His Majesty’s seventh son,
Adolphus Frederick (notice all the name recycling; by this time naming the kids
must have been quite a chore) was born on February 24, 1774, at Kew, almost
exactly a year after his brother Augustus...and like that brother, he would be
a bit of a mold-breaker...but I’m getting ahead of myself.
As the third son in a sequence
of three boys born within three years, Adolphus was lumped with his older brothers Ernest
and Augustus and a pair of tutors into one household at Kew Green, which contained
a whole set of houses for the royal children, for just about all of his
childhood.
This lumping continued when
the three brothers were sent to the University of Göttingen in 1786, when
Adolphus was a lad of twelve. He seemed to thrive at the university and
actually applied himself to his studies; being of such tender years, he couldn’t
apply himself instead to the rowdier pastimes of university students like drinking to excess, dueling, or womanizing.
But by 1790 his college days
were past, and Adolphus, like his older brothers, had entered the army. He saw
active service in Holland, including being badly wounded and temporarily
captured by the French in 1793 (though he was rescued by a timely sortie.) He
returned to active military service until the Hanoverian forces withdrew in
1795, and returned with them to Hanover, where he lived for the next several
years, still serving with honor and distinction in the army and generally charming everyone with his
excellent manners and real interest in the arts and sciences (he was, it seems,
an excellent violinist.) Napoleon’s advance across the continent forced his
unwilling return to England—he would far rather have stayed to fight—after Hanover
decided not to resist the approaching French forces
Adolphus (who had received his
ducal title of Cambridge in 1801) lived quietly in London for the next decade or so. He spent
much time with his parents and siblings and, unlike his brothers, lived within
his means, proving to the world that not all of the king’s sons were “damned
millstones” around the country’s neck (as the Duke of Wellington would at a
later date describe them.) It is perhaps an indication of his character that
even after Adolphus heartily promoted his eldest brother’s marriage to Caroline
of Brunswick—an utterly disastrous marriage if there ever was one—the brothers
remained the best of friends.
By 1813, with Napoleon’s
fortunes on the wane, Adolphus was begged to return to Hanover and became its
Governor-General, expecting to settle down and once more be of service to his
family...until the death of Princess Charlotte a few years later kicked off the race for the king’s sons to produce a legitimate heir to the throne. Within two
weeks of Charlotte’s death, Adolphus had proposed to and been accepted by
Princess Augusta of Hesse-Cassel, all of twenty years old to Adolphus’s
forty-three...but as it turned out, theirs was a very happy union. They duly
produced a son in 1819, but the birth of children to Adolphus’s older brothers
Edward and Ernest meant that the boy would likely inherit neither the throne of
Great Britain nor Hanover. Two daughters followed over the years—Princess Augusta,
who would be a close friend to her slightly older cousin Victoria, and Princess Mary, who would herself one day produce a queen for England.
Adolphus continued to serve
Hanover until the death of his brother William in 1837 meant that the throne of
Hanover would go to big brother Ernest, as Victoria, being female, could not inherit it. So
he retired at last to England and spent the rest of his life doting upon his
wife and continuing to do his duty for his family and country. Though his
increasing eccentricities (he liked to sing along at concerts, make loud
comments about sermons in church, and always wore a distinctive blond wig) made
him a bit of a joke, they were harmless; and he showed his continued good sense
by keeping out of politics (though he couldn’t resist trying to encourage a
match between his son George and Victoria—neither of who were interested.)
Family relations remained strained at times between him and Victoria (and
Albert) because of a few small, foolish squabbles about nothing very important;
eventually though, their relationship improved, and when Adolphus died in 1850,
he was sincerely mourned by all. 
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