Duke of St Albans

The title Duke of St Albans was created in 1684 for Charles Beauclerk when he was fourteen years old. King Charles II had accepted that Beauclerk was his illegitimate son by Eleanor Gwynn, an actress, and had awarded Beauclerk the dukedom, just as he had awarded the dukedoms of Richmond and Lennox, Buccleuch and Grafton on his other illegitimate sons.

Related Topics:
Duke - St Albans - Charles II - Eleanor Gwynn - Richmond and Lennox - Buccleuch - Grafton

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The subsidiary titles of the Duke are: Earl of Burford (1676), Baron Heddington (1676) and Baron Vere of Hanworth (1750). The titles created in 1676 were in the peerage of England, while that created in 1750 was in the peerage of Great Britain. The eldest son and heir of the Duke of St Albans is known by the courtesy title of Earl of Burford. The present Earl of Burford became briefly prominent in 1999 when he ran from the steps of the throne to stand on the Woolsack in the House of Lords to denounce the House of Lords Bill which would remove hereditary peers from the House.

Related Topics:
Courtesy title - 1999 - Woolsack - House of Lords

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