House Hanover (by marriage) Role Countess Waldegrave Name Maria, of | Mother Dorothy Clement Father Edward Walpole Grandchildren George Seymour | |
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Born 10 July 1736
St. James', Westminster, Middlesex (now London) ( 1736-07-10 ) Issue Elizabeth, Countess Waldegrave
Charlotte, Duchess of Grafton
Lady Anna Seymour
Princess Sophia of Gloucester
Princess Caroline of Gloucester
Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester Died August 22, 1807, Brompton, London, United Kingdom Spouse Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (m. 1766) Children Elizabeth Waldegrave, Countess Waldegrave Parents Dorothy Clement, Edward Walpole Similar People Edward Walpole, Princess Mary - Duchess, Robert Walpole, Catherine - Lady Walpole, Lord Hugh Seymour | ||
Maria Walpole (10 July 1736 – 22 August 1807), the Countess Waldegrave and Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh, was a member of the British Royal Family, the wife of Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh.
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Early life
Maria Walpole was the daughter of Edward Walpole and Dorothy Clement. Her grandfather was Robert Walpole, considered to be the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1721–41). She grew up at Frogmore House in Windsor, but her parents were not married, and her illegitimate status hindered her social standing despite her family connections.
Countess Waldegrave
On 15 May 1759, she married James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave. The Earl Waldegrave died on 28 April 1763. They had three children:
There is a portrait of Maria in 1764–65, shortly after she was widowed, painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds, in the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. She also commissioned him in 1780 to paint The Ladies Waldegrave, a group portrait of her and Waldegrave's three daughters.
Duchess of Gloucester
On 6 September 1766 she married Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, at her home in Pall Mall, London. The Duke was a brother of King George III. The marriage was conducted in secret as the British Royal Family would not have approved of a marriage between a prince and a widow of non-royal rank and illegitimate birth. They lived at St Leonard's Hill in Clewer, near Windsor, and had three children.
The marriage to a commoner of the Duke's other brother, the Duke of Cumberland, led to the passing of the Royal Marriages Act 1772, which required all the descendants of George II to seek the sovereign's approval before marriage. It was only in September 1772, five months after the passage of the Act, that the King became aware of Prince William's marriage to Maria. As the Act's provisions could not be applied retroactively, Maria and the Duke's marriage was considered valid. Due, however, to the anger of her brother-in-law at the marriage, she was never received at court.
Princess Caroline died aged nine months following a smallpox inoculation, intended to protect her from the disease.