His 1771 marriage to a commoner against the King's wishes prompted the Royal Marriages Act of 1772 .
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The Duke's marriage to a commoner, the widow Anne Horton (or Houghton) (1743–1808), on 2 October 1771 caused a rift with the King, and was the catalyst for the Royal Marriages Act 1772 which forbids any descendant of George II to marry without the monarch's permission.
Many refugees from the French Revolution settled in Brighton after escaping from France; and Maria Fitzherbert, a twice-widowed Catholic, began a relationship with the Prince Regent (and secretly married him in 1785 in a ceremony which was illegal according to the Act of Settlement 1701 and the Royal Marriages Act 1772).
They married (illegally, against the provisions of the Royal Marriages Act 1772) in December 1785, and she first visited Brighton the following year.
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2 October - Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn, brother to the King, marries a commoner, the widow Anne Horton, in Mayfair, precipitating the Royal Marriages Act 1772.
As his parents were married in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act 1772, he was ineligible to succeed his father as Duke of Cambridge and along with his siblings did not hold Royal titles.
So far as English law was concerned, both marriage ceremonies were in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act 1772 and were soon annulled.