William Alexander Dargie (1912-2003), Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (detail), 1947, Historic Memorials Collection, Parliament House Art Collection. View full image
1st Duke of Gloucester, Earl of Ulster and Baron Culloden
Governor-General, 30 January 1945 to 11 March 1947
The Duke of Gloucester (1900-1974) is the only Royal to have served as Governor-General of Australia.1 Appointed towards the end of World War II, he ‘won the hearts of many ... by his forthright simplicity, his informed interest in farming, and his willingness to visit scattered communities in the remotest parts of [the] continent’.2
The third son of King George V, Gloucester was educated at St Peter’s Court and Eton – the first son of a reigning monarch to go to a public school – before attending Sandhurst and Cambridge.3 ‘An outstanding horseman and shot’, he served with the 10th Royal Hussars from 1921 to 1936, but was ‘irritated ... to discover that as a king’s son he was repeatedly prevented joining his regiment overseas’.4 In 1935, he married Lady Alice Christabel Montagu-Douglas-Scott at Buckingham Palace; they had two children. Edward VIII’s abdication required the Duke’s return to royal duties as ‘regent designate’ for the young Princess Elizabeth.
In World War II, Gloucester was the chief liaison officer between the British and French troops in Europe and was later appointed second in command of the 20th Armoured Brigade. Throughout the war he visited troops and allied defences in Britain, North Africa, the Middle East, India and Sri Lanka.5
In November 1943, Prime Minister John Curtin6 announced that Gloucester would succeed Lord Gowrie as Governor-General. Though ALP policy prescribed Australian-born Governors-General, Curtin hoped ‘that the presence in Australia of a member of the Royal Family would influence the despatch of British Divisions and equipment to the Pacific’.7 For many, the Duke’s appointment affirmed the Crown’s importance as the ‘centre and symbol of Empire unity’.8 Given the wartime conditions, the Gloucesters travelled to Australia in a blacked-out troopship, which at one stage was pursued by a U-boat but was successfully defended by the escort vessel. Gloucester was sworn in on 30 January 1945.
The vice-regal couple travelled extensively during their two years in Australia, on land and in Gloucester’s private aircraft, including to Papua, New Guinea and Norfolk Island. When Curtin died, Gloucester appointed the Deputy Prime Minister Frank Forde as caretaker Prime Minister before Ben Chifley took office. When Chifley decided that the next Governor-General would be an Australian, Gloucester was disappointed not to have engendered closer Australian links with the monarchy. However, Gloucester’s son Richard reportedly stated that his parents’ time in Australia had been a highlight of their public life.9
After returning to Britain, Gloucester continued to serve as a Royal representative at home and abroad for many years, until he was incapacitated by a series of strokes in 1968. He died on 19 June 1974.
Sir William Alexander Dargie CBE
Artist and teacher William Dargie (1912-2003) is best known for his contribution to Australian portraiture. A prolific portraitist and eight-time winner of the Archibald Prize, Dargie was inspired by the Heidelberg School of impressionist artists. In 1941, while teaching art at Swinburne Technical College in Melbourne, Dargie was appointed an official war artist for the Australian Army. He worked for five years recording the aftermath of battles across the Middle East, India, Burma and New Guinea. After the war, Dargie built a distinguished career as a leading portrait artist, taking on several commissioned portraits of eminent figures, also including the HMC official portraits of Prime Ministers Arthur Fadden and John McEwen. He simultaneously held several administrative positions, serving on the Commonwealth Art Advisory Board for 20 years and heading up the National Gallery of Victoria Art School and the National Gallery of Victoria. In 2002, to mark his 90th birthday, the Australian War Memorial, Parliament House and the National Portrait Gallery held exhibitions to pay tribute to his contribution to Australian art. His work is represented in national and state galleries and other public institutions across Australia.
10
Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester
by William Alexander Dargie
1947
Oil on canvas
90 x 69.7 cm
Historic Memorials Collection, Parliament House Art Collection
References
1.
Information in this biography has been taken from: B Carroll,
Australia’s Governors-General: From Hopetoun to Jeffery, Rosenberg Publishing Pty Ltd, Kenthurst, NSW, 2004; G St Aubyn,
‘Henry, Prince, first duke of Gloucester (1900– 1974)’,
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography; C Cunneen, ‘Gloucester, first Duke of (1900–1974)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1996, accessed 1 September 2021.
2. St Aubyn, op. cit.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. G Serle, ‘Curtin, John (1885–1945)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1993, accessed 27 October 2021.
7. Cunneen, op. cit.
8. Ibid.
9. Carroll, op. cit., p. 113.
10. Information in this biography has been taken from: M Keaney, ‘Sir William Dargie CBE’,
Portrait 9, September–November 2003, National Portrait Gallery; ‘Sir William Dargie: A Ninetieth Birthday Tribute’, National Portrait Gallery; ‘Captain William Dargie’, Australian War Memorial; ‘Dargie, (Sir) William Alexander’, A McCulloch, S McCulloch and E McCulloch Childs, eds,
The New McCulloch’s Encyclopedia of Australian Art, Aus Art Editions in association with The Miegunyah Press, 2006, p. 366. Websites accessed 25 March 2021.