James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave

The Right Honourable
The Earl Waldegrave
KG PC FRS
The Right Honourable The Earl Waldegrave KG PC FRS
	Engraving, 1762
Prime Minister of Great Britain
	Disputed
	In office; 8 June 1757 – 12 June 1757
Preceded by	The Duke of Devonshire
Succeeded by	The Duke of Devonshire
Personal details
Born	4 March 1715
Died	13 April 1763 (aged 48)
Spouse	Maria Walpole (m. 1759)
Children	Elizabeth Waldegrave, Countess Waldegrave; Charlotte FitzRoy, Countess of Euston; Anna, Lady Hugh Seymour;
Parent	James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave (father);
Relatives	George Waldegrave, 4th Earl Waldegrave (son-in-law); George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton (son-in-law); Lord Hugh Seymour (son-in-law);

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James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave, KG, PC, FRS (4 March 1715 – 13 April 1763) was a British politician who is sometimes regarded as one of the shortest-serving prime ministers in British history. His brief tenure as First Lord of the Treasury is lent a more lasting significance by his memoirs, which are regarded as significant in the development of Whig history.

Waldegrave served as a governor to The Prince of Wales (the future George III) and Prince Edward from 1752 to 1756. After the resignation of the Duke of Newcastle as prime minister and the dismissal from office of the influential minister William Pitt, George II invited Waldegrave to take over the position of the First Lord of the Treasury. Waldegrave tried to form a government from 8 to 12 June 1757, but failed to do so and stepped down.

Waldegrave retired from public life in 1760, and died of smallpox in 1763. His memoirs were published posthumously in 1821. Through one of his daughters, Waldegrave was an ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales. His modern descendants include Diana's sons William, Prince of Wales and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex.