Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland

Ralph George Algernon Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland, (born 16 November 1956), styled Lord Ralph Percy until 1995, is a British hereditary peer and rural landowner and current head of the House of Percy.

Biography

Ralph Percy was born the second son (and one of seven children) of Hugh Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland, and his wife, Elizabeth, née Lady Elizabeth Montagu Douglas Scott.

Percy attended Eton College, studied history at the University of Oxford, and then land management at Reading University and worked in the Arundel Castle estate office for seven years, before moving back to Northumberland to manage the Alnwick estate for his elder brother Henry, the 11th Duke.

He succeeded in the dukedom in 1995 on the death of the 11th Duke, who had no offspring. As such, he was a member of the House of Lords until the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999 ended the right of hereditary peers to sit in the House. Hansard records no contributions to House of Lords work by Northumberland.

The Duke assists in managing Northumberland Estates (the corporation holding the ducal assets) which has many venture subsidiaries and associated trusts, which altogether own land and property in Northumberland, Scotland and to a lesser extent London, Surrey and Tyneside. Ralph Percy was ranked at number 248 in the Sunday Times Rich List 2011, with an estimated wealth of £315 million. He or the corporation is the owner of Alnwick Castle, an ancestral ducal seat, as well as Warkworth Castle and Prudhoe Castle in Northumberland; Syon House and Syon Park in London; Hulne Park and Hulne Priory at Alnwick; Albury Park in Surrey, and other listed buildings such as Brizlee Tower. Northumberland Estates manages : directly managing of forestry and of farmland, with approximately 100 tenant farmers managing the remaining bulk of the land.

The 12th Duke's sale on the open market, rather than at a lower price to The National Gallery, of Raphael's ''Madonna of the Pinks'' in 2003 was subject to some criticism. At much the same time, in response to a foot-and-mouth disease crisis, the Duke cut the rents of tenant farmers by 10 percent. The Duke has showed opposition to certain wind farms. However, he adopted renewable energy in the restoration of a hydroelectric power generator. The Duke is a sponsor of the NCEA Duke's Secondary School.

On 8 April 2014, the estate's management announced the date of a new art sale to raise £15 million to cover the costs of the Newburn flood caused by the failure of a culvert for which it was responsible on 25 September 2012. The sales were completed by Sotheby's in July 2014.

In October 2021, the Duke was unsuccessful in his bid to build houses on the site of 37 allotments on his land, after over 900 people signed a petition to save the allotments, which are over a century old, and the local authority's planning committee voted to block the development. This came after the Duke had written to the allotment holders to tell them that if the development was blocked as a result of press coverage, then he would deny them access to the land.

Marriage and children

Northumberland married Jane Richard on 21 July 1979 at Traquair Parish Church. They have four children:

* Lady Catherine Sarah "Katie" Percy (born 23 June 1982); a gunsmith and mechanic, she married Patrick Valentine on 26 February 2011. The couple had no children and separated in late 2013.

* George Dominic Percy, Earl Percy (born 4 May 1984); heir apparent to the dukedom and managing director of energy company Cluff Geothermal with Professor Paul Younger.

* Lady Melissa Jane Percy (born 20 May 1987); a fashion designer and former professional tennis player, she married Thomas van Straubenzee, an estate agent and schoolfriend of Princes William and Harry, on 22 June 2013. In 2014 the couple were subjects of a painting by Christian Furr. Straubenzee is a godfather of Princess Charlotte of Wales. The couple had no children and were divorced in 2016. Lady Melissa married for a second time on 19 December 2020 to American financier Remy W. Trafelet. The couple have one daughter together, in addition to Trafelet's three children from his previous marriage.

* Lord Max Ralph Percy (born 26 May 1990); married Princess Nora of Oettingen-Spielberg, daughter of Prince Albrecht of Oettingen-Spielberg and Angela Jank, on 15 July 2017 at the Mariä Himmelfahrt Castle Chapel at Schloss Hirschbrunn. The couple have one daughter:
** Romy Jane Percy (born 31 July 2019, Munich)

Relations

* One of the Duke's nieces, Lucy Cuthbert, married Saudi Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud in 2011.
* Richard Scott, 10th Duke of Buccleuch, is a cousin on the Duke's mother's side.
* Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, son of his mother's aunt Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester is the duke's first cousin once removed.

Arms

References

External links

The Northumberland EstatesAlnwick CastleSyon Park

{{DEFAULTSORT:Northumberland, Ralph George Algernon, 12th Duke of
1956 births
Living people
People educated at Eton College
British farmers
British landowners
Deputy Lieutenants of Northumberland
312
English people of Scottish descent