[Prince William, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh ('Silly Billy').] Autograph Letter Signed ('William Frederick') to a duke, reporting that he has placed Edward Gage in his regiment, as requested.

1p, 4to. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded three times. The letter reads: 'My dear Duke | I have much gratification in acquainting Your Grace that I have placed Mr Edward Gage in my Regiment, and I am sure You will believe that it affords me great satisfaction to have had so early an opportunity of meeting Your Wishes It will be necessary for him to lodge the purchase money at Messrs. Greenwood & Co's Craigs Court | I seize with great eagerness every Opportunity of renewing to Your Grace an Assurance of the very great Regard with which | I am My dear Duke | very sincerely Yours | William Frederick'. Accession number in a Victorian hand at top left: '6985'. The Duke's entry in the Oxford DNB marks the contrast between a 'plethora of academic distinctions' and 'his renowned lack of intelligence: his most widely used nickname was Silly Billy'. From the distinguished autograph collection of the psychiatrist Richard Alfred Hunter (1923-1981), whose collection of 7000 works relating to psychiatry is now in Cambridge University Library. Hunter and his mother Ida Macalpine had a particular interest in the illness of King George III, and their book 'George III and the Mad Business' (1969) suggested the diagnosis of porphyria popularised by Alan Bennett in his play 'The Madness of George III'.