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 the Stanhope earldom) 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 three times and had eight children, seventeen grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. He 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, six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren: 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 and five grandchildren: Lord Harrington married, thirdly, Priscilla Margaret Cubitt, daughter of Major Hon. Archibald Edward Cubitt (son of the 2nd Baron Ashcombe) and Sibell Margaret Norman, on 14 October 1964. They had two children and six grandchildren: 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.