Stuart, Henry Benedict Maria Clement (1725–1807)

Pretender to the British throne. The second son of James Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender, he was the last of the Stuarts. He lived in Italy. A Roman Catholic cleric, he rose to the rank of cardinal and archbishop.

Henry was born in Rome. He went to France in 1745 to support his brother, Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender, and after his return to Italy began his clerical career. On the death of his brother in 1788, he styled himself ‘Henry IX, not by the will of men, but by the Grace of God’, but no ruler, not even the pope, acknowledged his title. In 1799 he accepted from George III an annual pension of £4,000.

In 1759 he was consecrated titular archbishop of Corinth, in 1761 appointed archbishop of Frascati, and in 1763 vice chancellor of St Peter's. In 1803, as senior cardinal bishop, he became dean of the Sacred College and bishop of Ostia and Velletri. He died in Rome and was buried in St Peter's Basilica, leaving to the Prince of Wales certain crown jewels.