# The Duke of York, and York **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 24, 2006, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-duke-of-york-and-york/365826 "2006-07-24T15:41:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2006, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-duke-of-york-and-york/365826/21 "2006-07-24T20:42:58Z")
[QUOTE=panache45] And what exactly does the Duke Duke Duke Duke of Earl have? [/QUOTE] Well, the Duchess of Earl, for starters. Also irresistibility – “Nothing can stop [him] now, 'cause [he’s] the Duke of Earl.” In point of fact, the original titles relating to counties were to Earls who were, in general, associated with that county. Many Earls got promoted to Marquesses and Dukes, particularly in the Royal Family but also among the nobility. The original Earls were responsible to the King for maintaining his peace in their county. But over the centuries the association between county and earldom/marquessate/dukedom has become tenuous. Certain titles became merged back into the Royal Family, York, Kent, Lancaster, Cornwall, Gloucester, Fife, and a few others being examples. These are then bestowed on princes of the royal family, by way of giving them specific honors. Other than Cornwall, there is no specific connection between title and county; much though not all of the land of the Duchy of Cornwall is in the County of Cornwall. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-duke-of-york-and-york/365826/22 "2006-07-24T21:46:33Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] He doesn’t: he has the Duchy of Cornwall. [/QUOTE] Which is not the same as the **county** of Cornwall. The county is a political/administrative jurisdiction. The duchy is a set of landholdings, some in Cornwall, some in other counties. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2006, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-duke-of-york-and-york/365826/23 "2006-07-25T07:29:06Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] Well, the Duchess of Earl, for starters. [/QUOTE] Is she the red-haired girl in the Chevrolet? ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2006, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-duke-of-york-and-york/365826/24 "2006-07-25T08:08:20Z")
And is Prince Andrew also the Grand Old Duke of York? If so, does he get 10,000 men? Hmm? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2006, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-duke-of-york-and-york/365826/25 "2006-07-25T13:44:28Z")
Nah - wrong Duke of York. It was [Frederick, Duke of York and Bishop of Osnaburgh](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Frederick,_Duke_of_York#Army) who had the 10,000 men. It was a bit of an experiment, and didn’t work out well. York’s veterans thereafter had it fixed in their heads that their job was to march up and down hills, period. In an attempt to cure them of their fixation, they were relocated to Salisbury Plain. Unfortunately, the complete lack of hills drove them all mad, much like a border collie without any sheep to herd. They broke and ran. Some of York’s vets made their way to the Snowdon mountains of Wales, which kept them happy. Every so often, one of the old vets would be found at the foot of the mountains, and could sometimes be persuaded to stop marching up and down, but only if the Duke himself came and gave the vet the order to stop. All rather sad, really. Since then, the Dukes of York have not been allowed to have more than 10 people on their staff, and need a special Royal Warrant to take them anywhere near a hill. Prince Andrew has been rumoured to be agitating behind the scenes to at least be allowed 100 staff, and only to need the Royal Warrant to take them to hills over 1,000 feet, but so far Her Majesty has been adamant to keeping the restrictions. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2006, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-duke-of-york-and-york/365826/26 "2006-07-25T14:06:37Z")
[QUOTE=panache45] And what exactly does the Duke Duke Duke Duke of Earl have? [/QUOTE] Good question. Here’s another one. If you are driving through Cornwall on the A30, do you pass the Duchy on the left hand side? ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2006, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-duke-of-york-and-york/365826/27 "2006-07-25T17:51:24Z")
For the curious, I present the case of William Jennings Capell, retired Californian grocery store clerk, who is slated to be the next Earl of Essex. > **[William Jennings Capell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Jennings_Capell)** > > William Jennings "Bill" Capell (born 9 August 1952), an American retired grocery clerk from Yuba City, California, is the heir presumptive to the Earldom of Essex. He will become the 12th earl if the current earl, Paul Capell, 11th Earl of Essex (currently 82 and unmarried), predeceases him without in-wedlock male issue. Capell had considered renouncing the earldom to maintain his United States citizenship\[citation needed\] (under the United Kingdom's Peerage Act 1963, a person may disclaim a here... > [@](#): > > William Jennings Capell (born 9 August 1953), a retired grocery clerk from Yuba City, California, is the heir presumptive to the Earldom of Essex. He will be the 12th Earl if the current earl, Paul Capell, 11th Earl of Essex (currently 62 and unmarried), dies without legitimate male issue. Here’s [another article](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/06/18/db1801.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/06/18/ixportal.html) on the recent chain of succession of the Earls of Essex. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-duke-of-york-and-york/365826/28 "2006-07-25T18:41:40Z")
Actually, [anyone](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/05/AR2006050501671.html) can be a British royal. It just takes a little initiative. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2006, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-duke-of-york-and-york/365826/29 "2006-07-25T18:53:53Z")
[QUOTE=Bytegeist] Actually, [anyone](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/05/AR2006050501671.html) can be a British royal. It just takes a little initiative. [/QUOTE] Except that guy was passing himself off as British nobility. It would take a lot more work to credibly pass yourself off as British royalty. (And I know that people from countries that have neither royalty nor nobility have trouble understanding the difference, but there is one). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-duke-of-york-and-york/365826.md?page=1)