Prince William of Gloucester (1941-1972)


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I see your point, Kataryn. It was wise to keep the two sons of Louis and Tessy, that is, Gabriel and Noah, on the same level.
 
How have the Luxembourgs and their marriages become a topic for discussion on a thread about William of Gloucester, a British Prince?
 
:previous: It's because of the discussion of Prince William of Gloucester and morganatic marriage.
 
Thank you so much for the link to your Tumblr - it's excellent!
 
Yes a great tumblr about Prince William, a dashing young man who became very handsome and died far too young.
 
Was Prince William a godfather?
If Yes, who were his godchildren?

The Peerage indicated that Alexander William Stonor-Saunders is the son of Donald Saunders and Hon. Julia Stonor. He was educated at St. Andrews University.
It is nice that Alexander has his godfather William's name as his first middle name.

When heir to his father the Duke of Gloucester, William was known as HRH Prince William of Gloucester, not HRH the Earl of Ulster, his father's second title.
 
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Wikipedia's (imcomplete) list of godchildren of members of the British Royal Family lists Alexander William Joseph Stonor-Saunders (born 1964) as Prince William's godchildren. It doesn't list any additional godchildren, but again it's an incomplete list.
 
When heir to his father the Duke of Gloucester, William was known as HRH Prince William of Gloucester, not HRH the Earl of Ulster, his father's second title.


That's because you only use a courtesy title if you don't have one of your own. Earl of Ulster would have been a courtesy title, while Prince was his own title.

Similarly, Charles was never Earl of Merioneth, William was never Earl of Chester (or Earl of Carrick, or Baron Greenwich), George is not Earl of Strathearn... The current Dukes of Kent and Gloucester did not use courtesy titles prior to becoming peers either.

The only recent exception is Viscount Severn, who uses the style by courtesy only because he is not styled as a royal.
 
Prince Charles was close to his uncle, Lord Mountbatten, who was killed by terrorists. Was this Prince William gay? To be 30 and unmarried at that time seems a bit unusual.
Er- yes. William was handsome, went to Eton where all the boys had affairs, and had to be rescued while on holiday in Morocco with a most unsuitable flamboyant homosexual by the then hidebound British government because he spent too long in male brothels- apparently, and it was in danger of becoming public knowledge. He did also like older married women- mostly as cover for his real predilections. Several friends/lovers of his, including ex- teachers/authors/judges who were with him at Eton, clearly knew very well that his true affections were not exactly going to enamour him to the establishment at the time, sadly for him. Thank god things have changed to a large extent, tho if a senior member of the royal family came out as gay nowadays one wonders. I'm sure the public would be extremely supportive.
 
Had history turned out differently, Zsuzsi Starkloff may well have been a member of the English aristocracy. Her title, Duchess of Gloucester, would bring with it an apartment in Kensington Palace and a sprawling estate in Northamptonshire.
Instead, the 79-year-old former model lives in a modest home in Colorado. Look closely though and there are hints of a more exotic past, in the photos scattered about and in the signet ring she wears on a chain around her neck - it bears the initial 'W' for William, the name of her former lover.
This was not just any William either. The ring belonged to Prince William of Gloucester, the Queen's cousin, a dashing young man who captured Zsuzsi's heart. Theirs was a passionate 60s love affair that caused panic in Establishment circles: Hungarian, twice divorced with a daughter - not to mention Jewish - Zsuzsi was not considered a suitable bride, certainly not for a prince who, when born, was fourth in line to the throne.

Tragedy of the other Prince William:*How the dashing but doomed young royal's affair put the Palace in a spin | Daily Mail Online
 
What a wonderful article and a very good insight into the life and times of William. He certainly was a very handsome young man and unfortunately died too young.

Its amazing too to be able to see how remarkably changed the attitude of "suitability" has changed in such a relatively short time.
 
I agree. It´s a pity there are only a few photos of him available...
 
There probably are more photographs out there. He was a constant in the Royal Family for a very long time.
 
The Queen's dashing cousin William of Gloucester died in 1972 when his light aircraft crashed to the ground in an air race. But his secret Hungarian lover has never forgotten about their 'fairytale' romance

Although it is usually tucked away from sight, Zsuzsi Starkloff still wears the same necklace every day.

A chain carrying a signet ring carved with the letter 'W’, it is the legacy of a love affair which unfolded nearly half a century ago.

It changed her life – and if things had turned out differently it may well have changed the course of history too.

The 'W’ stands for Prince William of Gloucester, the Queen’s cousin and a handsome young royal who was fourth in line to the throne.
Read more: The other Prince William - TelegraphRead
 
I'm glad some light is being put on William of Gloucester, because he's not a royal that's really talked about. I'll be watching.
 
Out of interest I looked at the New York Times archive. You only can read the whole articles if you pay, but the headlines are enough :D

June 15, 1963

Prince Will Attend Stanford

Prince Will Attend Stanford - Article - NYTimes.com

November 29, 1963

British Prince Is Arrested On Coast Traffic Charge

Prince William was cited by a last night for sports car across the in the Los Altos hills.

British Prince Is Arrested On Coast Traffic Charge - Article - NYTimes.com

December 17, 1963

British Prince Gets an 'A' for Work at Stanford; But Elizabeth's Cousin Plans to Stop Seeking Master's He Wants to Chart Career in Commonwealth Relations

British Prince Gets an 'A' for Work at Stanford - But Elizabeth's Cousin Plans to Stop Seeking Master's He Wants to Chart Career in Commonwealth Relations - Article - NYTimes.com

February 25, 1964

Prince Fails Test For British Post On Second Attempt oops

Prince William of Gloucester, one of Queen Elizabeth's fa*vorite cousins, has failed a Civil Service entrance examination for the second and last time, it was announced today.

The 22‐year‐old Prince is tak*ing a post‐graduate course in economics at Stanford Univer*sity in California.

A family spokesman said Prince William had been in*formed that he had failed the examination for entry into the Commonwealth Relations Of*fice.

“This is the second time he has taken the examination, the first being when he was at Cambridge, and unluckily he has just failed each time,” the spokesman said.

“Unfortunately, under the regulations he cannot have an*other go.”

“Prince William is naturally very disappointed,” the spokes*man added. “He had hoped that he might be able to do a useful job in this field.”

The Prince completes his year at Stanford this summer. He is expected to spend the Easter vacation at home in Britain.

“Obviously he will be discus*sing his future with his parents,” the spokesman said.

The Prince's father, the Duke of Gloucester, who is the third son of King George V, had planned a military career for his son. But the Prince chose otherwise.

http://www.nytimes.com/1964/02/25/prince-fails-test-for-british-post-on-second-attempt.html

January 05, 1965

British Prince Takes Job LONDON, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Prince William of Gloucester, 23-year-old cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, began today a $42a-week job as an apprentice in the

British Prince Takes Job - Article - NYTimes.com

October 05, 1965

Prince Begins Training LONDON, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Prince William of Gloucester, a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, started a .month s training today for his much- past as a diplomat.


July 17, 1970

LONDON, July 16 (AP) Prince William of Gloucester, the 28-year-old first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, has resigned from the diplomatic service, the Foreign Office announced today.

British Prince Quits as Diplomat - Article - NYTimes.com
 
What was the name of the merchant bank in which Prince William worked?
 
He worked at Lazards merchant bank for a little while.
 
Apart from them both liking flying, I can't see any possible paralells.
 
They have to fill up pages, I wouldn't mind if they didn't go into a "look at the similarities" when there aren't any. William was called William because the name wasn't in use after W of Gloucester died, and I suppose partly as a tribute to him. and they boht liked flying. And that's about it.
 
Prince William was a pageboy at the 1946 Wedding of the Viscountess of Clive and Brigadier Derek Schreiber.
 
^^ That old footage from the 1946 wedding in Canberra is so cool, especially with the voice-over narrator commenting about the young Prince William of Gloucester acting as the pageboy and somewhat stealing the spotlight rather innocently, in a similar vein to Prince George at Pippa Middleton's recent wedding. :D

The fact that Queen Mary is said to have doted on her grandson, Prince William of Gloucester, may be partly because he bore a physical resemblance to her epileptic (and possibly autistic) son, Prince John, who died at age 13 in 1919, after suffering a severe seizure.

Prince William of Gloucester
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/find-a-grave-prod/photos/2005/40/12388_110804737075.jpg

Prince John of the United Kingdom
http://royalty-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/John-2.jpg
http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/10/285x214/71284_1.jpg

They definitely share an uncanny resemblance.
 
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