Victor Frederick William Cavendish-Bentinck, 9th Duke of Portland (18 June 1897 – 30 July 1990), known as Victor Cavendish-Bentinck until 1980, was a British diplomat and businessman. He served as Ambassador to Poland between 1945 and 1947.
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Cavendish-Bentinck was the son of Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck, second and youngest son of George Cavendish-Bentinck, grandson of William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland. He was educated at Wellington College.
Cavendish-Bentinck did not pursue a university education, instead entering the diplomatic service in 1919. In 1922, he took charge of administrative arrangements for the Lausanne Conference. He served in the British Embassy in Paris and also in the League of Nations Department in the Foreign Office. Other postings included Athens in 1932 and Santiago in 1933. The high point of his diplomatic career came in 1939 when he was appointed chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee. He managed to develop the body as a highly effective instrument of government and, as a result, became counsellor to the Services Liaison Department of the Foreign Office in 1942.
In 1945, Cavendish-Bentinck was given his final diplomatic posting on his appointment as Ambassador to Poland. He held the position for two years before the Foreign Office applied to appoint him Ambassador to Brazil. Unfortunately, he never took up the latter post, being obliged to resign from the Foreign Office as a result of the publicity surrounding his divorce.
After his withdrawal from the diplomatic service, Cavendish-Bentinck embarked on a business career, becoming Vice-Chairman of the Committee of Industrial Interests in Germany. From this position, he was able to advance the interests of British companies such as Unilever. In 1980 he succeeded his elder brother Ferdinand William Cavendish-Bentinck, 8th Duke of Portland, in the dukedom.
Portland married Clothilde (d. 1984) in 1924. They had two children:
They divorced in 1948. He married Kathleen Elsie (d. 2004) in 1948. On his death, the dukedom became extinct because his son had predeceased him, leaving no living direct male heirs. However, the earldom of Portland was inherited by his kinsman, Henry Noel Bentinck, as 11th Earl of Portland.
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Owen O'Malley |
Ambassador to Brazil 1945–1946 |
Succeeded by Donald Gainer |
| Peerage of Great Britain | ||
| Preceded by Ferdinand Cavendish-Bentinck |
Duke of Portland 1980–1990 |
Extinct |
| Peerage of England | ||
| Preceded by Ferdinand Cavendish-Bentinck |
Earl of Portland 1980–1990 |
Succeeded by Henry Bentinck |