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 (cf. Earldom of Wessex), etc. It did not matter how distantly related to the monarch the peers might be (presumably they ranked among each other in order of succession to the Crown). Although the 1520 order is theoretically still in effect, in fact the "Blood Royal" clause seems to have fallen into desuetude by 1917 when King 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.
Assuming that Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster and George Windsor, Earl of St Andrews succeed their fathers to become the third Duke of Gloucester and the third Duke of Kent, respectively, their peerages (as created in 1928 and 1934) will cease to be royal dukedoms; instead their holders will become "ordinary" dukes.Eilers, Marlene. Queen Victoria's Descendants. Rosvall Royal Books, Falkoping, Sweden, 1997. p. 45. The third dukes of Gloucester and Kent will each be styled His Grace because, as great-grandsons of King George V, they are not princes and are not styled HRH. Similarly, upon the death of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (1850–1942) (the third son of Queen Victoria), his only male-line grandson, Alastair, Earl of Macduff (1914–43), briefly succeeded to his peerages and was styled His Grace. Before the 1917 changes, his style had been His Highness Prince Alastair of Connaught.
==Current royal dukedoms==
The current royal dukedoms, held as principal titles, in order of precedence, are:
Dukedom 	Holder 	Year created	Subsidiary titles
Duke of Sussex 	Prince Harry 	2018 	Earl of DumbartonBaron Kilkeel
Duke of York 	Prince Andrew 	1986 	Earl of InvernessBaron Killyleagh
Duke of Edinburgh 	Prince Edward 	2023 	Earl of WessexEarl of ForfarViscount Severn
Duke of Gloucester	Prince Richard	1928 	Earl of UlsterBaron Culloden
Duke of Kent 	Prince Edward 	1934 	Earl of St AndrewsBaron Downpatrick
The following dukedoms are currently held by William, Prince of Wales:
*Duke of Cornwall is a title automatically held by the Sovereign's eldest son in England. In addition to the dukedom of Cornwall, a peerage, the holder also enjoys a life interest in the Duchy of Cornwall. 
*Duke of Rothesay is a title automatically held by the Sovereign's heir apparent in Scotland, who is properly called "HRH The Prince William, Duke of Rothesay" (rather than "HRH The Prince of Wales") in Scotland.
*Duke of Cambridge is a title which was conferred on the Prince on his wedding day, 29 April 2011.
With the exceptions of the dukedoms of Cornwall and Rothesay (which can only be held by the eldest living son of the sovereign who is also the heir apparent), these dukedoms are hereditary according to the letters patent that created them. Those patents contain the standard remainder to "heirs male of his body", with the exception of the Dukedom of Edinburgh, which is a life peerage and will become extinct on the death of the current Duke. The Dukedom of Edinburgh is the first dukedom created for life in the Royal Family since the granddaughter of Edward I of England, Margaret of Brotherton, was created the Duchess of Norfolk for life (in her own right) in 1397. 
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, the monarch is hailed as "The King/Queen, The Duke of Lancaster" (even when the monarch is a queen regnant, by tradition she does not use the title Duchess). 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===
Title 	Status 	Notes
Duke of Albemarle 	Deprived in 1399 	Non-royal dukedom created in 1660 (extinct 1688);non-royal Earldom of Albemarle (created 1697) is extant
Duke of Clarence 	Forfeit in 1478 	Earldom of Clarence (created 1881) is a subsidiary title of the suspended Dukedom of Albany
Duke of Clarence and Avondale 	Extinct in 1892 	
Duke of Clarence and St Andrews 	Merged in the crown in 1830	Earldom of St Andrews (created 1934) is a subsidiary title of the extant Dukedom of Kent
Duke of Connaught and Strathearn 	Extinct in 1943 	Earldom of Strathearn (created 2011) is a subsidiary title of the extant Dukedom of Cambridge
Duke of Cumberland 	Extinct in 1765 	
Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn	Extinct in 1790 	
Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh 	Extinct in 1834 	Separate Dukedoms of Gloucester and Edinburgh are extant.
Duke of Hereford 	Merged in the crown in 1399	Non-royal Viscountcy of Hereford (created 1550) is extant
Duke of Kendal 	Extinct in 1667 	Non-royal dukedom created in 1719 (extinct 1743).
Duke of Kent and Strathearn 	Extinct in 1820 	Earldom of Strathearn (created 2011) is a subsidiary title of the extant Dukedom of Cambridge.
Duke of Kintyre and Lorne 	Extinct in 1602 	Non-royal Marquessate of Kintyre and Lorne (created 1701) is a subsidiary title of the extant Dukedom of Argyll
Duke of Ross 	Extinct in 1515 	
Duke of Windsor 	Extinct in 1972 	The title that was given to King Edward VIII after his abdication.Non-royal Barony (created 1529) and Viscountcy of Windsor (created 1905) are subsidiary titles of the extant Earldom of Plymouth.Non-royal Earldom of Windsor (created 1796) is a subsidiary title of the extant Marquessate of Bute.
Duke of York and Albany 	Extinct in 1827 	
===Extinct as royal dukedoms ===
Title 	Royal creation 	Current status
Duke of Bedford 	Extinct in 1495	Non-royal dukedom created in 1694 is extant
Duke of Norfolk 	Extinct in 1483	Non-royal dukedom created in 1483 is extant
Duke of Somerset	Extinct in 1500	Non-royal dukedom created in 1547 is extant
===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 the 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.
Title 	Created	Deprived holder 	Current claimant
Duke of Albany 	1881 	Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha	Prince Hubertus of Saxe Coburg and Gotha
Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale	1799 	Ernest Augustus, Crown Prince of Hanover 	Prince Ernst August of Hanover
==Royal dukedoms created since 1726==
Coat of arms	Title 	Prince 	Date created 	Notes
===Reign of King George I===	
===Reign of King George I=== 	
===Reign of King George I===	
===Reign of King George I=== 	
===Reign of King George I===
 	Duke of Edinburgh 	Prince Frederick 	15 July 1726 	Created Prince of Wales in 1729Merged with the Crown in 1760
 	Duke of Cumberland 	Prince William 	15 July 1726 	Extinct in 1765
===Reign of King George II===	
===Reign of King George II=== 	
===Reign of King George II===	
===Reign of King George II=== 	
===Reign of King George II===
 	Duke of York and Albany 	Prince Edward 	1 April 1760 	Extinct in 1767
===Reign of King George III===	
===Reign of King George III=== 	
===Reign of King George III===	
===Reign of King George III=== 	
===Reign of King George III===
 	Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh 	Prince William Henry 	17 November 1764 	Extinct in 1834
 	Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn	Prince Henry 	22 October 1766 	Extinct in 1790
 	Duke of York and Albany 	Prince Frederick 	27 November 1784 	Extinct in 1827
 	Duke of Clarence and St Andrews 	Prince William 	19 May 1789 	Merged with the Crown in 1830
 	Duke of Kent and Strathearn 	Prince Edward 	23 April 1799 	Extinct in 1820
 	Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale	Prince Ernest Augustus 	23 April 1799 	Deprived in 1919
 	Duke of Sussex 	Prince Augustus Frederick	24 November 1801 	Extinct in 1843
 	Duke of Cambridge 	Prince Adolphus 	24 November 1801 	Extinct in 1904
===Reign of Queen Victoria===	
===Reign of Queen Victoria=== 	
===Reign of Queen Victoria===	
===Reign of Queen Victoria=== 	
===Reign of Queen Victoria===
 	Duke of Edinburgh 	Prince Alfred 	24 May 1866 	Extinct in 1900
 	Duke of Connaught and Strathearn 	Prince Arthur 	24 May 1874 	Extinct in 1943
 	Duke of Albany 	Prince Leopold 	24 May 1881 	Deprived in 1919
 	Duke of Clarence and Avondale 	Prince Albert Victor 	24 May 1890 	Extinct in 1892
 	Duke of York 	Prince George 	24 May 1892 	Created Prince of Wales in 1901Merged with the Crown in 1910
===Reign of King George V===	
===Reign of King George V=== 	
===Reign of King George V===	
===Reign of King George V=== 	
===Reign of King George V===
 	Duke of York 	Prince Albert 	3 June 1920 	Merged with the Crown in 1936
 	Duke of Gloucester 	Prince Henry 	30 March 1928 	Extant
 	Duke of Kent 	Prince George 	9 October 1934 	Extant
===Reign of King George VI===	
===Reign of King George VI=== 	
===Reign of King George VI===	
===Reign of King George VI=== 	
===Reign of King George VI===
 	Duke of Windsor 	Prince Edward 	8 March 1937 	Extinct in 1972
 	Duke of Edinburgh 	Prince Philip 	20 November 1947 	Merged with the Crown in 2022
===Reign of Queen Elizabeth II===	
===Reign of Queen Elizabeth II===	
===Reign of Queen Elizabeth II===	
===Reign of Queen Elizabeth II=== 	
===Reign of Queen Elizabeth II===
 	Duke of York 	Prince Andrew 	23 July 1986 	Extant
 	Duke of Cambridge 	Prince William 	29 April 2011 	Created Prince of Wales in 2022Extant
 	Duke of Sussex 	Prince Henry (Harry) 	19 May 2018Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle: Announcement of Titles, 19 May 2018	Extant
===Reign of King Charles III===	
===Reign of King Charles III===	
===Reign of King Charles III===	
===Reign of King Charles III=== 	
===Reign of King Charles III===
 	Duke of Edinburgh 	Prince Edward 	10 March 2023 	Extant
==Forms of address==
*Address: His/Her Royal Highness The Duke/Duchess of (X)
*Speak to as: Your Royal Highness
*After: Sir/Madam
==Coronet==
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 (four cross pattées alternating with four strawberry leaves). The coronets of the royal family are dictated by letters patent. The Dukes of Sussex, of York and of Edinburgh bear by letters patent the coronet of a child of the sovereign (four crosses patées alternating with four fleurs-de-lis), while the Duke of Cornwall, Rothesay and Cambridge has use of the Prince of Wales' coronet, and the current dukes of Gloucester and of Kent, as grandsons of a sovereign bear the corresponding coronet of a royal duke.
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.
Image:Crown of the British Heir Apparent.svg|Coronet of the Duke of Cornwall, Rothesay and Cambridge.
Image:Coronet of a Child of the Sovereign.svg|Coronet of the dukes of Sussex, of York and of Edinburgh.
Image:Coronet of a Grandchild of the Sovereign.svg|Coronet of the dukes of Gloucester and of Kent.
==Family tree==
==See also==
*Substantive title
*Dukes in the United Kingdom
*List of dukedoms in the peerages of Britain and Ireland
*List of dukes in the peerages of Britain and Ireland
*Duchies in England
*List of peerages created for British princes
*Princess Royal
*Duke of Fife, Dukedom held by Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife
==Notes==
==References==
Royal
Category:Peerages in the United Kingdom