Ralph George Algernon Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland, (born 16 November 1956), styled Lord Ralph Percy until 1995, is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of April 2025, there are 800 hereditary peers: 30 dukes (including six royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 189 earls, 108 viscounts, and 439 barons (not counting subsidiary ...

and rural landowner and head of the

House of Percy The Percy family is an old English nobility, English noble family. They were among the oldest and most powerful noble families in Northern England for much of the Middle Ages. The noble family is known for its long rivalry with the House of Nev ...

Early life

Ralph Percy was born at

Alnwick Castle Alnwick Castle () is a castle and country house in Alnwick in the English county of Northumberland. It is the seat of the Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland, 12th Duke of Northumberland, built following the Norman Conquest and renovated an ...

, the fifth child and second son of

Hugh Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland Hugh Algernon Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland (6 April 1914 – 11 October 1988), styled Lord Hugh Percy between 1918 and 1940, was a British landowner, soldier and peer. He was the son of Alan Percy, 8th Duke of Northumberland, and Lady H ...

, and the former Lady Elizabeth Montagu Douglas Scott, daughter of the 8th Duke of Buccleuch. His maternal first cousin is

Richard Scott, 10th Duke of Buccleuch Richard Walter John Montagu Douglas Scott, 10th Duke of Buccleuch and 12th Duke of Queensberry (born 14 February 1954), styled as Lord Eskdaill until 1973 and as Earl of Dalkeith from 1973 until 2007, is a Scottish landholder and peer. He is t ...

, one of the largest private landowners in Scotland, while his paternal first cousin was

Angus Douglas-Hamilton, 15th Duke of Hamilton Angus Alan Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 15th Duke of Hamilton and 12th Duke of Brandon KStJ (13 September 1938 – 5 June 2010), styled Earl of Angus until 1940 and Marquess of Douglas and Clydesdale between 1940 and 1973, was the premier peer of S ...

, who was the premier peer of Scotland. His first cousins once removed are

Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard Alexander Walter George; born 26 August 1944) is a member of the British royal family. He is the second son of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, the youngest ...

and the late

Prince William of Gloucester Prince William of Gloucester (William Henry Andrew Frederick; 18 December 1941 – 28 August 1972) was a member of the British royal family. The elder son of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, he w ...

, members of the

British royal family The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considere ...

. Percy was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, where he graduated in modern history, and

Reading University The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

, where he studied land management.''Burke's Peerage'', volume 2, 2003, page 2937 He worked in the

Arundel Castle Arundel Castle is a restored and remodelled medieval castle in Arundel, West Sussex, England. It was established by Roger de Montgomery in the 11th century. The castle was damaged in the English Civil War and then restored in the 18th and earl ...

estate office for seven years, before moving back to Northumberland to manage the Alnwick estate for his elder brother

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

, the 11th Duke.

Duke

Ralph Percy succeeded in the dukedom in 1995 on the death of the 11th duke, who had no children. As such, he was a member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

until the passing of the

House of Lords Act 1999 The House of Lords Act 1999 (c. 34) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given royal assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries, the House of Lords ...

ended the right of hereditary peers to sit in the House.

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official printe ...

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 Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and to a lesser extent

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

and

Tyneside Tyneside is a List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne, England, River Tyne in Northern England. The population of Tyneside as published in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 774,891 ...

. Ralph Percy was ranked at number 285 in the Sunday Times Rich List 2024, with an estimated wealth of £509 million. He or the corporation is the owner of

, an ancestral ducal seat, as well as

Warkworth Castle Warkworth Castle is a ruined medieval castle in Warkworth, Northumberland, Warkworth in the English county of Northumberland. The village and castle occupy a loop of the River Coquet, less than a mile from England's north-east coast. When the ...

and

Prudhoe Castle Prudhoe Castle is a ruined medieval English castle situated on the south bank of the River Tyne at Prudhoe, Northumberland, England. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade I listed building. The Umfravilles Archaeological excavations h ...

in Northumberland;

Syon House Syon House is the west London residence of the Duke of Northumberland. A Grade I listed building, it lies within the 200-acre (80 hectare) Syon Park, in the London Borough of Hounslow. The family's traditional central London residence had b ...

and

Syon Park Syon Park is the garden of Syon House, the London home of the Duke of Northumberland in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. It was landscaped by Capability Brown in the 18th century, and it is Grade I listed by English Heritage under ...

;

Hulne Park Hulne Park is the only one remaining of the three park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urba ...

and

Hulne Priory Hulne Priory, Hulne Friary or Hulne Abbey was a friary founded in 1240 by the Carmelites or 'Whitefriars'. It is said that the Northumberland site, quite close to Alnwick, was chosen for some slight resemblance to Mount Carmel where the order or ...

Alnwick Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116. The town is south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish border, inland from the North Sea ...

; Albury Park in Surrey, and other listed buildings such as

Brizlee Tower Brizlee Tower (sometimes Brislee Tower) is a Grade 1 listed folly set atop a hill in Hulne Park, the walled home park of the Duke of Northumberland in Alnwick, Northumberland. The tower was erected in 1781 for Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumber ...

. 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 The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current dire ...

, of

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

's ''

Madonna of the Pinks The ''Madonna of the Pinks'' (c. 1506 – 1507, ) is an early devotional painting usually attributed to Italian Renaissance master Raphael. It is painted in oils on highly toxic yew wood, a first for a Raphael, and now hangs in the National Galler ...

'' in 2003 was subject to some criticism. At much the same time, in response to a

foot-and-mouth disease Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious disease, infectious and sometimes fatal virus (biology), viral disease that primarily affects even-toed ungulates, including domestic and wild Bovidae, bovids. The vir ...

crisis, the Duke cut the rents of tenant farmers by 10 percent. The Duke has shown opposition to certain wind farms. However, he adopted renewable energy in the restoration of a

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

power generator. The Duke is a sponsor of the NCEA Duke's Secondary School. On 8 April 2014, despite the vast wealth of the estate, the estate's management announced the date of a new art sale to raise £15 million to cover the costs of the

Newburn Newburn is a village and district of Newcastle upon Tyne, in Tyne and Wear, England. Situated on the North bank of the River Tyne, it is built rising up the valley from the river. It is situated approximately from the city centre, east of H ...

flood caused by the failure of a

culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe (fluid conveyance), pipe, reinforced concrete or other materia ...

for which it was responsible on 25 September 2012. The sales were completed by

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

in July 2014. In 2015 the Percy family outraged users of allotments in

Hounslow Hounslow ( ) is a large suburban district of West London, England, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 14 metropolitan cen ...

, West London, when they revoked a lease which had existed since the First World War, with the intent of developing the land for profit. The development plans were rejected by the planning Inspectorate in 2023 on grounds it would harm heritage assets.

Marriage and children

Percy married Jane Richard on 21 July 1979 at

Traquair Traquair () is a small village and civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in the Scottish Borders; Counties of Scotland, until 1975 it was in the county of Peeblesshire. The village is situated on the B709 road south of Innerleithen at . H ...

Parish Church in Scotland. They have four children: * Lady Catherine Sarah "Katie" Percy (born 23 June 1982), a

gunsmith A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds guns. The occupation differs from an armorer, who usually replaces only worn parts in standard firearms. Gunsmiths do modifications and changes to a firearm that may require a very ...

and mechanic * George Dominic Percy, Earl Percy (born 4 May 1984),

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

to the dukedom and managing director of energy company Hotspur Geothermal * Lady Melissa Jane Percy (born 20 May 1987); a fashion designer and former professional tennis player; married with three children * Lord Max Percy (born 26 May 1990), financial analyst, husband of Princess Nora zu Oettingen-Spielberg; married with one daughter

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 21st-century British landowners Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Deputy lieutenants of Northumberland

312 __NOTOC__ Year 312 (Roman numerals, CCCXII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Licinianus (or, less frequently, year 1065 ''Ab urbe co ...

English people of Scottish descent