# Henry Rawdon-Hastings, 4th Marquess of Hastings

Henry Weysford Charles Plantagenet Rawdon-Hastings, 4th Marquess of Hastings and 9th Earl of Loudoun (22 July 1842 – 10 November 1868), styled Lord Henry Rawdon-Hastings from birth until 1851, was a British peer. He was also, starting from most senior barony, 21st Baron Grey of Ruthyn (of 1324), 20th Baron Botreaux (of 1368), 19th Baron Hungerford (of 1426), and 17th Baron Hastings (of 1461).

## Early life

Rawdon-Hastings was the second son of George Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Marquess of Hastings, the British peer and courtier, and his wife Barbara née Yelverton, 20th Baroness Grey de Ruthyn. His father died when Henry was only two years old, and Henry succeeded to his father's titles upon the early death of his older brother Paulyn seven years later, when Henry was aged nine. Later, in 1858, Henry inherited his mother's barony at the age of sixteen. His aunt was Lady Flora Hastings.
In 1860, The Times noted that Rawdon-Hastings was one of only three to hold peerages in all three Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland (as Earl of Moira).

## Marriage

In 1862, Lord Hastings became engaged to Alice March Phillipps de Lisle, but they never married (she later married the Hon. Arthur Strutt, younger son of Lord Belper).

### Scandalous Marriage to Lady Florence

His best friend, Henry Chaplin was to be married to the society beauty Lady Florence Paget, their wedding was to be the society event of the year with the Prince of Wales one of many to offer his congratulations. However, during their engagement Florence had secretly fallen in love with Henry Rawdon-Hastings, 4th Marquess of Hastings.
On the evening of 15 July 1864, Hastings accepted an invitation to join Chaplin and Florence in their opera box at Covent Garden for a performance of the opera ‘Faust’. It was said that Hastings spent the evening looking moody and expressionless. The next morning just before her wedding to Chaplin, she had unusually gone out alone to Marshall & Snelgrove's on Oxford Street, with an excuse to her father that she wanted to buy something to add to her wedding outfit. Florence walked straight through the shop and out to the other side, where Hastings waited for her in a carriage.
On the same day of 16 July 1864, Hastings married Lady Florence Cecilia Paget, the daughter of Henry Paget, 2nd Marquess of Anglesey. The marriage created a huge scandal as the bride had been engaged and was to be married the same day to his best friend, Henry Chaplin. After the wedding, a reception was held in St James' Place before the newly married couple set off for their honeymoon at Donington Hall, Leicestershire while the scandal died down. Florence Paget apologized to Chaplin by letter the next day but was rejected.
Over the years, Hastings' hatred and rivalry with Chaplin intensified especially on their mutual interest in horse racing and it climaxed at the 1867 Derby and centred on the chances of Henry’s horse called Hermit. Hastings lost the sum of £120,000 (approximately £15 million by 2023 values) for betting against Chaplin's horse.
Hastings died in 1868, aged only 26, with no children. The Marquessate of Hastings became extinct, while the Earldom of Loudoun passed to his eldest sister Lady Edith and his English baronies fell into abeyance between Lady Edith and their three other sisters – all would go to Edith except their mother's, which passed to the second sister, Lady Bertha.
After his death, his widow, Lady Florence, Marchioness of Hastings, would marry Sir George Chetwynd, 4th Baronet, on 9 July 1870.