The Duke of Gloucester

About The Duke of Gloucester

The Duke of Gloucester carries out a significant number of public duties and undertakes hundreds of official engagements in the UK and overseas each year. The Duke is associated with over 150 charities and organisations. His patronages reflect his professional and personal interests, which include international humanitarian issues, heritage and the built environment and military veterans.

Many of The Duke’s Patronages are related to architecture and conservation, both areas in which The Duke remains deeply interested. He was elected a corporate member of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1972, of which His Royal Highness is Patron, and he is President of the Scottish Society of the Architect-Artists. His fellowships include those of the Institution of Structural Engineers and the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland. 

His Royal Highness is a supporter of several architectural preservation societies, including the Kensington Society and the Victorian Society, as well as the International Council on Monuments and Sites, UK National Committee. 

The Duke is Patron or President of many charities and organisations, covering a diverse range of causes and interests, ranging from ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) to the British Association of Friends of Museums, British-Mexican Society to St Bartholomew's Hospital, and the British Homeopathic Association to the Japan Society.

The Duke of Gloucester has travelled extensively overseas in support of the organisations with which he is linked. His Royal Highness first represented the late Queen Elizabeth II overseas in 1970, at the wedding of Crown Prince Birendra of Nepal. The Duke has subsequently attended the independence celebrations of the Seychelles, the Solomon Islands, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Vanuatu. 

The Duke represented The late Queen at the Funeral of King Tupou V of Tonga in March 2012; at the Vatican for the Inauguration of Pope Francis on 19 March 2013; and in South Korea for the 60th Anniversary of the signing of the Korean War Armistice in July 2013.

Biography

The Duke of Gloucester, christened Richard Alexander Walter George, was born on 26th August 1944 in Northampton. He is the second Son of the late Prince Henry Duke of Gloucester and the late Princess Alice and is grandson of George V and a first cousin to The late Queen. He became heir to his father’s titles following the death of his elder brother, Prince William of Gloucester in 1972.

Prince Richard was educated at home, before going to school at Wellesley House, Broadstairs, and Eton. In 1963, he went on to Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he read architecture. After completing his training, he went into practice as a partner in a firm of London architects. However, after becoming his father’s heir he took on increased royal duties and responsibility for the family estate at Barnwell, Northamptonshire, and therefore resigned his partnership. 

The Duke of Gloucester married Birgitte van Deurs in 1972. He and The Duchess of Gloucester currently live at Kensington Palace and have three children and six grandchildren. 

Supporting The Monarch

The Duke of Gloucester carries out a significant number of public duties, many as Patron, President or Fellow of a number of charities with which he is involved. The Duke has an association with 150 charities and organisations in total and in addition to this he holds honorary military appointments with The Royal Anglian Regiment, The Royal Army Medical Service, The Royal Logistic Corps, 6th Battalion – The Rifles, The Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia) and the Royal Air Force.

Following his father, he is Grand Prior of the Order of St John, the international charity. The Duke of Gloucester also carries out many ceremonial and official duties. Some are related to architecture, construction and conservation, in which he is still deeply interested. He is Patron of the Royal Institute of British Architects and Royal Patron of the British Museum. The Duke is also President of several architectural preservation societies, including the Victorian Society and the National Churches Trust. He is also Patron of the World Monuments Fund (UK) and, in 2007, was appointed Chancellor of the University of Worcester.