James Stuart, Duke of Cambridge

Who was James Stuart, Duke of Cambridge?

James, Duke of Cambridge KG was the second son of James, Duke of York and his first wife Anne Hyde. In 1664 he became the first Duke of Cambridge and Baron of Dauntsey, but both titles were extinct after Cambridge died young; as such, he was the 1st Duke of Cambridge.

Cambridge was especially close with his uncle, King Charles II, who created him Duke of Cambridge and Baron of Dauntsey, titles that were created especially for him. The King also appointed Cambridge a Knight of the Garter, but never invested him due to his untimely death. Cambridge received a yearly pension of £3,000 from the king. After his death, it was still issued to his father, in hopes of supporting Cambridge's siblings.

Cambridge was also very loved by his sister Lady Mary, who, while Princess of Orange, commissioned two portraits by Willem Wissing: one representing her mother and one representing Cambridge. She placed the latter over the door of the Queen's Drawing Room of the Garden House at Windsor Castle. Had Cambridge survived his early years, there were strong chances that he would actually have succeeded to the crown, as the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688, which deposed his father, relied on a Protestant succession and in consequence Cambridge, being raised as Protestant and male heir, would became monarch instead of his sisters Mary and Anne.