Royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom


In the British peerage, a royal duke is a member of the British royal family, entitled to the titular dignity of prince and the style of His Royal Highness, who holds a dukedom. Dukedoms are the highest titles in the British roll of peerage, and the holders of these particular dukedoms are Princes of the Blood Royal. The holders of the dukedoms are royal, not the titles themselves. They are titles created and bestowed on legitimate sons and male-line grandsons of the British monarch, usually upon reaching their majority or marriage. The titles can be inherited but cease to be called "royal" once they pass beyond the grandsons of a monarch. As with any peerage, once the title becomes extinct, it may subsequently be recreated by the reigning monarch at any time.

Royal status of dukedoms

In the United Kingdom, there is nothing intrinsic to any dukedom that makes it "royal". Rather, these peerages are called royal dukedoms because they are created for, and held by, members of the royal family who are entitled to the titular dignity of Prince and the style Royal Highness. Although the term "royal duke" therefore has no official meaning per se, the category "Duke of the Blood Royal" was acknowledged as a rank conferring special precedence at court in the unrevoked 20th clause of the Lord Chamberlain's order of 1520. This decree accorded precedence to any peer related by blood to the sovereign above all others of the same degree within the peerage. The order did not apply within Parliament, nor did it grant precedence above the Archbishop of Canterbury or other Great Officers of State such as is now enjoyed by royal dukes. But it placed junior "Dukes of the Blood Royal" above the most senior non-royal duke, junior "Earls of the Blood Royal" above the most senior non-royal earl, etc. It did not matter how distantly related to the monarch the peers might be. Although the 1520 order is theoretically still in effect, in fact the "Blood Royal" clause seems to have fallen into desuetude by 1917 when George V limited the style of Royal Highness to children and male-line grandchildren of the Sovereign. Thus peers of the blood royal who are neither sons nor grandsons of a sovereign are no longer accorded precedence above other peers.
Under the 20 November 1917 letters patent of King George V, the titular dignity of Prince or Princess and the style Royal Highness were restricted to the legitimate children of a sovereign, the legitimate children of a sovereign's legitimate sons, and the eldest living legitimate son of the eldest legitimate son of a Prince of Wales.
In 2012, Queen Elizabeth II extended the style Royal Highness from the eldest living legitimate son of the eldest legitimate son of a Prince of Wales to all the children of the eldest son of a Prince of Wales should have and enjoy the style, title and attribute of Royal Highness.
Presuming the current Duke of Gloucester and Duke of Kent are succeeded by their eldest sons, Alexander Earl of Ulster and George Earl of St Andrews, respectively, those peerages will cease to be royal dukedoms, instead the title holders will become "ordinary" dukes. The third dukes of Gloucester and Kent will each be styled His Grace because as great-grandsons of George V, they are not princes and are not styled HRH. Similarly, upon the death of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn , his only male-line grandson, Alastair, Earl of MacDuff, briefly succeeded to his peerages and was styled His Grace. Before the 1917 changes, his style and title had been His Highness Prince Alastair of Connaught.

Current royal dukedoms

The current royal dukedoms, held as principal titles, in order of precedence, are:
DukedomHolderYear createdSubsidiary titles
Duke of EdinburghPrince Philip1947Earl of Merioneth
Baron Greenwich
Duke of CambridgePrince William2011Earl of Strathearn
Baron Carrickfergus
Duke of SussexPrince Harry2018Earl of Dumbarton
Baron Kilkeel
Duke of YorkPrince Andrew1986Earl of Inverness
Baron Killyleagh
Duke of GloucesterPrince Richard1928Earl of Ulster
Baron Culloden
Duke of KentPrince Edward1934Earl of St Andrews
Baron Downpatrick

The following dukedoms are currently held as secondary titles by members of the royal family:
With the exceptions of the dukedoms of Cornwall and Rothesay, these dukedoms are hereditary according to the letters patent that created them. Those patents each contain the standard remainder to "heirs male of his body".
By law the British monarch also holds, and is entitled to the revenues of, the Duchy of Lancaster. Within the borders of the County Palatine of Lancashire, therefore, Elizabeth II is hailed as "The Queen, The Duke of Lancaster". However, legally the monarch is not the Duke of Lancaster: peerages are in origin held feudally of the sovereign who, as the fount of honour, cannot hold a peerage of him- or herself. The situation is similar in the Channel Islands, where the monarch is addressed as Duke of Normandy, but only in accordance with tradition. He or she does not hold the legal title of Duke of Normandy.

Former royal dukedoms

The following is a list of dukedoms previously created for members of the royal family, but which have subsequently merged in the crown, become extinct or have otherwise ceased to be royal dukedoms.

Extinct dukedoms

Extinct as royal dukedoms

Suspended dukedoms

Under the Titles Deprivation Act 1917 the holders of the following dukedoms, who were simultaneously British princes and members of royal and princely families of Germany, were deprived of their British titles, having sided with Germany during First World War. The Act provides that a successor of a person thus deprived of a peerage can petition the Crown for revival of the title. No such descendant has done so as of 2020.
TitleCreatedDeprived holderCurrent claimant
Duke of Albany1881Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and GothaPrince Hubertus of Saxe Coburg and Gotha
Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale1799Ernest Augustus, Crown Prince of HanoverPrince Ernst August of Hanover

Royal dukedoms created since 1726

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Reign of King George II">George II of Great Britain">King George II

Reign of King George III">George III of the United Kingdom">King George III

Reign of [Queen Victoria]

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Reign of King George VI">George VI">King George VI

Reign of Queen Elizabeth II">Elizabeth II">Queen Elizabeth II

Forms of address

While non-royal dukes are entitled to a coronet of eight strawberry leaves, to bear at a coronation and on his coat of arms, royal dukes are entitled to princely coronets. The coronets of the royal family are dictated by letters patent. The Duke of York bears by letters patent, and the Duke of Edinburgh was granted in 1957 use of, the coronet of a child of the sovereign, while the Duke of Cornwall and of Rothesay has use of the Prince of Wales Coronet, the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex the coronet of a child of the heir-apparent, and the current Dukes of Gloucester and of Kent, as grandsons of a sovereign bear the corresponding coronet of a royal duke. The Duke of Edinburgh was first created a royal duke in 1947 by George VI and later had his status elevated to that of a full Prince of the United Kingdom in 1957 by Elizabeth II.
At coronations, apart from the differentiation of princely coronets from ducal coronets, a royal duke is also entitled to six rows of ermine spots on his mantle, as opposed to the four rows borne by an "ordinary" duke.