Charles Stuart (22 October 1660 – 5 May 1661) was the eldest of four sons and eight children born from the marriage between the Duke of York (later King James II of England & VII of Scotland) and his first wife, Anne Hyde. He was styled Duke of Cambridge, but never formally created so, as he died before his 1st birthday.
Charles was conceived seven months before his parents' official marriage and if royal advisors and Queen Henrietta Maria, the mother of James, and therefore the paternal grandmother of the young Charles, had had their way, he could have been declared illegitimate.[1] King Charles II, James's older brother, approved of the marriage and the wedding between James and Anne was held on 3 September 1660 in London. Charles was born on 22 October 1660, shortly after his uncle became King. He was also baptized on 1 January 1661 at Worcester House. He was most likely named after his paternal grandfather King Charles I of England, who was beheaded 11 years before his birth. However, Charles died before reaching the age of one, after becoming ill with smallpox. He was buried in Westminster Abbey on 6 May 1661. The young boy's death was sudden and left no male members of the House of Stuart after King Charles's brother the Duke of York. However, the new King was still young at the time and was expected to have children of his own, which, of course, didn't happen. Had Charles lived to adulthood and outlived his uncle and father, he would've become King of England, Scotland & Ireland as Charles III. Three of his younger brothers, likewise short-lived, were also called Duke of Cambridge: James, Edgar, and Charles.
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During his short life, Charles bore a coat of arms, as a grandson of a British sovereign, consisting those of the kingdom, differenced by a label argent of five points ermine.[2]