The British royal family comprises Queen Elizabeth II and her close relations. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is a part of the royal family. Many members represent the British monarchy and support the monarch in undertaking public engagements and often pursue charitable work and interests. The royal family are regarded as British cultural icons.
The Royal Marriages Act 1772 was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain which prescribed the conditions under which members of the British royal family could contract a valid marriage, in order to guard against marriages that could diminish the status of the royal house. The right of veto vested in the sovereign by this act provoked severe adverse criticism at the time of its passage.
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.
Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, was the sixth son and ninth child of King George III and his queen consort, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He was the only surviving son of George III who did not pursue an army or navy career. He was known for his liberal views, which included reform of Parliament, abolition of the slave trade, Catholic Emancipation, and the removal of existing civil restrictions on Jews and Dissenters.
Kensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has been a residence of the British royal family since the 17th century, and is currently the official London residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke and Duchess of Kent, and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.
Baron Arklow was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom that has been created twice. Arklow is a town in County Wicklow in Ireland.
Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, 1st Duke of Lennox,, of Goodwood House near Chichester in Sussex, was the youngest of the seven illegitimate sons of King Charles II, and was that king's only son by his French-born mistress Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth. He was appointed Hereditary Constable of Inverness Castle.
George Cubitt, 1st Baron Ashcombe, of Denbies House, Dorking, Surrey, was a British politician and peer, a son of Thomas Cubitt, the leading London builder and property developer of his day.
The use of the title of Princess of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is entirely at the will of the sovereign as expressed in letters patent. Individuals holding the title of princess are styled "Her Royal Highness" (HRH). On 18 April 1917, the newest granddaughter of Wilhelm II, German Emperor was styled a British princess from birth, even though Germany and Britain were fighting in WWI. Before the First World War, British Princesses also held additional German titles, such as Princesses of Hanover by virtue of being male line descendants of George III; or Princesses of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess of Saxony, by virtue of being male line descendants of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. George V issued Letters Patent on 30 November 1917, to restrict the automatic assignment of the title "Princess" and the use of the style "Royal Highness" to the following persons:
The title of Earl of Inverness was first created in 1718 in the Jacobite Peerage of Scotland, together with the titles Viscount of Innerpaphrie and Lord Cromlix and Erne, by James Francis Edward Stuart for the Honourable John Hay of Cromlix, third son of the 7th Earl of Kinnoull. He was created Duke of Inverness in 1727, but both titles became extinct upon the death of the grantee in 1740.
Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, was a great-grandson of George II and nephew and son-in-law of George III of the United Kingdom.
Lord Alfred Henry Paget was a British soldier, courtier and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1837 and 1865.
Sarah Lennox, Duchess of Richmond, was Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Caroline from 1724 to 1737. She was the mother of the famous Lennox sisters.
Princess Augusta Frederica of Great Britain was a British princess, granddaughter of King George II and the only elder sibling of King George III. She was the duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel by marriage to Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick. Her daughter Caroline was the spouse of King George IV.
Cecilia Underwood, Duchess of Inverness was a mistress of Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex. Despite marrying, their union was in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act 1772 and as such was considered legally void. Consequently, she could not be styled either as the Duchess of Sussex nor a Princess. She was created Duchess of Inverness, in her own right, by Queen Victoria, on 10 April 1840.
Lady Augusta De Ameland was the first wife of Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, the sixth son of George III. They married on 4 April 1793 in Rome. Their union was in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act 1772 because the Prince had not asked his father's permission, so she was not recognised as his wife.
There have been three baronetcies created for members of the Gore family, all in the Baronetage of Ireland. All three titles are extant. The family also holds two earldoms and a barony.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is an American member of the British royal family and a former actress.
Rosalind Cecilia Caroline Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn, was a British aristocrat and the Duchess of Abercorn by marriage. She was a great-grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Elizabeth Seymour, Duchess of Somerset and suo jureBaroness Percy was an English heiress. She was styled Lady Elizabeth Percy between 1667 and 1679, Countess of Ogle between 1679 and 1681, Lady Elizabeth Thynne between 1681 and 1682, and Duchess of Somerset between 1682 and 1722. She was the only surviving child and sole heiress of Joceline Percy, 11th Earl of Northumberland (1644–1670). Lady Elizabeth was one of the closest personal friends of Queen Anne, which led Jonathan Swift to direct at her one of his sharpest satires, The Windsor Prophecy, in which she was called "Carrots".
