Figure 1.-- This 1699 portrait of William Henry Duke of Gloucester was painted by by Godfrey Kneller. William looks healthy here, but died the next year. Notice that the royals were still pictured in medieval suits of armor.

The portrait here shows Crown Prince William in 1699, only a year before his death. William looks healthy here, but of course it was not a porttrait and artists were expected to make their subjects look as good as possible. His father was Prince George (Oldenburg) of Denmark (1653- ). His parents were King Christian IV (Oldenburg) of Denmark (1577- ). His mother was Princess Anne Catherine (Hohenzollern) (1575- ). William was born at Hampton Court Palace at Richmond near London (1689). We have been able to find lvery little information about Prince William's childhood. William was styled Duke of Gloucester, but died July 29, 1700 before the great seal was put to his patent. William was one of the Queen's many children. William lived longer than most of his brothers and sisters. Historians believe that a bood disorder prevented Anne from having healthy children. Historians disagre as to just why William died. We have noted a variety of assessments. One source reports that William died of hydrocephalus. [Weir] Anotgher source suggests two very different reasons, either scarlet fever or health problems developing because of the frequent whippings to which he was subjected. [Complete Peerage]

Sources

The Complete Peerage vol.V, p.743.

Weir

Created: 12:56 AM 2/6/2005
Last updated: 12:56 AM 2/6/2005