Prince Rupert of the Rhine for a speedy success in the north. In November 1644 Rupert was appointed General of the entire Royalist army, which increased already marked tensions between him and a number of the King's councillors. By May 1645, and now desperately short of supplies, Rupert captured Leicester, but suffered a severe reversal at the Battle of Naseby a month later. Although Rupert had counselled the King against accepting battle at Naseby, the opinions of Digby had won the day in council: nonetheless, Rupert's defeat damaged him, rather than Digby, politically. After Naseby, Rupert regarded the Royalist cause as lost, and urged Charles
Prince Rupert of the Rhine men, he also made many enemies at the Royal court. When he took Bristol, he also slighted the Marquess of Hertford, the lethargic but politically significant Royalist leader of the South-West. Most critically, Rupert fell out with George Digby, a favourite of both the King and the Queen. Digby was a classic courtier and Rupert fell to arguing with him repeatedly in meetings. The result was that towards the end of the war Rupert's position at court was increasingly undermined by his enemies. Rupert continued to impress militarily. By 1644, now the Duke of Cumberland and Earl of Holderness, he