"Rupert? I thought we'd seen the last of that arrogant puppy.''
Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland ([17 December in the Old Style calendar] 1619 – [September 3 in the Old Style calendar] 1658) was an English-German army officer, admiral, scientist, statesman and peer. His father Frederick V of the Palatinate was one of the Holy Roman Empire's prince-electors which meant he was a member of the electoral college that elected the new ruler and also briefly reigned as king of Bohemia. Through his mother Elizabeth Stuart he was the nephew of Charles I, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland whom he would become known for assisting in the English Civil War as a calvary commander and archetypal cavalier.After the Royalists were defeated by Oliver Cromwell, he served as a privateer in the Caribbean. He returned to England when the monarchy was restored under Charles II and served as a naval commander in the latter two Anglo-Dutch Wars. From 1668 until his death, he served as Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom and helped to develop the Royal Navy. As the first governor of Canada's biggest corporation, the Hudson's Bay Company, he played an important role in the nation's history and Rupert's Land was named after him.
Works of fiction that depict Prince Rupert include:
Films — Live-Action
- Cromwell, a 1970 film starring Timothy Dalton as Prince Rupert.
- Hudsons Bay, a 1941 film starring Nigel Bruce as Prince Rupert.
- Michiel de Ruyter, a 2015 Dutch film in which Prince Rupert is played by Will Bowden.
Literature
- A Midsummer Tempest, Prince Rupert is a character in Poul Anderson's 1974 fantasy novel.
- Past Doctor Adventures, Prince Rupert is a character in Mark Gatiss's 1997 novel The Roundheads.
Live Action Television
- The Devil's Whore, a 2008 TV series in which Prince Rupert is played by Harry Lloyd.
