Peerage

The Peerage is a system of titles of nobility which exists in the United Kingdom and is one part of the British honours system. The term can be used to refer to the entire body of titles in a collective sense, or to a specific title.

Related Topics:
Titles - Nobility - United Kingdom - British honours system

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All British honours, including peerage dignities, spring from the Sovereign, who is considered the fount of honour. The Sovereign him or herself cannot belong to the Peerage as "the fountain and source of all dignities cannot hold a dignity from himself" (opinion of the House of Lords in the Buckhurst Peerage Case). If one is neither a peer nor the Sovereign, then one is a commoner. Members of a peer's family are also commoners; the British system thus fundamentally differs from the continental European one, where entire families, rather than individuals, were ennobled. Even members of the Royal Family who do not hold peerage dignities are considered commoners, since they do not have special legal status distinct from other members of society.

Related Topics:
Sovereign - Fount of honour - Buckhurst Peerage Case - Commoner - Royal Family

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