Zonker bought himself a rather silly title (His Lordship the Viscount St. Austell-in-the-Moor Biggleswade-Brixham) in Doonesbury awhile back, and IIRC it was never shown to be fraudulent. I thought that these title-selling services, although distasteful, were legit.
While the Duke of York is Christian (and in fact, Christian is [one of] his middle name[s]), there are currently four Muslim peers, albeit life peers rather than hereditary ones.
The Lord of the Manor thing has been around some time, personally I always thought it was tied to a property, but everything is securitized these days.
However I remember a Maigret story in which a guy did sell his title, which you can do under Roman based laws, and only Gregory Maundy (and a few others) did in the UK 
That could make the basis of an interesting … opportunity
Simenon probably was not far off the truth
No, you couldn’t. I am the Earl of Alpha Centauri, PhD! :mad:
I ain’t no lawyer, but I’ve had some minor passport problems because I go by my middle name “Dex” instead of my first initials “C K.” Some passport clerks are unable to make the connection, when my ticket says “Dexter Haven,” and my passport says “C K Dexter Haven”, and I’ve had some minor slow-ups. It’s been a nuisance, and I’m actually going to get a new passport (US) under just “Dexter Haven” to avoid problems in future.
So, my guess would be that you can put any name on your passport that you legally use, but it jolly well better match everything else. Thus, if you change your name to “Robin, Earl of Lockesly”, you’d better be sure all your other IDs match.
No, I am the Earl or Alpha Centauri, PhD!
/sits, waiting for the cue for the real Earl of Alpha Centauri to stand up.
That’s not true in the UK. The passport has to bear the legal name. You can get any name on a passport, but only if you legally change your name by deed poll. That’s why I can’t understand how these sites are claiming you can become ‘Lord Adam Jones’ on a passport, unless they’re either lying or getting you to change your name by deed poll to ‘Mr. Lord Adam Jones’.
I’m the Earl of Alpha Centauri, PhD, and so’s my wife!
You’re still hung up on an inconsequential point, and you actually posted the answer to your own question. Apparently, however, you didn’t realize it.
Step 1: I “sell” you the “right” to be called Baron of Wyndingham. (Note: All I’m really doing is selling you a deed poll completion service.)
Step 2: I complete a deed poll that changes your name to Great Philosopher Baron of Wyndingham
Step 3: You sign the deed poll in the presence of 2 witnesses
Step 4: You send a copy of the deed poll to the Home Office with a new passport application
You seem to have two misconceptions: that a deed poll is a complicated process and that the Home Office will reject the new name. According to Her Majesty’s Court Service:
(emphasis added) You do not need a court to give you permission to make “Wyndingham” your new last name, and “Baron” & “of” new middle names, which is what you’re doing.
Accordingto the Identity & Passport Service, you can get a new passport after a name change simply by applying for a new passport. They don’t “vet” your new name, as long as it’s legal. After signing the deed poll, your legal name is Great Philosopher Baron of Wyndingham, so you get the passport.
You have not purchased an actual title in the Peerage(s) of England, Scotland, Ireland, or the United Kingdom, all you’ve done is change your name. As long as you don’t try to convince anyone you’re really a peer, you’re fine, if a bit foolish. That missing comma is a small, but important, distinction.
With the added complication that the companies cited in the OP have an extra refinement to the scam, in that they will sell you bits of land as well. Which could conceivably have actual manorial lordships attached to them. But which I rather suspect don’t. So what they’re doing is pretending to engage in a form of trade which, even when done legitimately, is little more than a con.
As for ‘genuine’ manorial lordships on passports, this is what the Home Office says on the subject in its (badly copyedited) 2008 consultation paper on identity cards (pdf).
In other words, you can include a manorial title on a UK passport, but only as an observation in the form of ‘Also known as…’. Which is utterly meaningless as you can include any name you want in that way. And even that loophole is probably going to be removed.
A sold title was also a plot point in Tess of the D’Urbervilles and To the Manor Born. Or were these somehow different?
Tess of the d’Urbervilles was written in 1891, well before the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act of 1925. It was that law which made the sale of peerages or any other honours illegal. Before that, well, there was a bit of a problem with some unscrupulous characters.
The text of the law only makes it a misdemeanor to accept gifts or favors to obtain a grant of a title or dignity. This is therefore about the government granting new titles. I’m not sure what this would mean if, say, the Duke of Norfolk tried selling off a subsidiary title like Baron Clun. It is my understanding this can’t happen, either, but not due to statute. A title doesn’t belong to the holder as property. For instance if a title is lost or abandonded for one reason or another (e.g., abeyance or attainment), it goes back to the monarch. Some titles have been created multiple times this way. For example, the title of Baron Beauchamp has been created no less than seven times for three distinct families. I’m not absolutely sure about this, however.
In To the Manor Born, the thing sold was a manor house, not a peerage.
I thought at least some titles could be bought. Michael Moore did a segment on TV Nation in which he bought a title and visited the township he was lord of.
You can, if it is the name you habitually use. You have to get two people who swear they knew you under both names. When I got my first passport, 45 years ago, the only two people who knew me under both names were my parents since the name on my birth certificate was NEVER used for any other purpose. Since then, I have simply turned in my passport and gotten a new one under the same name.
I don’t know if it is still so easy and if I were to get my first passport today, there would literally be no one who knew me under both names.
That was one of the Lord of the Manor not-a-title-at-all pseudo-titles mentioned above. There was a vogue in the 80’s and 90’s for Americans to buy these, but they are essentially meaningless:
According to wiki’s list of TV Nation episodes, Moore bought the lordship of the manor of Foleshill.
Richard DeVere did actually become the Lord of the Manor when he bought Grantleigh. Audrey was constantly reminding him of his duties as Lord of the Manor. He had some powers regarding the local church and the railway.
Yes, but, again, being a Lord of the Manor is not a title in any peerage system. A few surviving historical ones have some odd privileges and duties, but “lordship” in this case means “property ownership.” (Almost) Nothing more.
Straight from the horses mouth, that of the British Embassy to the US:
I wonder how many dopers have recently applied to change their SDMB handle to Earl of Alpha Centauri, PhD?
Not me. If I were to change my handle, it’d probably be to Baron of Glenelg or something like that.
Except that according to the UK Deed Poll Service, you can’t do that.
Except I guess that most people buying these titles are not UK citizens and that other countries (eg US) DO allow you to put “Lord” or “Baron” as part of the name when you chance your name.