This is a list of the 29 present

duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

s in the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Belgi ...

s of the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. On 1 ...

Kingdom of Scotland The Kingdom of Scotland (; , ) was a sovereign state in northwest Europe traditionally said to have been founded in 843. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the northern third of the island of Great Britain, sharing a la ...

Kingdom of Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a Sovereign state, sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of ...

Kingdom of Ireland The Kingdom of Ireland ( ga, label=Classical Irish, an Ríoghacht Éireann; ga, label=Modern Irish, an Ríocht Éireann, ) was a monarchy on the island of Ireland that was a client state of England and then of Great Britain. It existed from ...

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Great B ...

, and the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

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. In the

Peerage of England The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain. There are five peerages in t ...

, the title of duke was created 74 times (using 40 different titles: the rest were recreations). Three times a woman was created a duchess in her own right;

Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, Countess of Castlemaine (née Barbara Villiers, – 9 October 1709), was an English royal mistress of the Villiers family and perhaps the most notorious of the many mistresses of King Charles II of En ...

, chief mistress of

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...

Anne Scott, 1st Duchess of Buccleuch Anne Scott, 1st Duchess of Buccleuch (11 February 1651 – 6 February 1732) was a wealthy Scottish peeress. After her father died when she was a few months old, and her sisters by the time she was 10, she inherited the family's titles. She was ma ...

, wife of Charles II's eldest illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth, and

Cecilia Underwood, Duchess of Inverness Cecilia Underwood, Duchess of Inverness (née Gore, later Buggin, ; – 1 August 1873) was a mistress of Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (sixth son of King George III). Despite marrying, their union was in contravention of the Royal ...

, wife of Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, whose marriage was in contravention of the

Royal Marriages Act 1772 The Royal Marriages Act 1772 (12 Geo 3 c. 11) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which prescribed the conditions under which members of the British royal family could contract a valid marriage, in order to guard against marriages th ...

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 Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton (6 January 1632 – 17 October 1716) was a Scottish peeress. The daughter of Sir James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton and 3rd Marquess of Hamilton, Scottish General and premier peer of the realm, and La ...

and also the royal Dukedom of Fife, which was created for the Earl Fife by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

, on the occasion of his marriage to Louise, Princess Royal, eldest daughter of the future

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

. A second dukedom of Fife was created in 1900 that could pass through the female line, which was eventually inherited by

Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife, (; 17 May 1891 – 26 February 1959), known as Princess Arthur of Connaught after her marriage, was the eldest surviving grandchild of King Edward VII. Alexandra and her younger sister, Maud, had the dist ...

. 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 The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

, 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 Duke of Leeds was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1694 for the prominent statesman Thomas Osborne, 1st Marquess of Carmarthen, who had been one of the Immortal Seven in the Revolution of 1688. He had already succeeded as ...

became extinct in 1964, the

Duke of Newcastle Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne was a title that was created three times, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first grant of the title was made in 1665 to William Cavendish, 1st Marquess of Newcastle u ...

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. The oldest six titles – created between 1337 and 1386 – were

Duke of Cornwall Duke of Cornwall is a title in the Peerage of England, traditionally held by the eldest son of the reigning British monarch, previously the English monarch. The duchy of Cornwall was the first duchy created in England and was established by a ro ...

(1337), Duke of Lancaster (1351),

Duke of Clarence Duke of Clarence is a substantive title which has been traditionally awarded to junior members of the British Royal Family. All three creations were in the Peerage of England. The title was first granted to Lionel of Antwerp, the second son ...

(1362),

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was Du ...

(1385),

Duke of Gloucester Duke of Gloucester () is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the curren ...

(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 Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

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 George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

(the brother of

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

) 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 Duke of Clarence and Avondale was a title awarded to a prince of the British royal family; the creation was in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. 'Clarence' is believed to refer to Clare in Suffolk; 'Avondale' refers to the valley of the Avon W ...

, 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 been re-created as titles within the

Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five Peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union 1800, Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the ...

. 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. 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 Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage (except for the Dukedom of Rothesay held by the Sovereign's eldest son), and as such its holder is the premier peer of Sco ...

. The premier duke of Ireland is the

Duke of Leinster Duke of Leinster (; ) is a title in the Peerage of Ireland and the premier dukedom in that peerage. The subsidiary titles of the Duke of Leinster are: Marquess of Kildare (1761), Earl of Kildare (1316), Earl of Offaly (1761), Viscount Leinster, ...

Order of precedence

The general order of precedence among dukes is: # Dukes in the Peerage of England, in order of creation # Dukes in the Peerage of Scotland, in order of creation # Dukes in the Peerage of Great Britain, in order of creation # Dukes in the Peerage of Ireland created before 1801, in order of creation # 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 his date of creation would warrant. The

royal duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked ...

s 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 relationship to the monarch. The

holds precedence above all dukes, royal and non-royal, and is the

Duke of Rothesay Duke of Rothesay ( ; gd, Diùc Baile Bhòid; sco, Duik o Rothesay) is a dynastic title of the heir apparent to the British throne, currently William, Prince of Wales. William's wife Catherine, Princess of Wales, is the current Duchess of R ...

, and of Cambridge.

Dukes in the peerages of Britain and Ireland

List of heirs of dukes in the peerages of the British Isles

Heirs apparent

Heirs presumptive

Dukes without heirs

Notes

References

Sources

Burke′s Peerage and Gentry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dukes in the peerages of Britain and Ireland, List of Dukedoms in the Peerage of Ireland Britain and Ireland Lists of dukes in Great Britain

Dukes Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked ...

Peerages in the United Kingdom