Henry was the first son of a British monarch to be educated at school, where he excelled at sports, and went on to attend Eton College, after which he was commissioned in the 10th Royal Hussars, a regiment he hoped to command.

He performed military and diplomatic duties during the rest of the war, then in 1945 was appointed as Australia's governor-general at the request of Prime Minister John Curtin.

Prince Henry was born on 31 March 1900, at York Cottage, on the Sandringham Estate during the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria.

He was an extremely nervous child, and was often victim to spontaneous fits of crying or giggling, and also like his brother, Henry had a combination of speech disorders.

"All you write about is your everlasting football of which I am heartily sick", wrote his mother, answering a fully detailed letter from Henry about a match.

Their stay at Cambridge lasted just one year and was very uneventful for both of them, as they were not allowed to live in college with the other undergraduates, due to their father's fear of their mixing with undesirable company.

Though he desired to serve in more active roles as a soldier, his position as a senior member of the royal family effectively ruled out any such options.

He retained an interest in sport and The Cricketer reported in August 1921 that the touring Philadelphians had had the honour of being presented to Prince Henry at The Oval.

[21] Following the outbreak of World War II, he joined the British Expeditionary Force, and was appointed as a Chief Liaison Officer on 4 September 1939.

[27] On 31 March 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, namely England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

[29] Before his marriage, Prince Henry's greatest ambition was to someday command his regiment, the 10th Royal Hussars, or at least spend as much time in the army as possible.

Although he was a capable soldier, as the King's son he was prevented from joining his regiment abroad, and this meant he was generally seen as an outsider to his fellow officers.

[30] In September 1928, Henry left England with his brother Edward, Prince of Wales, to shoot big game in Africa.

At the Grosvenor Hotel, close to Buckingham Palace, the affair continued with Prince Henry openly hosting parties with her in her suite and drinking too much.

[5] In 1929, he went to Japan to confer the Garter on the Emperor, and a year later he attended the coronation of Haile Selassie of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa.

Her husband wanted a divorce and threatened to disclose Prince Henry's private letters to his wife if he did not "take care of Beryl".

The marriage was originally planned to take place at Westminster Abbey, but was moved to the more modest Private Chapel at Buckingham Palace due to the death of Lady Alice's father, the Duke of Buccleuch, on 19 October 1935, barely a fortnight before the wedding.

After suffering two miscarriages,[33] the Duchess of Gloucester gave birth to two sons:[1] The couple lived first at the Royal Pavilion in Aldershot, near the barracks of the Duke's regiment.

But Edward did admit regretting the implications the abdication would have on "The Unknown Soldier", a nickname he teasingly used to refer to Henry, owing to his low profile.

[37][page needed] The abrupt change in Prince Henry's somewhat carefree life up to that point was made clear by the new King on the first evening of his reign.

On one occasion, Queen Mary wrote to the Duchess suggesting that if they were planning to visit, the Duke should bring his own supply of whisky, "as we have not got much left, and it is so expensive".

On one occasion after a day of shooting at Balmoral Castle, the King found a mistake on his shot-game record, where there seemed to be a pair of grouse missing.

Besides boosting the troops' morale, he was useful as a first-hand witness of the situation; he reported to government officials and to the King, to whom he continually wrote detailed and objective accounts of what was happening.

On 14 May, he and his brother-in-law, Lord William Scott, drove from Hotel Univers in Arras into Belgium to see the King of the Belgians at a secret location.

The strains of living at the French front also diminished his resolve at times: "I think I hate this country and war more than ever... it is such an awful waste of everything", he told the Duchess.

[41][42][page needed] In June, after the fall of Dunkirk, the Duke was ordered back to England by an embarrassed General Headquarters, which had not been able to assure the King's brother's safety.

[43] The mission came just after Prince Henry had become a father for the first time, and it was considered a dangerous trip, as the Germans were rapidly advancing toward some of the territories the Duke would visit.

He was recalled to the UK to act, on behalf of the King, as Counsellor of State during a visit by George VI and Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret to South Africa.

He suffered a series of strokes in later years;[1] his first was in 1965 while he and his wife, Alice, were returning from Sir Winston Churchill's funeral ceremony in their vehicle, which resulted in a car crash.

In August, the Duke's elder son, Prince William, died in a plane crash;[1] by that point, he was in such poor health that his wife hesitated about whether to tell him.