The New Murrey and Blue blog

It had never struck me before that the Dukes of Gloucester of the past haven’t been exactly fortunate. They might even be said to have been cursed. Well, that’s according to this article.

The first creation was Thomas of Woodstock, youngest son of Edward III. He wasn’t a very pleasant man who pushed his nephew Richard II too far and was arrested. Thomas ended up being strangled in Calais, and I for one have no sympathy for him.

The second creation was Humphrey, son of Henry IV. His wife, Eleanor Cobham, had been tried for sorcery and heresy, and he’d retired from public life as a consequence. He ended up on a charge of treason, and died within days of either poison or a stroke. My guess is the former.

The third creation was, of course, our Richard III who had the Gloucester title before becoming king. He was, undoubtedly, a tragic man. A good man who suffered from the malice of others and paid with his life. If he’d won at Bosworth, things would have been so different. And we’d have been spared the cruelty and constant suspicion of the Tudors.

The fourth creation was Henry Stuart, son of Charles I. He died of smallpox at only 20.

The fifth creation started unhappily, but has now led to the present duke, another Richard of Gloucester, who, fittingly, is Patron of the Richard III Society. He has banished the blight upon his title.