This is a list of the 30 present dukes in the peerages of the Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland, Kingdom of Great Britain, Kingdom of Ireland, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1927 and after. For a more complete historical listing, including extinct, dormant, abeyant, forfeit dukedoms in addition to these extant ones, see List of dukedoms in the peerages of Britain and Ireland.

History

In the Peerage of England, the title of duke was created 74 times (using 40 different titles: the rest were recreations). Out of the 74 times, 37 titles are now extinct (including the two women's), 16 titles were forfeit or surrendered, 10 were merged with the Crown, and 11 are extant (see list below). The first, Cornwall, is a title that automatically goes to the heir apparent (if and only if he is also the eldest living son of the Sovereign). One of the duchies that was merged into the Crown, Lancaster, still provides income to the sovereign. All but three of the non-royal ducal titles which became extinct did so before the 20th century (the Duke of Leeds became extinct in 1964, the Duke of Newcastle in 1988, and the Duke of Portland in 1990). The last English dukedom to be forfeit became so in 1715. The last British dukedom to become extinct was the title of Duke of Portland in 1990.

Three times a woman was created a duchess in her own right: Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, chief mistress of Charles II of England; Anne Scott, 1st Duchess of Buccleuch, wife of Charles II's eldest illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth; and Cecilia Underwood, Duchess of Inverness, wife of Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, whose marriage was in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act 1772 and therefore she was not allowed to share her husband's rank. In addition, the Dukedom of Marlborough was once inherited by a woman, the 2nd Duchess of Marlborough, through a special remainder, as happened to the Dukedom of Hamilton when it was inherited by Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton and also the royal Dukedom of Fife, which was created for the Earl Fife by Queen Victoria, on the occasion of his marriage to Louise, Princess Royal (eldest daughter of the future King Edward VII). A second dukedom of Fife was created in 1900 that could pass through the female line; this was eventually inherited by Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife.

The oldest six titles—each created between 1337 and 1386—were Duke of Cornwall (1337), Duke of Lancaster (1351), Duke of Clarence (1362), Duke of York (1385), Duke of Gloucester (1385), and Duke of Ireland (1386). The Duke of Ireland was a title used for only two years and is somewhat confusing since only a small portion of Ireland was really under the control of England in 1386; it is not to be confused with the dukedoms of the Peerage of Ireland. Clarence has not been used since 1478, when George (the brother of Edward IV) was executed for treason. (However, Clarence has since been used as half of a double title, most recently until 1892 when Victoria's grandson (and son of the Prince of Wales), the Duke of Clarence and Avondale, died at the age of 28.) The titles of Duke of York and the Duke of Gloucester have both become extinct more than once and both have been re-created as titles within the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Both titles are reserved for princes (and their descendants). The Duke of Lancaster has merged with the Crown and so is held by the monarch; the duchy of Lancaster provides a large private income to the monarch, in much the same way as the duchy of Cornwall does to the Prince (or Princess) of Wales.

Besides the dukedoms of Cornwall and Lancaster, the oldest extant title is that of Duke of Norfolk, dating from 1483 (the title was first created in 1397). The Duke of Norfolk is considered the premier duke of England. The premier duke of Scotland is the Duke of Hamilton and Brandon. The premier duke of Ireland is the Duke of Leinster.

Order of precedence

thumb|200px|right|Heraldic representation of the Coronet of a British duke.

The general order of precedence among dukes is:

  1. Dukes in the Peerage of England, in order of creation
  2. Dukes in the Peerage of Scotland, in order of creation
  3. Dukes in the Peerage of Great Britain, in order of creation
  4. Dukes in the Peerage of Ireland created before 1801, in order of creation
  5. Dukes in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and dukes in the Peerage of Ireland created after 1801, in order of creation

Whilst the general order of precedence is set according to the age of the peerage, the sovereign's grace may accord any peer higher precedence than the date of ducal creation would warrant. The royal dukes are dukes of the United Kingdom, but rank higher in the order of precedence than the age of their titles warrants, due to their close relationships to the monarch. The Duke of Cornwall holds precedence above all dukes, royal and non-royal; he is concurrently the Prince of Wales, and the Duke of Rothesay, and of Cambridge.

Dukes in the peerages of Britain and Ireland

<!-- Table must be sortable, with unsortable applied to each line, in order to use sticky-header-multi -->

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders sticky-header-multi" style="text-align: center;"

!#

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Title

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Creation

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Arms

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Current holder

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Age

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Acceded

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Peerage

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes

|-

! 1

| Duke of Cornwall

| 1337

| 25px

| Prince William, 25th Duke of Cornwall

|

| 2022

| data-sort-value=1 | England

| Also Duke of Rothesay in the Peerage of Scotland 1398 and Duke of Cambridge in the Peerage of the United Kingdom 2011 – see below

|-

! 2

| Duke of Norfolk

| 1483

| 25px

| Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk

|

| 2002

| data-sort-value=1 | England

| Hereditary Earl Marshal of England, responsible for royal ceremony.

|-

! 3

| Duke of Somerset

| 1547

| 29x29px

| John Seymour, 19th Duke of Somerset

|

| 1984

| data-sort-value=1 | England

| &nbsp;

|-

! 4

| Duke of Richmond

| 1675

| 30x30px

| Charles Gordon-Lennox, 11th Duke of Richmond

|

| 2017

| data-sort-value=1 | England

| Also Duke of Lennox in the Peerage of Scotland (1675) – see below

|-

! 5

| Duke of Grafton

| 1675

| 29x29px

| Henry FitzRoy, 12th Duke of Grafton

|

| 2011

| data-sort-value=1 | England

| &nbsp;

|-

! 6

| Duke of Beaufort

| 1682

| 25px

| Henry Somerset, 12th Duke of Beaufort

|

| 2017

| data-sort-value=1 | England

| &nbsp;

|-

! 7

| Duke of St Albans

| 1684

| 25px

| Charles Beauclerk, 15th Duke of St Albans

|

| 2026

| data-sort-value=1 | England

| &nbsp;

|-

! 8

| Duke of Bedford

| 1694

| 29x29px

| Andrew Russell, 15th Duke of Bedford

|

| 2003

| data-sort-value=1 | England

| &nbsp;

|-

! 9

| Duke of Devonshire

| 1694

| 25px

| Peregrine Cavendish, 12th Duke of Devonshire

|

| 2004

| data-sort-value=1 | England

| &nbsp;

|-

! 10

| Duke of Marlborough

| 1702

| 25px

| James Spencer-Churchill, 12th Duke of Marlborough

|

| 2014

| data-sort-value=1 | England

| &nbsp;

|-

! 11

| Duke of Rutland

| 1703

| 30x30px

| David Manners, 11th Duke of Rutland

|

| 1999

| data-sort-value=1 | England

| &nbsp;

|-

! —

| Duke of Rothesay

| 1398

| 25px

| James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Abercorn

|

| 1979

| data-sort-value=4 | Ireland

| &nbsp;

|-

! 24

| Duke of Westminster

| 1874

| 29x29px

| Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster

|

| 2016

| data-sort-value=5 | United Kingdom

| &nbsp;

|-

! —

| Duke of Gordon

| 1876

| 30x30px

| Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Gordon

|'

| 2017

| data-sort-value="5" | United Kingdom

| Also Duke of Richmond in the Peerage of England (1675) and Duke of Lennox in the Peerage of Scotland (1675) - see above

|-

! —

| Duke of Argyll

| 1892

| 29x29px

| Torquhil Campbell, 6th Duke of Argyll

|'

| 2001

| data-sort-value="5" | United Kingdom

| Also Duke of Argyll in the Peerage of Scotland (1701) – see above

|-

! 25

| Duke of Fife

| 1900

| 25px

| David Carnegie, 4th Duke of Fife

|

| 2015

| data-sort-value=5 | United Kingdom

| &nbsp;

|-

! 26

| Duke of Gloucester

| 1928 Although this did not revoke his peerage, he is no longer entitled to any place in the orders of precedence derived from it, and has ceased to be addressed or referred to by the title in official documents.

|-

! —

| Duke of Cambridge

| 2011

| 25px

| Prince Harry, 1st Duke of Sussex

|

| 2018

| data-sort-value="5" | United Kingdom

| &nbsp;

|-

! 30

| Duke of Edinburgh

| 2023

|}

See also

  • British nobility
  • Dukes in the United Kingdom
  • Duchies in England

Notes

References

Sources

  • Burke′s Peerage and Gentry