I suspect that the real duchess – who is a Californian – cannot afford an assistant. The dukes of Manchester have been lacking in wealth for several generations.
I know Jim Cooper aka Mr. No Lips but hey I’m from Tennessee. Some congressman or woman from California? No clue.
Egads! Now you have embarrassed her ladyship by highlighting her financial difficulties. I beseech you to conduct yourself in a gentlemanly manner.
Hell, I know a Norwegian who speaks better American idiom and accent English than a lot of Americans I know. Spot on classic Midwestern CNN. I didn’t realize he was Norwegian for about 4 months, until he mentioned flying into Oslo and I asked if he was going on vacation, and he was returning home after vacation. :smack:
I got asked was I a Britisher the last time I was in Ohio :mad: .
So, did the Duke in question by any chance preside over the duchy of Nukem?
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Meh. What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
It might smell as sweet, but if it were called ‘Rotten Pusflower’ it probably would be a far less popular Valentine’s gift.
I’m sorry, who?
Britishers have funny names. Check.
I was very surprised when I learned about this. According to the Wikipedia article he took his seat in the House of Lords, and immediately joined in with internal efforts trying to reform it to a more relevant, and democratically based, institution. But right around then (1999, I think) a reform law was passed that kicked all the hereditary lords out of the chamber.
I would think that, as an American, one could easily pass oneself off as a Peer who had just come into the title of a deceased cousin. No one would really expect you to know all the ins and outs of English, Scottish, or Northern Irish culture; neither would you have to worry about successfully mimicking the behavior and manners of the British aristocracy.
As an aside, I’ve always found it interesting that you can call a Duke simply “Duke”. Presumably if you’re on friendly terms, you could say, “Nice to see you again, Duke”. By contrast, you wouldn’t call Christopher Guest “Baron”, unless you were reciting his full title Baron Haden-Guest.
They used to kick you out of the Peerage and strip you of your title for not being able to keep up the lifestyle, but I suppose that’s not the case nowadays. I can the reason in that; in the old days one assumes it was considered part of noblesse oblige not lose everything down in Monte Carlo and then put the estate and village up the spout (to the pawnshop).
In fact, the idea that a US Citizen can also be a British Peer is fairly old. It was part of the plot of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novel “Little Lord Fauntleroy”.
I’ve heard of peers losing their title for committing treason, but not for having insufficient money to “keep up the lifestyle”. Can you give a specific example?
You can call a Duke anything you like, but it is not correct or usual to call him “Duke”. If you’re addressing, e.g., the Duke of Manchester, formally you call him “your grace”. Informally, depending on how well you know him and on his preference, you call him either “Alex”, which is the version of his Christian name that he commonly uses, or “Manchester”.
No, according to the Wikipedia article on forms of address, you can indeed call him Duke. I don’t know what the difference between “Your Grace” and “Duke” is, but I suspect that the former is what an obvious social “inferior” would call him, while “Duke” might be appropriate for acquaintances with whom he is on speaking terms, but not yet familiar enough for them to call him Manchester. You also can’t call this duke Lord Manchester, because dukes do not use Lord as an honorific.
Obvious social “inferiors” these days, from my limited knowledge, seems to include only servants on the estate, and possibly tradesmen and others in the village if there is one. I’m sure that Dukes today don’t go around being “Your Grace”-ed by every single person they encounter; I’d think it would get very tiresome.
Cunctator, I am looking for a cite to back up my assertion, but haven’t found it so far. I’m sure I did see it somewhere, though.
The question of the proper form of address for a British duke is addressed in post 39 in this Downton Abbey thread, as well: Downton Abbey (open spoilers) - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board
I’ll be surprised if you can find one. Once granted, a peerage descends according to a specific formula e.g. heirs male; heirs general; special rules allowing a more distant heir to inherit etc. I’ve never heard of an example where there has been a financial requirement attached to a peerage.
The closest thing that I could suggest would be someone declining the offer of a peerage on the grounds that he did not have sufficient wealth to maintain the lifestyle that was expected of one in such a position. This was the case with the 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, who twice rejected the offer of a dukedom.
In length, silliness and/or pretentiousness it doesn’t hold a candle to the others previously mentioned, but the iconic musician/producer Brian Eno’s name is still noteworthy, esp. in full:
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno
Keep in mind, I’m talking about late medieval/early modern times, e.g. the time of the Tudors and Elizabeth I, not anything very recent.