There have been many characters in Outlander based on real people, and now it’s time look into one who became a prominent background player in the series. It’s all about the Duke of Sandringham.
Originally introduced in Outlander season 1, the Duke of Sandringham became a bigger player in Outlander season 2, working in the background to help raise money for the Jacobite cause. It wasn’t surprising to find out that Sandringham was working with the Jacobites, considering Frank Randall had previously said that he was thought to be a secret Jacobite, but nothing was ever proven.
As we look into the characters who were based on real people and those who weren’t, we get to the Duke of Sandringham. Just how real was this man?
There wasn’t a real Duke of Sandringham outside of Outlander
While there is a Sandringham estate, which was recently in the news as it was the home of Prince Andrew until just recently, the peerage title has never been used in Great Britain. One of the ideas behind the character was to make him an English version of Lord Lovatt, Simon Fraser, a man who played both sides throughout the Jacobite period.
It makes sense to have a character like this. After all, while Simon Fraser has been widely documented as a man playing both sides (and eventually paying the price), there must have been others who did the same thing. Of course, there were going to be people on the English side playing both sides, not really knowing how history would play out.
However, the Duke of Sandringham isn’t real, but there is a chance that there are similarities to various people from history. That likely wouldn’t be on purpose, as Sandringham became a character who talked to Diana Gabaldon as she wrote the first Outlander novel.
Which side was the Duke of Sandringham really on in Outlander?
So, when it comes to sides, which side did Sandringham really end up on? It’s something that will never really be known, and he likely didn’t even know himself. In the end, he was killed by Murtagh, who was able to give Claire and Mary the head of the man who he had failed to stop before Mary Hawkins was raped by the men sent by Sandringham to actually hurt Claire.
It’s likely that Sandringham was just out for himself. By playing both sides, it didn’t matter which side won. Of course, we know how stories like this can often turn out — and so does Simon Fraser — but it remains to be seen what could have happened to him. At least Claire found out what really happened after Frank pondered the circumstances of his mysterious disappearance.
Outlander is available to stream on STARZ.
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