done much to instil elitism in the form of discipline and training. The Duke of Cambridge strongly resented this move, a sentiment shared by a majority of officers, who would no longer be able to sell their commissions when they retired.[2]

Pressures for reform built up as the Duke of Cambridge aged; his strongest ally was his cousin Queen Victoria. While the Queen insisted on reform, she was also protective of the Household brigades, and their long association and traditions. An 1890 royal commission led by Lord Hartington (later the 8th Duke of Devonshire) criticised the administration of the War Office and recommended the devolution of authority from the Commander-in-Chief to subordinate military officers.[2] A number of reformers opposed to the duke banded together, including Campbell-Bannerman and Lansdowne, the Liberal and Conservative Secretaries for War. The leading generals eager to replace him were Wolseley, Buller, Roberts, and the Duke of Connaught. The Duke of Cambridge was forced to resign his post on 1 November 1895, and was succeeded by Lord Wolseley.[21]

Historian Correlli Barnett blames the failures in the Second Boer War on the Duke, stressing the Army's "Lack of organization, ignorant and casual officers, inferior human material in the ranks" as well as "soldiers drilled to machine-like movements [versus the Boer] with a rifle working on his own initiative."[22]

Funerary monument, Kensal Green Cemetery, London

Friend of Haig

During the Duke's long career he helped to further the career progress of Douglas Haig, a talented and able young officer, who succeeded through Staff College to gain promotion. As Commander-in-Chief, the Duke was able to admit any candidate to the College so long as they passed three out of eight of the tests. Haig, who was also acquainted with Sir Evelyn Wood, left for India in 1893 knowing that the Duke had also made a friend of Henrietta Jameson (née Haig), his older sister. The Duke's nomination was made in 1894 and 1895, but Haig did not take up the place until 15 January 1896 under Army Regulations Order 72 (1896). The Duke, who was replaced by Lord Wolseley, after 32 years was not the only patron of preferment. The Staff College was not intended to educate a General Staff until much later in its historical development. However the traditional system of informal patronage was gradually giving way to more than gifted amateurs.[23]

On 22 November 1909 the reforms to which Haig, as Director of Staff Duties was a part, abolished the post of Commander-in-Chief which the Duke had made his own. In setting up the Army Council, with its head being called the Chief of the General Staff by Order in Council, the Liberal government separated the army from the monarchy.[24]

Marriage and mistress

It is believed William IV, who had been his godfather when Duke of Clarence, had George brought up at Windsor in hope of his eventual marriage to his cousin Princess Victoria of Kent, who was two months younger. This prospective match was favoured by George's own parents, but was forestalled by Victoria's uncle Leopold I of Belgium. He secured Victoria's betrothal to his nephew, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which became formal after she succeeded to the British throne. In 1839 Queen Victoria wrote to Albert about George's father: "The Duke told Lord Melbourne he had always greatly desired our marriage, and never thought of George: but that I don't believe."[25] George was one of a range of suitors considered by Victoria, the most prominent of whom, Prince Alexander of the Netherlands, was openly favoured by William.[26]

The Duke of Cambridge made no secret of his view that "arranged marriages were doomed to failure." He was married privately and in contravention of the 1772 Royal Marriages Act at St. John's Church, Clerkenwell, London, on 8 January 1847 to Sarah Fairbrother (1816 – 12 January 1890), the daughter of John Fairbrother, a servant in Westminster. Sarah Fairbrother (whose stage name was Louisa)[27] had been an actress since 1827, performing at Drury Lane, the Lyceum, and Covent Garden Theatre. As the marriage was contrary to the Royal Marriages Act, the Duke's wife was not titled Duchess of Cambridge or accorded the style Her Royal Highness, nor was their son born after the marriage eligible to succeed to the Duke's titles. Indeed, Sarah's very existence was ignored by the Queen. Instead, Sarah called herself "Mrs. Fairbrother" and later "Mrs. FitzGeorge". The Duke was a very weak man where women were concerned, and it seems likely that he had been cajoled into marriage by Sarah (then pregnant for the fifth time), she herself obtaining the licence. Legend has created for the couple an ideal relationship that is far from the reality; the Duke having other affairs.[28]

From 1837 the Duke had known Louisa Beauclerk, whom he later described as "the idol of my life and my existence." He saw much of her in 1847, and she was his mistress from at least 1849 until her death in 1882. As early as 1849 he had decided that he would be buried near Beauclerk and it was solely on her account that Sarah Fairbrother and he were deposited in the mausoleum in Kensal Green Cemetery, west of the main chapel, about sixty feet away from Beauclerk's grave.[29]

Later life

The Duke of Cambridge served as colonel-in-chief of the 17th Lancers,[30] Royal Artillery[31] and Royal Engineers;[31] The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own)[32] and King's Royal Rifle Corps;[33] colonel of the Grenadier Guards;[34] honorary colonel of the 10th (Duke of Cambridge’s Own) Bengal Lancers,[35] 20th Duke of Cambridge's Own Punjabis,[36] 4 Battalion Suffolk Regiment,[37] 1st City of London Volunteer Brigade[38] and the Scots Fusilier Guards.[39] He became the ranger of Hyde Park and St. James's Park in 1852,[40] and of Richmond Park in 1857; governor of the Royal Military Academy in 1862,[16] and its president in 1870.[41] He was the patron of the Oxford Military College from 1876–1896.[42]

Cambridge's strength and hearing began to fade in his later years. He was unable to ride at Queen Victoria's funeral and had to attend in a carriage.[43] He paid his last visit to Germany in August 1903.[2] He died of a haemorrhage of the stomach in 1904 at Gloucester House, Piccadilly, London.[2] His remains were buried five days later next to those of his wife in Kensal Green Cemetery, London.[2]

In 1904, his estate was probated at under £121,000 sterling.[44]

The Duke is today commemorated by an equestrian statue standing on Whitehall in central London; it is positioned outside the front door of the War Office that he so strongly resisted.[45]

Titles, styles and honours

Titles and styles

• 26 March 1819 – 8 July 1850: His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge
• 8 July 1850 – 17 March 1904: His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge

As the male-line grandson of a King of Hanover, Prince George of Cambridge also bore the titles of 'Prince of Hanover' and 'Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg'.

His title, 'Duke of Cambridge', fell into extinction upon his death. It was not revived until 107 years later, when Elizabeth II awarded the title to her grandson, Prince William, on 29 April 2011, the day of his wedding.[46][47]

Honours

British:

• KG: Knight of the Garter, 1835[48]
• KT: Knight of the Thistle, 1881[49]
• KP: Knight of St Patrick, 1851[49]
• PC (GB): Privy Counsellor (Great Britain), 1856[49]
• PC (I): Privy Counsellor (Ireland), 21 April 1868[49]
• GCB: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, 1855[49]
• GCSI: Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India, 1877[50]
• GCMG: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George, 1877[51]
• GCIE: Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire, 1887[52]
• GCVO: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, 1897[53]
• KJStJ: Knight of Justice of the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, 1896[54]
• VD: Volunteer Decoration[55]
• ADC(P): Personal Aide-de-Camp to the Sovereign, 1895[56]
• Hon DCL Doctor of Civil Law, Oxford University, 1853[49]
• Hon LLD Doctor of Laws, Cambridge University, 1864[49]
• Hon LLD Doctor of Laws, Dublin University, 1868[49]

Foreign:

• Knight of St. George, 1839 (Hanover)[57]
• Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order, 1825 (Hanover)[58][49]
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Henry the Lion, 1835 (Brunswick)[59]
• Knight Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, September 1843 (France)[60]
• Knight of St. Andrew, 1874 (Russia)[49]
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Golden Lion, 18 December 1844 (Hesse-Kassel)[49]
• Knight of the Elephant, 26 March 1867 (Denmark)[61]
• Knight of the Gold Lion of Nassau, September 1859 (Nassau)[62]
• Knight of the House Order of Fidelity, 1856 (Baden)[63]
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Zähringer Lion, 1856 (Baden)[64]
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword, 8 January 1866 (Portugal)[65]

Issue

The Duke of Cambridge and Mrs. FitzGeorge had three sons, two of whom were born before their marriage in contravention to the Royal Marriages Act 1772, and all of whom pursued military careers.

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
George FitzGeorge	24 August 1843	2 September 1907	m. Rosa Baring; had issue
Adolphus FitzGeorge	30 January 1846	17 December 1922	m. (1) Sofia Holden; had issue (Olga FitzGeorge); (2) Margaret Watson; no issue
Augustus FitzGeorge	12 June 1847	30 October 1933	Col Sir Augustus FitzGeorge, KCVO, CB

Ancestors

Ancestors of Prince George, Duke of Cambridge

8. Frederick, Prince of Wales 4. George III of the United Kingdom 9. Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha 2. Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge 10. Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 5. Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 11. Princess Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen 1. Prince George, Duke of Cambridge 12. Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel 6. Prince Frederick of Hesse-Kassel 13. Princess Mary of Great Britain 3. Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel 14. Charles William, Prince of Nassau-Usingen 7. Princess Caroline of Nassau-Usingen 15. Countess Caroline Felizitas of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg

Notes

1. Heathcote, p. 141
2. "Prince George, Duke of Cambridge". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33372. Retrieved 3 March 2012. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
3. "No. 17479". The London Gazette. 22 May 1819. p. 881.
4. "No. 19555". The London Gazette. 3 November 1837. p. 2797.
5. "No. 20091". The London Gazette. 15 April 1842. p. 1047.
6. "No. 20469". The London Gazette. 9 May 1845. p. 1395.
7. Heathcote, p. 142
8. "No. 21564". The London Gazette. 22 June 1854. p. 1931.
9. "The King and his Navy and Army" 26 March 1904
10. George, HRH Duke of Cambridge, Letters and Diaries, vol.1, pp.114-124
11. "No. 25762". The London Gazette. 29 November 1887. p. 6604.
12. "No. 21902". The London Gazette. 15 July 1856. p. 2485.
13. "No. 22679". The London Gazette. 10 November 1862. p. 5343.
14. "After the triumph of the Royal Wedding, now we need a stronger monarchy". The Freedom Association. 30 April 2011. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
15. "HBSA lecture Monday 15 March 2010 at Imperial War Museum – Westley Richards Monkeytails". 3 June 2010. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
16. "No. 22600". The London Gazette. 21 February 1862. p. 898.
17. "Flogging in the Army". The Times. 14 January 1860. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
18. Ensor, p. 16
19. Spiers (1994)
20. Aronson, Theo (1981). Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone. London: Cassell. p. 76. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
21. Brian Bond, "The Retirement of the Duke of Cambridge", Journal of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies (1961), Vol. 106 Issue 624, pp. 544–553.
22. Correlli Barnett, Britain and Her Army 1509-1970: A Military, Political and Social Survey (1970) p. 340
23. Reid, pp. 65–66
24. Reid, p. 168
25. Fulford, Roger (1973). Royal Dukes, The Father and Uncles of Queen Victoria. Fontana. pp. 300–301. ISBN 0-00-633589-6.
26. Longford, Elizabeth (1964). Victoria R.I. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 51–52. ISBN 0-297-17001-5.
27. Countess of Athlone, Princess Alice (1966). For my Grandchildren. London: Evans Brothers. p. 110. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
28. Anthony J. Camp, Royal Mistresses and Bastards: Fact and Fiction 1714–1936 (London, 2007) pp. 330–38.
29. Camp, op.cit., p. 339.
30. "No. 24338". The London Gazette. 20 June 1876. p. 3563.
31. "No. 26676". The London Gazette. 1 November 1895. p. 5923.
32. "No. 26992". The London Gazette. 2 August 1898. p. 4651.
33. "No. 23479". The London Gazette. 16 March 1869. p. 1696.
34. "No. 22598". The London Gazette. 14 February 1862. p. 774.
35. Heathcote, p.143
36. "No. 25265". The London Gazette. 31 August 1883. p. 4276.
37. "No. 26311". The London Gazette. 29 July 1892. p. 4317.
38. "No. 22361". The London Gazette. 28 February 1860. p. 852.
39. "No. 21362". The London Gazette. 28 September 1852. p. 2573.
40. "No. 21371". The London Gazette. 22 October 1852. p. 2760.
41. "No. 23598". The London Gazette. 15 March 1870. p. 1737.
42. "Visit by the Duke of Cambridge, Oxford Military College". Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
43. "No. 27316". The London Gazette. 22 May 1901. p. 3552.
44. Spiers, Edward M. (2004). "Prince George, Duke of Cambridge". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33372. Retrieved 10 February 2008. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
45. "Duke of Cambridge Statue, Whitehall". Hansard. 19 November 1928. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
46. "Kate and William become Duke and Duchess of Cambridge". BBC News. 29 April 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
47. This did not become official until 26 May 2011, when Letters Patent to that effect were signed and recorded in the Crown Office on the Roll of the Peerage.
48. "No. 19301". The London Gazette. 28 August 1835. p. 1643.
49. The Complete Peerage, Volume II. St Catherine's Press. 1912. p. 499.
50. "No. 24467". The London Gazette. 2 June 1877. p. 3498.
51. "No. 24464". The London Gazette. 30 May 1877. p. 3442.
52. "No. 25712". The London Gazette. 21 June 1887. p. 3365.
53. "No. 26871". The London Gazette. 9 July 1897. p. 3819.
54. "No. 26725". The London Gazette. 27 March 1896. p. 1960.
55. Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed and Official Classes, 1895. Kelly's. p. 227.
56. "No. 26676". The London Gazette. 1 November 1895. p. 5922.
57. Königliche Orden und Ehrenzeichen. Hof-und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Hannover. 1865. p. 37.
58. "House of Guelph". Retrieved 3 March 2012.
59. Braunschweigisches Adreßbuch für das Jahr 1896. Braunschweig 1896. Meyer. p. 3
60. M. & B. Wattel. (2009). Les Grand'Croix de la Légion d'honneur de 1805 à nos jours. Titulaires français et étrangers. Paris: Archives & Culture. p. 460. ISBN 978-2-35077-135-9.
61. Kongelig Dansk Hof-og Statskalendar (1878) (in Danish), "De Kongelig Danske Ridderordener", p. 4
62. Staats- und Adreß-Handbuch des Herzogthums Nassau (1866), "Herzogliche Orden" p. 8
63. Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden (1862), "Großherzogliche Orden" p. 33
64. Hof- und Staats-Handbuch ... Baden (1862), "Großherzogliche Orden" p. 44
65. Bragança, Jose Vicente de (2014). "Agraciamentos Portugueses Aos Príncipes da Casa Saxe-Coburgo-Gota" [Portuguese Honours awarded to Princes of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]. Pro Phalaris (in Portuguese). 9–10: 13. Retrieved 28 November 2019.

Bibliography

• Cambridge, George, HRH Duke of (1906). Edgar Sheppard (ed.). George, Duke of Cambridge: A Memoir of his Private Life of Based on the journals and correspondence of His Royal Highness. 2 vols. Longmans & Co.
• Barnett, Correlli (1970). Britain and Her Army 1509-1970: A Military, Political and Social Survey. Allen Lane. ISBN 978-0713901122.
• Beckett, Ian F.W. A British Profession of Arms: The Politics of Command in the Late Victorian Army (U of Oklahoma Press, 2018).
• Ensor, R.C.K. (1963). England 1870–1914, The Oxford history of England 14, New edition. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-285261-2.
• St.Aubyn, Giles (1963). The Royal George, 1819–1904: The Life of HRH Prince George, Duke of Cambridge. London: Constable. ISBN 978-0571281701.
• Heathcote, Tony (1999). The British Field Marshals 1736–1997. Pen & Sword Books Ltd. ISBN 0-85052-696-5.
• Parker, Erasmus; Verner, William (2009) [1906]. The Military Life of the Duke of Cambridge. 2 vols. ISBN 978-1113265166.
• Reid, Walter (2006). Architect of Victory: Douglas Haig. Birlinn. ISBN 978-1841585178.
• Searle, Geoffrey Russell (2004). A New England?: Peace and War, 1886-1918. Oxford U.P. ISBN 9780198207146.
• Spiers, Edward M. (1992). The Late Victorian Army, 1868-1902. Manchester History of the British Army.
• Spiers, Edward M. (1994). David Chandler (ed.). The Late Victorian Army, 1868-1902. The Oxford History of the British Army. pp. 187–210.
• Spiers, Edward M. (2008). "George, Prince, Second Duke of Cambridge (1819–1904)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33372. Retrieved 10 February 2008. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Weir, Alison (1996). Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy. London: Pimlico. ISBN 978-0099539735.
• "The Late Duke of Cambridge". The Times (Obituary): 7. 19 March 1904.

External links

• "Archival material relating to Prince George, Duke of Cambridge". UK National Archives.
• National Portrait Gallery

Prince George, Duke of Cambridge House of Hanover Cadet branch of the House of Welf Born: 26 March 1819 Died: 17 March 1904
Military offices
Preceded by Sir Arthur Benjamin Clifton	Colonel of the 17th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Lancers) 1842–1852	Succeeded by Thomas William Taylor
Preceded by Prince Albert	Colonel of the Scots Fusilier Guards 1852–1861	Succeeded by Sir Alexander Woodford
Preceded by The Viscount Hardinge	Commander-in-Chief of the Forces 1856–1895	Succeeded by The Viscount Wolseley
Preceded by Prince Albert	Colonel of the Grenadier Guards 1861–1904	Succeeded by The Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
Other offices
Preceded by Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge	President of the Foundling Hospital 1851–1904	Succeeded by Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
Honorary titles
Preceded by Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge	Grand Master of the Order of St Michael and St George 1850–1904	Succeeded by George, Prince of Wales later became King George V
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Prince Adolphus	Duke of Cambridge 4th creation 1850–1904	Vacant Until 5th creation in 2011 Title next held by Prince William