George, Prince of Denmark
| Prince George | |
|---|---|
| Duke of Cumberland | |
Portrait by Michael Dahl, c. 1705
|
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| Consort of the British monarch | |
| Tenure | 8 March 1702 – 28 October 1708 |
| Born |
2 April 1653 Copenhagen Castle, Denmark |
| Died | 28 October 1708 (aged 55) Kensington Palace, London, Great Britain |
| Burial | 13 November 1708 Westminster Abbey, London, Great Britain |
| Spouse | Anne, Queen of Great Britain |
| Issue detail... |
Prince William, Duke of Gloucester |
| House | Oldenburg |
| Father | Frederick III, King of Denmark |
| Mother | Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg |
| Religion | Lutheran |
Prince George of Denmark and Norway, Duke of Cumberland (Danish: Jørgen; 2 April 1653 – 28 October 1708), was the husband of Queen Anne, who reigned over Great Britain from 1702.
His marriage to Anne was arranged in the early 1680s with a view to developing an Anglo-Danish alliance to contain Dutch maritime power. As a result, George was unpopular with his Dutch brother-in-law William of Orange, who was married to Anne's elder sister, Mary. William and Mary became joint monarchs of Britain, with Anne as their heir presumptive, in 1689 after the "Glorious Revolution" deposed James II and VII, the father of both Anne and Mary.
William excluded George from active military service, and neither George nor Anne wielded any great influence until after the deaths of William and Mary, when Anne became queen. During his wife's reign, George occasionally used his influence in support of his wife, even when privately disagreeing with her views. He had an easy-going manner and little interest in politics; his appointment as Lord High Admiral in 1702 was largely honorary.
Anne's seventeen pregnancies by George resulted in twelve miscarriages or stillbirths, four infant deaths, and a chronically sick son, William, who died at the age of eleven. Despite the history of their children, George and Anne's marriage was a strong one. George died aged 55 from a recurring and chronic lung disease, much to the devastation of his wife, and he was buried in Westminster Abbey.
George was born in Copenhagen Castle, and was the younger son of Frederick III, King of Denmark and Norway, and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. His mother was the sister of Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, later Elector of Hanover. From 1661, his governor was Otto Grote, later Hanoverian minister to Denmark. Grote was "more courtier and statesman than educator" and when he left for the Hanoverian court in 1665, he was replaced by the more effective Christen Lodberg. George received military training, and undertook a Grand Tour of Europe, spending eight months in 1668–69 in France and mid-1669 in England. His father died in 1670, while George was in Italy, and George's elder brother, Christian V, inherited the Danish throne. George returned home through Germany. He travelled through Germany again in 1672–73, to visit two of his sisters, Anna Sophia and Wilhelmine Ernestine, who were married to the electoral princes of Saxony and the Palatinate.
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