William Stanhope, 11th Earl of Harrington

William Henry Leicester Stanhope, 11th Earl of Harrington (24 August 1922 – 12 April 2009) was a British army captain and peer.

Stanhope was the son of Charles Stanhope, 10th Earl of Harrington and Margaret Trelawney Seaton. He succeeded in the earldom on the death of his father on 16 November 1929. He was educated at Eton and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

In 1967, the 11th Earl also succeeded as eighth Viscount Stanhope of Mahon and eighth Baron Stanhope of Elvaston, following the death of his distant relative James Stanhope, 7th Earl Stanhope.He inherited these titles (but not James' Earldoms) by a special remainder in the latter's patent which allowed these titles to be inherited by the male heirs of John Stanhope, father of the first Earl of Harrington.

Lord Harrington fought in the Second World War. He gained the rank of Captain in the service of the 15th/19th King's Royal Hussars (Royal Armoured Corps).

Lord Harrington married, firstly, Eileen Foley Grey, daughter of Sir John Foley Grey, 8th Baronet, and Jean Jessie May de Sales la Terrière, on 5 February 1942. He and Eileen Foley Grey were divorced in 1947. They had three children, six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren:

• Lady Jane Stanhope (25 November 1942–January 1974) she married Anthony Cameron on 29 September 1965. They have two children and three grandchildren:
  • James Cameron (28 March 1967) he married Miriam Nugent on 17 July 1997. They have two sons:
    • Jack Cameron (13 October 2000)
    • Conn Cameron (20 December 2001)
  • Henrietta Cameron (1970)she married Austin Power on 30 December 1997. They have one daughter:
    • Zoey Jane Power (17 May 2001)
• Lady Avena Margaret Clare Stanhope (born 29 March 1944) she married Adrian James Maxwell on 12 July 1969. They have two daughters:
  • Sacha Jane Maxwell (1974)
  • Kerry Alice Maxwell (1978)
• Charles Henry Leicester Stanhope, 12th Earl of Harrington (born 20 July 1945) he married Virginia Freeman-Jackson on 14 September 1966 and they were divorced in 1983. They have two children and four grandchildren. He remarried Anita Fuglesang in 1984.

Lord Harrington married, secondly, Ann Theodora Chute, daughter of Major Richard Arenbourg Blennerhassett Chute, on 24 January 1947. He and Ann Theodora Chute were divorced in 1962. They had three children and five grandchildren:

• Lady Trina Maria Stanhope (born 30 December 1947)
• Hon. Steven Francis Lincoln Stanhope (born 12 December 1951) he married Maureen Cole in 1978. They have two children:
  • Ben Stanhope (1978)
  • Tara Stanhope (1979)
• Lady Sarah Sue Stanhope (born 12 December 1951) she married Robert Barry on 11 August 1970. They have three sons:
  • Mark Barry (1972)
  • Tristran Barry (1975)
  • Guy Barry (1975)

Harrington married, thirdly, Priscilla Margaret Cubitt, daughter of Major Hon. Archibald Edward Cubitt and Sibell Margaret Norman, on 14 October 1964. They had two children ane one grandson:

• Hon. John Fitzroy Stanhope (born 20 August 1965)
• Lady Isabella Rachel Stanhope (born 1 October 1966) she married Colin Campbell, 7th Earl Cawdor on 21 October 1994. They are the parents of Lady Jean Campbell.

In 2003, Lord Harrington lived at The Glen, Ballingarry, County Limerick, Ireland.

On 12 April 2009, Lord Harrington died at the age 86 at Ballingarry, in County Limerick, Ireland.

Descendants

His granddaughter Serena Stanhope (b. 1970) married David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon (b. 1961), nephew of Queen Elizabeth II, in 1993.