By ROBERT HARDMAN
UPDATED: 11:21 GMT, 7 October 2009 / http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1218628/Ten-dukes-dining-Gathered-lunch-unique-picture-grandees-2bn-340-000-acres-them.html
At first glance, it might resemble the board meeting of a
firm of auctioneers or a convention of prep school headmasters.
On closer inspection, it is actually a remarkable portrait
of the grandest club in Britain, a super-elite who account for some 340,000 acres , more
than £2billion and 4,505 years of aristocratic moving and shaking.
Some owe their fortunes to bravery in battle, others to
royal philandering or political chicanery. But they are all distantly related
to each other and they are all addressed in exactly the same way: Your Grace.
Outside the Royal Family, dukedoms have only ever been
granted to a handful of men of power and influence.
Dukes are just one rung down from royalty in the social
pecking order and enjoy a special status way above the rank and file of the
aristocracy. As peerages go, it's the jackpot.
Today, there are just 24 non-royal dukes in existence, down
from a total of 40 in
their Georgian heyday. And it's fair to say that no modern monarch or
government is likely to create any more.
So, to celebrate its 300th birthday, Tatler magazine decided
to invite this dwindling band of mega-toffs to a ducal lunch. The result was
the largest gathering of dukes since the Coronation of 1953.
Some were too frail to attend. Some live abroad. But ten of
them gathered for oysters and Dover sole in London's clubland. And the result
is this intriguing study of 21st century nobility.
'After 300 years, we wanted to recapture the spirit of the
original Tatler, and what better than a room full of dukes,' says Tatler editor
Catherine Ostler.
Once, the holders of these titles would have been the A-list
celebrities of their time. Today, most people would be pushed to name a single
one of them.
With hereditary peers cast out into the political
wilderness, dukes might seem little more than a comic anachronism in modern
Britain. While they retain their rank and social clout, their only power is
financial.
In the case of, say, the Duke of Bedford, this amounts to
£500million in art, London property and a large slab of Home Counties commuter
belt. As for the Duke of Leinster, whose grandfather ran a teashop, it is next
to nothing.
Yet many dukes still play an active part in public life. The
Duke of Norfolk, as hereditary Earl Marshal, is still responsible for
organising the State Opening of Parliament and any coronations which should
occur.
The Duke of Northumberland runs several public bodies across
the North East while his wife is the local Lord Lieutenant.
The very first dukedom was a royal affair. In 1337, Edward
III created his son, the Black Prince, the Duke of Cornwall. The title derives
from the Latin dux - leader - and, throughout history, fewer than 500 British
men have held the rank of 'Duke'.
The last non-royal dukedom was created in 1900 for the
former Earl of Fife, who was upgraded to Duke following his wedding to Queen
Victoria's granddaughter.
There might have been a new one in 1955 when the Queen
offered one to Churchill, but he declined, preferring to die a commoner.
The only non-duke at the Tatler gathering was historian
Andrew Roberts, invited to chronicle the event.
'They're all related and they all stick up for each other,'
he recalls.
But he fears that dukes could become an endangered species.
'Not long ago, two important dukedoms - Newcastle and Portland - became
extinct,' says the historian.
'So, my parting plea to the dukes was simple, even if it
startled some of them. I simply said: 'Keep procreating!'
 |
The assembled: (from left to right) 1. James Graham, 8th
Duke of Montrose; 2. David Manners, 11th Duke of Rutland; 3. John Seymour, 19th
Duke of Somerset; 4. Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland; 5. Andrew
Russell, 15th Duke of Bedford; 6. Edward Fizalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk;
7. Torquhil Campbell, 18th Duke of Argyll; 8. Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke of
Leinster; 9. Murray Beauclerk, 14th Duke of St Albans; 10. Arthur Wellesey, 8th
Duke of Wellington. See list below for details
|
 |
A very special edition: The picture appears in the November
issue of Tatler magazine
1 James Graham, 8th Duke of Montrose
Age: 72.
Title created: 1707. Other titles include Viscount Dundaff
and Lord Aberuthven, Mugdock and Fintrie.
Seat: Auchmar, a modest estate near Loch Lomond.
Wealth: A high-ranking, but lower league landowner with
History: The dukedom was awarded for supporting the Act of
Union in 1707. The sixth Duke helped to invent the aircraft carrier during
World War I. The present Duke spent part of his childhood in a mud hut in
Rhodesia (where his father was building a farm). Instead of the usual Eton
education, he attended Loretto School in Edinburgh - just like the Chancellor, Alistair
Darling.
2 David Manners, 11th Duke of Rutland
Age: 50.
Title created: 1703. Other titles include Marquess of Granby
and Baron Roos of Belvoir.
Seat: Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire.
Wealth: Ranked 474th in the latest Rich List, he is valued
at £115 million. Estates across Leicestershire (
History: While the main seat, Belvoir, is a magnificent
365-room pile with an underground railway and £100 million of art, the family
also owns Haddon Hall in Derbyshire, widely recognised as one of Britain's
finest medieval and Tudor manor houses. A previous Marquess of Granby (later
the third duke) was a popular soldier and helped many of his men with their
retirement, hence the number of pubs called the Marquess of Granby.
3 John Seymour, 19th Duke of Somerset
Age: 56. Title created: 1547. His other title is Lord
Seymour.
Seat: Maiden Bradley, Somerset.
Wealth: Around
History: He is a descendant of Jane Seymour, Henry VIII's
third wife. The first Duke of Somerset, Edward Seymour, was Jane's brother.
The family owns the fourposter oak bed in which Edward VI is
said to have been conceived.
Having rented out his main house at £50,000 a year, the Duke
runs the estate from a smaller house in Devon.
4 Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland
Age: 52.
Title created: 1766. Other titles include Earl Percy, Earl
of Beverley, Baron Warkworth.
Seat: Alnwick Castle, Northumberland.
Wealth: With
History: Part of the original Norman Conquest gang, the
Percy family have been dominant in their part of the country for centuries.
Alnwick Castle is the authentic knight-in-shining-armour fortress and has
featured in Blackadder and the Harry Potter films. The present Duke recently
sold a Raphael painting to the nation for £22 million, a deal which attracted
controversy because of the use of Lottery funds. The newly-refurbished Alnwick
Garden is a major tourist attraction.
5 Andrew Russell, 15th Duke of Bedford
Age: 47.
Title created: 1694. Other titles include Marquess of
Tavistock and Baron Howland
Seat: Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire
Wealth: Valued at £489million. Owns
History: The first Duke fought on both sides in the Civil
War and was ennobled after the Glorious Revolution of 1688. The family has made
Woburn Abbey a major tourist attraction and the present Duke is busy
refurbishing much of the London estate (significantly smaller than it once was
after much of it became part of London University).
The family were stars of the BBC's Country House series.
6 Edward Fizalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk
Age: 53.
Title created: 1483. Other titles include Earl of Surrey and
Baron Maltravers.
Seat: Arundel Castle, West Sussex.
Wealth: Half his
History: As England's senior duke, Norfolk carries the
hereditary title of Earl Marshal. As such, he plays an important role in
running state occasions. The family's royal links stretch back centuries and
the present Duke's wife, Georgina, stands in for the Queen at rehearsals of the
State Opening of Parliament. The Duke's eldest son and heir, Henry, the Earl of
Arundel, 21, is a promising Formula Three driver.
7 Torquhil Campbell, 13th Duke of Argyll
Age: 41.
Title created: 1701. Other titles include Marquess of
Kintyre and Lorne, Viscount Lochow and Glenilla and Lord Morvern.
Seat: Inveraray Castle, Argyllshire.
Wealth: Family owns
History: The dukedom comes with plenty of baggage, including
the hereditary posts of Master of HM's Household in Scotland and Keeper of the
Great Seal of Scotland.
The family suffered serious scandal in the Sixties, when the
divorce proceedings of the 11th duke unearthed a famous photograph of his
soon-to-be former wife with a mysterious naked man. The present duke, when not
working in the whisky trade, is captain of the Scottish elephant polo team.
8 Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke of Leinster
Age: 61.
Title created: 1766. Other titles include Marquess of
Kildare and Earl of Offaly
Seat: Formerly Carton House, Co. Kildare. Now a farmhouse in
Oxfordshire.
Wealth: No landholdings of any note, the Duke works as a
landscape gardener.
History: The FitzGeralds assisted Edward I in his battles
against the Scots. The family fortunes declined in the 20th century after the
7th Duke sold his interests in the family estates and was then declared
bankrupt. His fourth wife, with whom he opened a teashop in Rye in 1965, was
the caretaker of the block of flats in which he lived. Educated at Millfield,
the present Duke is president of the Oxfordshire Dyslexia Association.
9 Murray Beauclerk, 14th Duke of St Albans
Age: 70. Title created: 1684. Other titles include Earl of
Burford, and Baron Heddington.
Seat: A terrace house in Knightsbridge, London.
Wealth: Never a great landowning family, the Beauclerks were
said to own
History: The first Duke was the illegitimate son of Charles
II and Nell Gwyn. Though the present Duke is a Tonbridge-educated chartered accountant,
an eccentric strain still runs through family.
His heir, the Earl of Burford, has long campaigned to prove
his ancestor, Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, was the true author of the
works of Shakespeare. In 1999, the young Earl was forcibly expelled from the
House of Lords for jumping on the Woolsack and accusing the Government of
treason in its expulsion of hereditary peers.
10 Arthur Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington
Age: 94.
Title created: 1814. Other titles include Prince of
Waterloo, Duke of Vittoria and Earl of Mornington.
Seat: Stratfield Saye House, Hampshire and Apsley House,
London.
Wealth: 7,000-acre Hampshire estate,
History: Like the original Iron Duke, the present Duke had a
long Army career, winning the Military Cross and reaching the rank of
Brigadier. In later life, he has devoted himself to his estates and charities,
coming top in Country Life's 'Good Duke Guide' in 1991. His heir, the Marquess
of Douro, is a former Tory MEP while his daughter, Lady Jane Wellesley, was
once talked of as a bride for the Prince of Wales. More recent beaux include
Melvyn Bragg and Loyd Grossman.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment