Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington

Background and education

Wellington was born in Rome, Italy, on 2 July 1915, the son of Gerald Wellesley, future 7th Duke of Wellington, by his wife Dorothy Violet, daughter of Robert Ashton. He had one younger sister, the socialite Lady Elizabeth Clyde, whose son is the actor and musician Jeremy Clyde.

At the time of Wellington's birth, his father Gerald was the third son of the 4th Duke of Wellington, with little prospect of succeeding to the family's estates and titles. Wellington was 28 when his first cousin Henry, the 6th Duke, died suddenly in action aged 31 while serving in Italy during the second world war. Wellington's father then became the 7th Duke, and Wellington himself came to be known by the courtesy title Marquess of Douro. He was known by this moniker between 1943 and 1972, when he became 8th Duke upon the death of his father.

Wellington attended Eton before going up to New College, Oxford.

Military career

Wellington was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Territorial Army in 1936, and was commissioned with the same rank (on probation) in the British Army Reserve in 1939. In 1940, he was given a full commission as a second lieutenant in the Royal Horse Guards Regiment, with the service number 68268. He served in the Second World War with the 1st Household Cavalry Regiment in the Middle East and Italy, during which time he was awarded the Military Cross, and promoted to the war substantive rank of captain. Following the war, the 1st Household Cavalry Regiment disbanded, and he returned to Royal Horse Guards, where he was promoted to lieutenant in 1946, and advanced to the rank of captain on later in that year. He received successive promotions to major in 1951, and to lieutenant colonel in 1954, rising to command of his regiment. Seeing service in Cyprus between 1956 and 1958, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1958.

He then moved to the Household Cavalry Regiment, which he began commanding in 1959. Promoted to colonel in 1960, he commanded the 22nd Armoured Brigade (1960–1961), served as Commander, Royal Armoured Corps in the I(BR) Corps of the British Army of the Rhine, and became defence attaché to Spain in 1964. He retired from the Army in 1968 and was granted the honorary rank of brigadier.

Honorary appointments

Wellington was appointed the Colonel-in-Chief of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment in 1974, making him the only non-royal Colonel-in-Chief. After its absorption into the Yorkshire Regiment, he was appointed Deputy Colonel-in-Chief of the new regiment. He was also Deputy Colonel of The Blues and Royals and an Honorary Colonel of the 2nd Battalion, Wessex Regiment.

Later life and death

Wellington was involved in business as a Director of Massey Ferguson Holdings Ltd from 1967 to 1989 and of Motor Iberica SA (Spain) from 1967 to 1999. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire on 18 April 1975. Through his final year, the Duke continued to conduct public engagements, most recently at the Order of the Garter investiture, 16 June 2014.

Wellington died peacefully at his home, Stratfield Saye Estate, near Basingstoke, on New Year's Eve 2014, six months before the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, and seven months before his 100th birthday.

Marriage and issue

Wellington was twice engaged to Lady Rose Paget, the daughter of Charles Paget, 6th Marquess of Anglesey, who eventually married the Hon. John Francis McLaren. On 28 January 1944 he married Diana Ruth McConnel (1922–2010), only daughter of Major-General Douglas McConnel CB, CBE, of Knockdolian, Colmonell, Ayr, at St. George's Cathedral in Jerusalem. With Diana, he had five children:

• Arthur Charles Valerian Wellesley, 9th Duke of Wellington, 10th Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo (b. 19 August 1945), married to the Princess Antonia of Prussia and has issue, two sons, three daughters, two granddaughters and three grandsons.
• Lord Richard Gerald Wellesley (b. 20 June 1949), who lives on his maternal grandfather's estate Knockdolian; he married Joanna Sumner on 14 July 1973 and they were divorced. They have two daughters.
  • Natasha Doone Wellesley (b. 1975) she married Tom Halliday on 20 October 2007. They have one son:
    • Samuel George Halliday (29 March 2013)
  • Davinia Chloe Wellesley (10 October 1977)
• Lady (Caroline) Jane Wellesley (b. 6 July 1951)
• Lord John Henry Wellesley (b. 20 April 1954) he married Corinne Vaes, daughter of a Belgian diplomat, on 7 May 1977. They have two children:
  • Gerald Valerian Wellesley (6 June 1981)
  • Alexandrina Sofia Wellesley (23 July 1983) she married James Blunt on 6 September 2014.
• Lord James Christopher Douglas Wellesley (b. 16 December 1964) he married Laura Wedge in 1994 and they were divorced in 2005. They have one daughter. He remarried Emma Nethercott on 26 July 2005. They have three children.
  • Eleanor Rose Wellesley (9 December 1995)
  • Oliver Valerian Wellesley (2005)
  • Skye Joanna Wellesley (2006) she has Rett syndrome
  • Isla Diana Wellesley (2009)

Titles and styles

• 2 July 1915 – 16 September 1943: Valerian Wellesley, Esq.
• 16 September 1943 – 4 January 1972: Marquess of Douro
• 4 January 1972 – 31 December 2014: His Grace The Duke of Wellington
  • (Netherlands): His Serene Highness The Prince of Waterloo (4 January 1972 – 31 December 2014)
  • (Spain): The Most Excellent The Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo (4 January 1972 – 21 May 2010)
  • (Portugal): His Excellency The Duke of the Victory (4 January 1972 – 31 December 2014)

Apart from his British titles, Wellington held the hereditary titles of 8th Prince of Waterloo (Prins van Waterloo) of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Duke of the Victory (Duque da Vitória) of the former Kingdom of Portugal, with its subsidiary titles Marquis of Torres Vedras (Marquês de Torres Vedras) and Count of Vimeiro (Conde de Vimeiro).

He was the 9th Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo (Duque de Ciudad Rodrigo) of the Kingdom of Spain, but on 10 March 2010 he ceded the Spanish Dukedom to his eldest child, Charles Wellesley, Marquess of Douro. In accordance with Spanish procedure, Lord Douro petitioned formal claim to the title with the Spanish authorities. King Juan Carlos of Spain, through his Minister, granted the succession of the dukedom to Douro on 21 May 2010.

Honours and decorations

On 26 December 1941, as Second Lieutenant Wellesley, Wellesley was awarded the Military Cross "in recognition of distinguished services in the Middle East (including Egypt, East Africa, The Western Desert, The Sudan, Greece, Crete, Syria and Tobruk) during the period February, 1941, to July, 1941."

Wellington was appointed a Member (Fourth Class) of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) on 15 March 1952. Membership (Fourth Class) was redesignated Lieutenant in 1984, thus adjusting his post-nominal letters to LVO. He was made an Officer (Military) of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) on 7 February 1958 "in recognition of distinguished services in Cyprus for the period 1st July to 31st December, 1957".

In April 1990, he was further honoured by the Queen as a Knight of the Garter. His foreign honours include appointments as Officer of the Légion d'honneur, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael of the Wing of Portugal and Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Isabel La Catolica of Spain. Wellington is also an Officer of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem (OStJ).

Wellesley has been elected a Fellow of King's College London (FKC).

Ancestry