The eldest son of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, victor of Waterloo and Prime Minister, he succeeded his father in the dukedom in 1852 and held minor political office as Master of the Horse from 1853 to 1858.

[11] Lord Douro was elected to Parliament for the rotten borough of Aldeburgh in 1829, a seat he held until its abolition by the Reform Act 1832.

[17] On succeeding his illustrious father he was said to have remarked: "Imagine what it will be when the Duke of Wellington is announced, and only I walk in the room.

The Duchess died at Bearhill (Burhill) Park (House), Hersham, Surrey, in August 1904, aged 83, and was buried at Stratfield Saye.

[20] The Brontë family portrayed the first Duke of Wellington and his two sons in their imaginary games about the colonisation of Africa.

As Charlotte and Branwell moved into their teenage years and used Lord Byron's writings as inspiration, they focused on Arthur as a romantic, heroic figure.

[21][22][23][24] Thomas Raikes ("the Younger"), a British merchant banker, dandy and diarist, was a close childhood friend, travelling and gambling companion of Arthur Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington.