Henry Oliver Charles FitzRoy, 12th Duke of Grafton (born 6 April 1978), known as Harry Grafton, is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

peer and

music promoter A promoter works with event production and entertainment industries to promote their productions, including in music and sports. Promoters are individuals or organizations engaged in the business of marketing and promoting live, or pay-per-view ...

. He inherited the Dukedom of Grafton from his grandfather,

Hugh FitzRoy, 11th Duke of Grafton Hugh Denis Charles FitzRoy, 11th Duke of Grafton (3 April 1919 – 7 April 2011) was the son of Charles FitzRoy, 10th Duke of Grafton, and his first wife Lady Doreen Maria Josepha Sydney Buxton, second daughter of Sydney Buxton, 1st Earl Buxto ...

, on 7 April 2011. He is also a direct male-line descendant of Charles II of England. His farming estate and seat is

Euston Hall Euston Hall is a country house, with park by William Kent and Capability Brown, located in Euston, a small village in Suffolk located just south of Thetford, England. It is the family home of the Dukes of Grafton. The Hall Euston first appears ...

, at Euston in Suffolk, near

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24, ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

.''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (2000), p. 704

Early life

Grafton is the son of James Oliver Charles FitzRoy, Earl of Euston (1947–2009), and his wife, Lady Clare Amabel Margaret Kerr, one of the daughters of the 12th Marquess of Lothian.Charles Mosley, ed., ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage'', 107th edition, vol. II (2004), , pp. 1616–1619 His ancestor Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton (1663–1690), was a bastard son of King Charles II by his mistress Barbara Villiers. Grafton shares the surname FitzRoy (meaning "son of the king") with other natural lines descended from Charles II. Educated at Harrow School and the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, Grafton spent a post-graduate year at the

Royal Agricultural College ;(from Virgil's Georgics)"Caring for the Fieldsand the Beasts" , established = 2013 - University status – College , type = Public , president = King Charles , vice_chancellor = Peter McCaffery , students ...

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

, studying estate management.

Career

From 2002 to 2004 Viscount Ipswich, as the Duke was then known, worked in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in music business management, as a radio host in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, and in 2005–2006 as a merchandise coordinator for the Rolling Stones on the A Bigger Bang tour.'GRAFTON, 12th Duke of' in '' Who's Who 2014'' (London: A. & C. Black, 2014)
online edition
by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, December 2013, accessed 8 March 2014 (subscription site)Richard Eden
Class warrior Lord Mandelson upsets his 'toffee-nosed' pals
dated 17 April 2010 from ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' at telegraph.co.uk, accessed 8 March 2014 In 2007, he moved to London and in 2009, due to the death of his father, returned to Suffolk to help manage the Euston Hall estate. He also gained the courtesy title of

Earl of Euston Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

, but decided to remain as Viscount Ipswich. On 7 April 2011, the 11th Duke of Grafton died, aged 92, and his grandson the present Duke succeeded to the peerages and estates. He currently promotes live music events while modernising the farms of the estate.

Marriage and issue

On 14 August 2010, at

Snowshill Snowshill ( , ) is a small Cotswolds village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, located near Broadway, Worcestershire. The population taken at the 2011 census was 164. Prehistoric history An important early Bronze Age hoard was f ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, Lord Ipswich, as he was still known, married Olivia Margaret Sladen. They are the parents of two sons and one daughter: * Alfred James Charles FitzRoy, Earl of Euston,

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

, born 26 December 2012 * Lady Rosetta Christina Clare FitzRoy, born 20 July 2015 * Lord Ralph Simon Lennox FitzRoy, born 16 March 2017

Arms

The Grafton coat of arms includes Charles II's royal arms crossed by a

baton sinister The baton sinister (alternatively baston) is a charge used in heraldry. Heraldic charge It is a diminutive of the bend sinister and constitutes a narrow strip that runs from the upper right to the lower left of a coat of arms. Sinister (meani ...

. It is an accurate coat as the male lineage is royal and is quartered since the union of crowns and is only in non-succession to these due to illegitimacy.

References

* "Burke's Peerage and Baronetage" * "Libro d'Oro della Nobiltà Italiana" * http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1506204/Susan-Priestley.html * http://www.gsia.org.uk/reprints/1975/gi197509.pdf * http://www.anusha.com/pafg193.htm#5173 * http://www.baronage.co.uk/bphtm-03/hogarth2.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Grafton, Henry Fitzroy, 12th Duke of 1978 births Alumni of the University of Edinburgh House of Stuart 112 Henry FitzRoy, 12th Duke of Grafton People educated at Harrow School Alumni of the Royal Agricultural University English expatriates in the United States English people of American descent English people of Dutch descent Schuyler family Living people