The Duke of York, and York

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.

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.

Is she the red-haired girl in the Chevrolet?

And is Prince Andrew also the Grand Old Duke of York? If so, does he get 10,000 men? Hmm?

Nah - wrong Duke of York. It was Frederick, Duke of York and Bishop of Osnaburgh 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.

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?

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.

Here’s another article on the recent chain of succession of the Earls of Essex.

Actually, anyone can be a British royal. It just takes a little initiative.

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).