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.

Early life and education
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.

Military service
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).

Personal life
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:


 * Lady Jane Stanhope (25 November 1942 – January 1974), married Anthony Cameron. Lady Jane was killed in a motor accident in 1974
 * Lady Avena Margaret Clare Stanhope (born 29 March 1944), married Adrian Maxwell(son of Maj. James Kennedy Maxwell)
 * Charles Henry Leicester Stanhope, 12th Earl of Harrington (born 20 July 1945)

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:


 * Lady Trina Maria Stanhope (born 30 December 1947)
 * Hon. Steven Francis Lincoln Stanhope (born 12 December 1951)
 * Lady Sarah Sue Stanhope (born 12 December 1951)

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:


 * Hon. John Fitzroy Stanhope (born 20 August 1965)
 * Lady Isabella Rachel Stanhope (born 1 October 1966), married Colin Campbell, 7th Earl Cawdor.

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.

Styles of address

 * 1922–1928: The Honourable William Henry Leicester Stanhope
 * 1928–1929: Viscount Petersham
 * 1929–2009: The Right Honourable The Earl of Harrington