Colonel Fitzgeorge is dead at 86

October 30, 1929

Colonel Sir Augustus Fitzgeorge died today, reports the AP. The Colonel was a great-grandson of King George III and a first cousin to Queen Mary.

Fitzgeorge was a career officer in the British army. His father, the Duke of Cambridge, served as commander-in-chief for 49 years.

The Duke of Cambridge once said that "arranged marriages were doomed to failure." He was a British prince, the only son of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, and Princess Augusta of Hesse-Cassel, a first cousin of Queen Victoria, and, briefly, her suitor. Although the duke was a traditionalist when it came to the army, he fell in love with an actress, Louisa Fairbrother, and married her in 1847. The marriage was in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act, which meant that Louisa and her children would not have royal titles, and George's descendants would not have succession rights. The Duke once described Louisa as the "idol of my life and existence." The couple had three sons, George, Adolphus, and Augustus Fitzgeorge. The first two sons were born before the marriage.

The Duke of Cambridge had two younger sisters, Augusta, who married the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and Mary Adelaide, who married the Duke of Teck. Queen Mary is Mary Adelaide's daughter.

Colonel Sir Augustus Fitzgeorge was unmarried.