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Born | Henry John FitzRoy Somerset 22 May 1952 |
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Henry John FitzRoy Somerset, 12th Duke of Beaufort (born 22 May 1952), styled Marquess of Worcester between 1984 and 2017, also known as Harry Beaufort or Bunter Beaufort, is an English peer and landowner with estates in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. He is based at Badminton House.
Beaufort is the son of the 11th Duke of Beaufort and his wife, Lady Caroline Jane Thynne (1928–1995), a daughter of the 6th Marquess of Bath of Longleat House. He and his family are descended in the male line from the House of Plantagenet, through an illegitimate line, although this descent has been questioned after the University of Leicester analysis of the Y chromosomal DNA of Richard III found most living male heirs of the 5th Duke of Beaufort carried a relatively common Y chromosome type different from the rare lineage found in Richard III's remains.
Beaufort was educated at Hawtreys, Eton College, and the Royal Agricultural College.
He is a singer and songwriter with the rock group The Listening Device. This was a support act at the Highclere Rocks concert in 2006, which also featured Bryan Ferry, Eric Clapton, and Roger Waters. [1]
Since the death of his father, Beaufort is also master of the Duke of Beaufort's Hunt. [2]
His first wife was the environmentalist and former actress Tracy Louise Ward (a sister of Rachel Ward and a granddaughter of William Ward, 3rd Earl of Dudley). They were married on 13 June 1987 at Cornwell, in Oxfordshire, but later separated, and were divorced in 2018. The marriage produced three children: [3]
On 30 April 2018, Beaufort married secondly Georgia Powell (born 18 February 1969), a granddaughter of the novelist Anthony Powell. [4] [6]
Dukes of: Beaufort , Dorset, Lancaster , and Somerset , Marquesses of: Dorset, Hertford , Somerset and Worcester , and Earls of: Dorset, Hertford , Lancaster , Leicester , Middlesex, Somerset , Worcester , and Yarmouth (3rd creation) | Family tree of the|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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John Beaufort, 1st Marquess of Somerset and 1st Marquess of Dorset, later only 1st Earl of Somerset, was an English nobleman and politician. He was the first of the four children of John of Gaunt (1340–1399) by his mistress Katherine Swynford, whom he later married in 1396.
Duke of Somerset, from the county of Somerset, is a title that has been created five times in the peerage of England. It is particularly associated with two families: the Beauforts, who held the title from the creation of 1448, and the Seymours, from the creation of 1547, in whose name the title is still held. The present dukedom is unique, in that the first holder of the title created it for himself in his capacity of Lord Protector of the Kingdom of England, using a power granted in the will of his nephew King Edward VI.
Duke of Beaufort is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by Charles II in 1682 for Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester, a descendant of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, legitimised son of Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset, a Lancastrian leader in the Wars of the Roses. The name Beaufort refers to a castle in Champagne, France. It is the only current dukedom to take its name from a place outside the British Isles.
Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort, KG, PC was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1654 and 1667, when he succeeded his father as 3rd Marquess of Worcester. He was styled Lord Herbert from 1644 until 3 April 1667. The Dukedom of Beaufort was bestowed upon him by King Charles II in 1682.
Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, was an English nobleman and politician. He was the bastard son of Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset by his mistress Joan Hill.
Baron Herbert is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by writ in 1461 for William Herbert, who was later made Earl of Pembroke. The second Earl of Pembroke surrendered his earldom in return for the earldom of Huntingdon, which became extinct on his death without male issue. The barony, however, passed to his daughter Elizabeth, who later married the first Earl of Worcester. At Elizabeth's death, the title passed to her son, who later inherited his father's earldom of Worcester. Later, the fifth Earl was made Marquess of Worcester, and the third Marquess became Duke of Beaufort. Thereafter, the barony and dukedom remained united until 1984 when, upon the death of the tenth Duke without issue, the barony fell into abeyance. Then, in 2002, Queen Elizabeth II terminated the abeyance of the barony of Herbert in favour of the last holder's great-nephew, David John Seyfried.
Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester, styled Lord Herbert of Raglan from 1628 to 1644, was an English nobleman involved in royalist politics, and an inventor.
Henry Somerset, 2nd Duke of Beaufort, KG PC was an English peer and politician. He was the only son of Charles Somerset, Marquess of Worcester, and Rebecca Child. He was styled Earl of Glamorgan until 1698, and Marquess of Worcester from 1698 until his grandfather's death on 21 January 1700, when he succeeded him as 2nd Duke of Beaufort.
Henry Somerset-Scudamore, 3rd Duke of Beaufort, born Henry Somerset, was an English nobleman and peer who supported Jacobitism.
Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort was an English courtier and politician. He was the only son of Charles Noel Somerset, 4th Duke of Beaufort and Elizabeth Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort. Styled the Marquess of Worcester from 1746, at his father's death on 28 October 1756, he succeeded him as 5th Duke of Beaufort, 7th Marquess of Worcester, 11th Earl of Worcester, and 13th Baron Herbert.
David Robert Somerset, 11th Duke of Beaufort GCC, known as David Somerset until 1984, was an English peer and major landowner.
Henry Hugh Arthur FitzRoy Somerset, 10th Duke of Beaufort, styled Marquess of Worcester until 1924, was a peer, landowner, society figure and a great authority in the fields of horse racing and fox-hunting. He held the office of Master of the Horse for over forty years (1936–1978), the longest to hold the position. He founded the Badminton Horse Trials and was deemed "the greatest fox-hunter of the twentieth century"; his long tenure as Master of the Beaufort Hunt led to his being universally nicknamed Master and his car bore the private numberplate MFH1. In 1980 he published the authoritative book Fox-Hunting.
Henry Charles Somerset, 6th Duke of Beaufort, KG, styled Marquess of Worcester until 1803, was a British politician.
Major Henry Somerset, 7th Duke of Beaufort, KG, styled Earl of Glamorgan until 1803 and Marquess of Worcester between 1803 and 1835, was a British peer, soldier, and politician.
Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beaufort, KG, PC, styled Earl of Glamorgan until 1835 and Marquess of Worcester from 1835 to 1853, was a British peer, soldier, and Conservative politician. He served as Master of the Horse, Member of Parliament for East Gloucestershire, and Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire.
Captain Henry Adelbert Wellington FitzRoy Somerset, 9th Duke of Beaufort, styled the Earl of Glamorgan until 1853 and Marquess of Worcester between 1853 and 1899, was a British peer.
Tracy Louise Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort is a British duchess, environmental activist, and former actress. She is usually known as Tracy Worcester, the married style that she often used before 2017, and as an actress was credited as Tracy-Louise Ward. She was previously married to the 12th Duke of Beaufort.
The House of Beaufort is an English noble and quasi-royal family which originated in the fourteenth century as the legitimated issue of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster by Katherine Swynford. Gaunt and Swynford had four children: John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset (1373–1410); Cardinal Henry Beaufort, (1375–1447), Bishop of Winchester; Thomas Beaufort, 1st Duke of Exeter (1377–1426) and Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland (1379–1440). When Gaunt finally married Swynford as his third wife in 1396, the Beauforts were legitimized by Pope Boniface IX and by royal proclamation of the reigning monarch King Richard II the following year.
Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, 4th Earl of Somerset, 1st Earl of Dorset, 1st Marquess of Dorset styled 1st Count of Mortain, KG, was an English nobleman and an important figure during the Hundred Years' War. His rivalry with Richard, Duke of York, was a leading cause of the Wars of the Roses.
Georgiana Somerset, Marchioness of Worcester, formerly Georgiana Frederica Fitzroy, was the first wife of Henry Somerset, 7th Duke of Beaufort, but died prior to his inheriting the dukedom.