The Prince Octavius (23 February 1779 – 3 May 1783) was a member of the
British Royal FamilyImage:Roy-fam-2007.jpg|right|500px|thumb|Members of the Royal Family gathered for a dinner celebrating the 60th wedding anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh Image:Roy-fam-2007.jpg|right|500px|thumb|Members of the Royal Family gathered for a dinner...
, the thirteenth child and eighth son of George III.
Life
Prince Octavius was born, on 23 February 1779, at
Buckingham PalaceBuckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
,
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. His father was George III, his mother
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-StrelitzCharlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was the queen-consort of the United Kingdom as wife of King George III.Queen Charlotte was a patroness of the arts, known to Johann Christian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, among others. She was also an amateur botanist who helped establish Kew Gardens...
. His name derives from Latin
octavus,
the eighth, showing that he was the eighth son of his parents.
Octavius was christened on 23 March 1779, in the Great Council Chamber at St James's Palace, by
Frederick CornwallisFrederick Cornwallis was Archbishop of Canterbury, and the twin brother of Edward Cornwallis....
,
The Archbishop of CanterburyAlso see Leaders of ChristianityThe Archbishop of Canterbury is the chief bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, the see that churches must be in communion with in order to be...
. His godparents were The Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (husband of
his first cousin twice-removedPrincess Philippine Charlotte of Prussia was the fourth child and third daughter of Frederick William I of Prussia and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover....
, for whom
The Earl of HertfordFrancis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford KG PC was born in Chelsea, London, and died in Surrey, England.- Family:...
,
Lord ChamberlainThe Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom and is to be distinguished from the Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the Great Officers of State....
, stood proxy), The Duke of Mecklenburg (her first cousin once-removed, for whom
The Earl of AshburnhamJohn Ashburnham, 2nd Earl of Ashburnham, PC , styled Viscount St Asaph from 1730 to 1737, was a British peer and courtier....
,
Groom of the StoleGroom of the Stole in the British Royal Household is a position evolved from the earlier Groom of the Stool, an office under Henry VIII of England. The title originally referred to the chamberpot of whomever the person served. The Groom of the Stool "preside[d] over the office of royal excretion,"...
, stood proxy) and The Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (wife of her sixth cousin, for whom The Countess von Bruhl,
Lady of the BedchamberThis is an incomplete list of those who have served as Lady of the Bedchamber in the British Royal Household...
to
The QueenCharlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was the queen-consort of the United Kingdom as wife of King George III.Queen Charlotte was a patroness of the arts, known to Johann Christian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, among others. She was also an amateur botanist who helped establish Kew Gardens...
, was proxy).
The Prince Octavius died (possibly from fever) on 3 May 1783, at
Kew PalaceKew Palace is a British Royal Palace in Kew Gardens, Kew on the banks of the Thames up river from London. There have been at least four Palaces at Kew, and three have been known as Kew Palace, the first building may not have been known as Kew as no records survive other than the words of another...
, London, aged four years old. Octavius's death devastated his father. Shortly afterward, King George said "There will be no heaven for me if Octavius is not there."
Titles and styles
- 23 February 1779–3 May 1783: His Royal Highness The Prince Octavius
Film
Prince Octavius was mentioned in
The Madness of King GeorgeThe Madness of King George is a 1994 film directed by Nicholas Hytner and adapted by Alan Bennett from his own play, The Madness of George III. It tells the true story of George III's deteriorating mental health, and his equally declining relationship with his son, the Prince of Wales, particularly...
in the scene when King George wakes his children up when he claims
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
is flooded, and says that
his sonGeorge IV was the king of Hanover and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
has killed him (Octavius was long dead by the time of the film's setting).
Ancestry