After 175 long years, the title of the Duke of Sussex has been pulled from the shelf, dusted off and handed to the newly-wed Prince Harry.

What you might not know is that his one and only predecessor as Duke was perhaps the greatest royal philosemite in British history.

Prince Augustus Frederick, the ninth child of King George III, was well-known for his liberal views, and worked to remove existing civil restrictions on Jews in Britain – most notably the restrictions on serving in Parliament.

Doreen Berger, vice-president of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain, told the JC the Duke was also a supporter of the Jews' Hospital and Orphan Asylum, which evolved into the Norwood Jewish charity.

He was also close friends with Lionel de Rothschild, supporting his campaigns to become the first Jewish MP.

Upon the knighthood of Moses Montefiore, the Duke was supposed to have commented that it was “one of the things I have worked for all my life”.

Ms Berger, an expert in Anglo-Jewish history, said he was considered “something of a black sheep” in the royal family, but that he was “extremely popular among the Jewish upper classes”.

She added: “The fact that we have a new Duke of Sussex, let’s hope that it will be a good omen for the future.”

The dukedom was not passed on upon the prince’s death in 1843, while his 14^th century copy of the Tanakh, the canon of Jewish holy books, was then sold to the British Museum. 

Ms Berger also said that Meghan Markle is the first-ever Duchess of Sussex. As Prince Augustus was twice married outside of the royal assent, and thus were in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act 1772.