orig. George Villiers
born Jan. 30, 1628, London, Eng.
died April 16, 1687, Kirkby Moorside, Yorkshire
English politician.
Born eight months before the assassination of his father, the 1st duke of Buckingham , he was brought up with the family of Charles I . He fought for Charles II in the English Civil Wars , and after the Restoration in 1660 Buckingham became a leading member of the king's inner circle of ministers, known as the Cabal. Parliament had him dismissed from his posts for alleged Catholic sympathies in 1674.