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The British nobility is made up of the peerage and the gentry of the British Isles. Though the UK is today a constitutional monarchy with strong democratic elements, historically the British Isles were more predisposed towards aristocratic governance in which power was largely inherited and shared amongst a noble class.
The ranks of the peerage are duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron. [7]The last non-royal dukedom was created in 1874, and the last marquessate was created in 1936. . Creation of the remaining ranks, except baronies for life, mostly ceased once Harold Wilson's Labour government took office in 1964, and only thirteen (nine non-royal and four royal) people have been created hereditary peers sinc
The peerage forms the highest rung of what is termed the "British nobility". The term peerage can be used both collectively to refer to this entire body of titled nobility (or a subdivision thereof), and individually to refer to a specific title (modern English language-style using an initial capital in the latter case but not the former).
The history of the British peerage, a system of nobility found in the United Kingdom, stretches over the last thousand years. The current form of the British peerage has been a process of development. While the ranks of baron and earl predate the British peerage itself, the ranks of duke and marquess were introduced to England in the
It is possible for a peer to hold more than one title of nobility, and these may belong to different ranks and peerages. A peer derives his precedence from his highest-ranking title; peeresses derive their precedence in the same way, whether they hold their highest-ranking title in their own right or by marriage.
Aaron Chown/WPA Pool/Getty Images. Examples: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex . The highest degree of the British peerage system, a duke or duchess title is traditionally granted to a prince and his ...
Usually Prince of Wales as the heir to the British throne; Duke of Rothesay in the Peerage of Scotland: The Duke of Norfolk [a] 1483 The Duke of Somerset: 1547 The Duke of Richmond: 1675 Duke of Gordon in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; Duke of Lennox in the Peerage of Scotland; Duke of Aubigny in the Peerage of France: The Duke of Grafton: 1675
Earl (/ ɜːr l, ɜːr əl /) [1] is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. [2] A feminine form of earl never developed; [note 1] instead, countess is used. The title originates in the Old English word eorl, meaning "a man of noble birth ...