Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British royal family, named after the historic county of Cumberland.
History The Earldom of Cumberland, created in 1525, became extinct in 1643. The dukedom was created in the Peerage of England in 1644 for Prince Rupert of the Rhine, nephew of King Charles I. When he died without male heirs, the title was created again in the Peerage of England in 1689 for Prince George of Denmark, husband of Princess Anne, later Queen Anne, younger daughter of King James II. He also died without heirs, in 1708. Neither of these men, however, was usually known by his peerage title.
The third creation, in the Peerage of Great Britain, was for Prince William, the third son of King George II. Other titles granted to Prince William were Marquess of Berkhampstead, Earl of Kennington, Viscount Trematon and Baron Alderney. Since the Prince died unmarried and without children, his titles became extinct at his death.
The titles Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn and Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale were later created in the Peerage of Great Britain.
List of titleholders
Dukes of Cumberland, first creation (1644)
| Prince RupertHouse of Wittelsbach1644–1682also: Earl of Holderness (1644) | | 17 December 1619Pragueson of Frederick V, Elector Palatine and Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia | Never married | 29 November 1682Westminsteraged 62 |- | colspan="5" |Nephew of Charles I, died without legitimate issue.
Dukes of Cumberland, second creation (1689)
| Prince GeorgeHouse of Oldenburg1689–1708also: Earl of Kendal and Baron Wokingham (1689) | | 2 June 1653Copenhagen Castleson of Frederick III of Denmark and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg | Anne28 July 16835 children | 28 October 1708Kensington Palaceaged 55 |- | colspan="5" |Husband of Queen Anne, died without surviving issue.
Dukes of Cumberland, third creation (1726)
|Prince William also Marquess of Berkhamsted, Earl of Kennington, Viscount Trematon and Baron Alderney (Great Britain, 1726) | |26 April 1721Leicester House, London son of George II of Great Britain and Caroline of Ansbach |Never married |31 October 1765 London aged 44 |- | colspan="5"|Also known as "Butcher" Cumberland and Sweet William.
Dukes of Cumberland and Strathearn (1766)
The sole title-holder was Prince Henry (1745–1790), third son of Frederick, Prince of Wales. He died without legitimate issue, when the dukedom again became extinct.
Dukes of Cumberland and Teviotdale (1799)
This double dukedom, in the Peerage of Great Britain, was bestowed on Prince Ernest Augustus (1771–1851) (later King of Hanover), the fifth son and eighth child of King George III of the United Kingdom and King of Hanover. In 1919, it was suspended under the Titles Deprivation Act 1917 and, , has not been restored to its titular heir.
Family trees
Duke of Cumberland in fiction Predating the title's first creation by eighty-three years, the Elizabethan play Gorboduc (1561) by Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville includes as a pivotal character Gwenard, Duke of Cumberland. In the political upheaval resulting from King Gorboduc's division of Britain and his subsequent death, Gwenard allies with Clotyn, Duke of Cornwall and Mandud, Duke of Leagre to suppress a rebellion led by Fergus, Duke of Albany in the latter's campaign for the throne.
Contract bridge An historic fixed bridge hand is known as the Duke of Cumberland hand. The hand also appeared in Ian Fleming's James Bond thriller, Moonraker.The Duke of Cumberland bridge hand
References
See also Royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom