Overall height: 24cm (9.5in)
A pair of head and shoulders studio portraits by Dorothy Wilding of the Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (1900-1974) and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (1901-2004) . Respectively signed and dated in ink ‘Henry 1960’ and ‘Alice 1960’ in the lower mount. Contained in original easel backed, gilt-tooled red leather, easel backed presentation frames by Birdsall & sons of Northampton, & 168 Regent Street, London. Glazed.
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The Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, P.C., K.G., K.T., K.P., G.C.B., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O., K.St.J. (1900-1974) was the third son of George V and Queen Mary, and thus was uncle to Elizabeth II. He was born at York Cottage, on the Sandringham Estate. His godparents included Queen Victoria, the Kaiser and Lord Roberts. He attended the Eton and Sandhurst and was commissioned into the King's Royal Rifle Corps, and served afterwards with the 10th Royal Hussars. In 1928, his father created him Duke of Gloucester, Earl of Ulster, and Baron Culloden, three titles that linked him with three parts of the United Kingdom. On 2 November 1930 he attended the coronation of Hailie Selassie of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa. In 1934, with the agreement of the Irish President, Eamon de Valera, George V made him a Knight of St Patrick, Ireland's chivalric order. It was the second to last time this order was awarded (the last appointment being the Duke of York, later George VI, in 1936); at the time of his death in 1974 the Duke of Gloucester was the only remaining knight. During the Second World War he served as a Chief Liaison Officer, and between 1945-47 he was Governor-General of Australia. He was appointed a Field Marshal in 1955 and a Marshal of the Royal Air Force in 1958. On 6 November 1935, Henry married Lady Alice Montagu-Douglas-Scott, a daughter of the Duke of Buccleuh.