Duke of Sussex

Arms of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex

**Duke of Sussex** is a substantive title, one of several royal dukedoms, that has been created twice in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It takes its name from the historic county of Sussex in England.

## History

A title associated with Sussex first appeared with the Kingdom of Sussex, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom that was annexed by the Kingdom of Wessex around 827, that later became part of the Kingdom of England. In charters, Sussex's monarchs were sometimes referred to as ealdormen, or *duces* in Latin, which is sometimes translated as "dukes".

### First creation, 1801

The title of Duke of Sussex was first conferred on 24 November 1801 upon Prince Augustus Frederick, the sixth son of King George III. He was made Baron Arklow and Earl of Inverness at the same time, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The title became extinct upon Prince Augustus Frederick's death in 1843.

Although Prince Augustus Frederick was survived by a son and daughter by Lady Augusta Murray, their marriage (purportedly solemnized at St George's Hanover Square Church, Westminster, in 1793) had been annulled for lack of royal permission under the Royal Marriages Act 1772, rendering the children illegitimate under English law and unable to inherit titles from their father. Both children by the annulled marriage died childless, rendering the issue of their inheritance moot.

On 2 May 1831, Prince Augustus Frederick married secondly (and again in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act 1772), Lady Cecilia Gore at Great Cumberland Place, London. Not being the Prince's legitimate wife, Lady Cecilia could not be received at court. On 30 March 1840, she was given the title of Duchess of Inverness in her own right by Queen Victoria.

### Second creation, 2018

In 2018, the dukedom of Sussex was recreated and granted to Prince Harry to mark the occasion of his wedding to Meghan Markle, who thereby became the first Duchess of Sussex. On 19 May 2018, it was announced that Prince Harry would become Duke of Sussex in England, with the subsidiary titles of Earl of Dumbarton in Scotland and Baron Kilkeel in Northern Ireland. In 2019, an heir to the dukedom, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, was born.

In 1999, before the wedding of Prince Edward, the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II, some had suggested the dukedoms of Sussex or Cambridge as the most likely titles to be granted to him. Instead, Prince Edward was created Earl of Wessex, and it was announced that he would eventually be created Duke of Edinburgh, a title currently held by his father, Prince Philip.

There was again speculation that Prince William might be given the Sussex title on his wedding to Catherine Middleton in April 2011, but he was instead created Duke of Cambridge.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle: Announcement of Titles, The Royal Household, 19 May 2018.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Template:London Gazette
3. ↑ Edwards, Heather (2004). Ecgberht [Egbert (d. 839), king of the West Saxons in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]. Oxford University Press.
4. ↑ Template:London Gazette
5. ↑ Template:London Gazette
"Meghan Markle's royal title is Duchess of Sussex", *The Independent*, 17 April 2018.
7. ↑ His Royal Highness was born with the title Prince Edward, as he is a son of The Sovereign. He was created The Earl of Wessex and Viscount Severn on his marriage in 1999..
8. ↑ Kate Middleton will inherit a host of titles. *Cambridge News* (16 November 2010).