Early life Augustus Frederick was born on 27 January 1773 at
Buckingham House, London. He was the ninth child and sixth son of King
George III and
Queen Charlotte. Augustus Frederick was baptised in the Great Council Chamber at
St James's Palace, on 25 February 1773, by
Archbishop of Canterbury Frederick Cornwallis. His godparents were the
Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (his paternal first cousin once-removed, for whom the
Earl of Hertford,
Lord Chamberlain, stood proxy),
Duke George Augustus of Mecklenburg (his maternal uncle, for whom the
Earl of Bristol,
Groom of the Stool, stood proxy) and
Princess Charles of Hesse-Cassel (his first cousin once-removed, for whom the
Viscountess Weymouth,
Lady of the Bedchamber to the queen, stood proxy). Augustus Frederick was tutored at home before being sent to the
University of Göttingen in
Germany in the summer of 1786, along with his brothers
Prince Ernest and
Prince Adolphus. Prince Augustus, who suffered from
asthma, did not join his brothers in receiving military training in
Hanover. He briefly considered becoming a
cleric in the
Church of England. In 1805, during the
Napoleonic War, he served at home in Britain as Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant of the "Loyal North Britons" Volunteers regiment.
First marriage , While travelling in
Italy, the prince met
Lady Augusta Murray (1768–1830), the second daughter of the
4th Earl of Dunmore. The couple secretly married in
Rome on 4 April 1793. The King's minister of Hanover affairs
Ernst zu Münster was sent to Italy to escort him back to London. The couple married again without revealing their full identities at
St George's, Hanover Square,
Westminster, on 5 December 1793. Both marriages took place without the consent, or even the knowledge, of his father. In August 1794, the
Court of Arches pronounced the prince's first marriage
null and void on the grounds that it contravened the
Royal Marriages Act 1772, not having been approved by the King. However, Prince Augustus Frederick continued to live with Lady Augusta until 1801, when he received a parliamentary grant of £12,000 and the couple separated, the Duke moving to
Grosvenor Square. Lady Augusta retained custody of their children and received maintenance of £4,000 a year. Their two children were named
Augustus Frederick d'Este and
Augusta Emma d'Este, both parents being descended from the royal
House of Este. In 1806, their mother, Lady Augusta, was given royal licence to use the surname "de Ameland" instead of Murray.
Duke of Sussex and Knight of the Garter , by
James Lonsdale, Augustus Frederick was invested as a
Knight of the Garter on 2 June 1786, and installed by dispensation on 28 May 1801. The King created him
Duke of Sussex,
Earl of Inverness, and
Baron Arklow in the
Peerage of the United Kingdom on 24 November 1801. Since he had no legitimate issue, the title became extinct on his death in 1843. In 1815 the Duke became a patron of the Jews' Hospital and Orphan Asylum, later to become the charity known today as
Norwood. Royal patronage continued, with King
Charles III eventually becoming Norwood's patron.
Mistresses A known mistress was Mrs. Bugge. Sir William Dillon recorded in his diary they were both present with him at a party held by
Emma Hamilton (
Lord Nelson's mistress) where she rented tableware for the meal but neglected to rent a carving knife, creating great difficulty in serving the Christmas dinner to her guests.
United Grand Lodge of England In January 1813, Augustus Frederick became Grand Master of the
Premier Grand Lodge of England, and in December of that year his brother,
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, became Grand Master of the
Antient Grand Lodge of England. On 27 December 1813 the
United Grand Lodge of England was constituted at
Freemasons' Hall, London with Prince Augustus Frederick as Grand Master. In 1842, he founded the
Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution. George Oliver's
Signs and Symbols Illustrated and Explained in a Course of Twelve Lectures on Freemasonry (1837) was dedicated to Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex.
Second marriage A year after the death of Lady Augusta D'Ameland (Lady Augusta Murray), the Duke of Sussex married a second time on 2 May 1831 (again in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act) to
Lady Cecilia Letitia Buggin (1793–1873), the eldest daughter of
Arthur Gore, 2nd Earl of Arran, and Elizabeth Underwood, and the widow of Sir George Buggin. On the same day, Lady Cecilia assumed the surname Underwood by royal licence. She was never titled or recognized as the Duchess of Sussex. However, she was created
Duchess of Inverness in her own right by Queen Victoria in 1840.
Later life , King
William IV appointed his younger brother Chief Ranger and Keeper of
St James's Park and
Hyde Park on 29 January 1831, and
Queen Victoria appointed her uncle Governor of
Windsor Castle in 1842. The Duke of Sussex was elected president of the
Society of Arts in 1816 and held that post for the rest of his life. He also held the honorary posts of Colonel of the
Honourable Artillery Company from 1817, and of Captain-General (at which point the posts were united) from 1837 onward. His personal library contained over 50,000 theological manuscripts, some in Hebrew. In 1838, he introduced in a meeting scientist
John Herschel, and the Duke gave a speech in which he spoke about the compatibility of science and religion: ,
London (February 2025) The Duke of Sussex was the favourite uncle of Queen Victoria. He gave her away at her wedding to
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1840. The Duke of Sussex died, aged 70 of
erysipelas, at
Kensington Palace He is buried in front of the main chapel, immediately opposite the tomb of his sister
Princess Sophia. The
Duchess of Inverness continued to reside at
Kensington Palace until her death in 1873. She was buried next to Prince Augustus. == Titles, styles, honours and arms ==