Duke of Sussex

Dukedom of Sussex
Arms of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
Creation date	19 May 2018 (announced)[1] 16 July 2018 (Letters Patent)[2]
Creation	Second
Created by	Elizabeth II
Peerage	Peerage of the United Kingdom
First holder	Prince Augustus Frederick
Present holder	Prince Harry
Heir apparent	Prince Archie of Sussex
Remainder to	the 1st Duke's heirs male of the body lawfully begotten[2]
Subsidiary titles	Earl of Dumbarton Baron Kilkeel
Status	Extant

Duke of Sussex is a substantive title, one of several royal dukedoms in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It is a hereditary title of a specific rank of nobility in the British royal family. It has been created twice and takes its name from the historic county of Sussex in England.

First created in 1801, the title lapsed in 1843 but was revived when Queen Elizabeth II bestowed it on her grandson Prince Harry on 19 May 2018 just before his marriage to Meghan Markle, who then became the Duchess of Sussex.

History

A title associated with Sussex first appeared with the Kingdom of Sussex, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom that was annexed by the Kingdom of Wessex around 827,^[3] that later became part of the Kingdom of England. In charters, Sussex's monarchs were sometimes referred to as ealdormen, or duces in Latin, which is sometimes translated as "dukes".

First creation, 1801

The title of Duke of Sussex was first conferred on 24 November 1801 upon Prince Augustus Frederick,^[4] the sixth son of King George III. He was made Baron Arklow and Earl of Inverness at the same time, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The title became extinct upon the Prince's death in 1843.

Although the Prince was survived by a son and daughter by Lady Augusta Murray, their marriage (purportedly solemnized at St George's Hanover Square Church, Westminster, in 1793) had been annulled for lack of royal permission under the Royal Marriages Act 1772, rendering the children illegitimate under English law and unable to inherit titles from their father. Both children by the annulled marriage died childless, rendering the issue of their inheritance moot.

On 2 May 1831, the Prince married a second time (and again in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act 1772) to Lady Cecilia Gore at Great Cumberland Place, London. Not being the Prince's legitimate wife, Lady Cecilia could not be received at court. On 30 March 1840, she was given the title of Duchess of Inverness in her own right by Queen Victoria.^[5]

Second creation, 2018

In 2018, the dukedom of Sussex was recreated and granted to Prince Harry, the grandson of Queen Elizabeth II and great-great-great-great-great-grandnephew of the previous duke, to mark the occasion of his wedding to Meghan Markle on 19 May 2018, who thereby became the first ever Duchess of Sussex.^[1][6] On his wedding day, it was announced that he would become Duke of Sussex in England, with the subsidiary titles of Earl of Dumbarton in Scotland and Baron Kilkeel in Northern Ireland. In 2019, an heir to the dukedom and the other titles, Prince Archie of Sussex, was born.

Dukes of Sussex

1801 creation

Duke	Portrait	Birth	Marriage(s)	Death
Prince Augustus Frederick House of Hanover 1801–1843 also: Earl of Inverness and Baron Arklow (1801)		27 January 1773 Buckingham House, London son of King George III and Queen Charlotte	4 April 1793 Lady Augusta Murray 2 children 2 May 1831 Lady Cecilia Underwood No children	21 April 1843 Kensington Palace, London aged 70
Prince Augustus's first marriage to Lady Augusta Murray, which produced two children, was invalid under the Royal Marriages Act 1772 (he had not asked his father's approval to marry); so, accordingly, all his titles became extinct on his death.

2018 creation

Duke	Portrait	Birth	Marriage(s)	Death
Prince Harry House of Windsor 2018–present also: Earl of Dumbarton and Baron Kilkeel (2018)[1]		15 September 1984 St Mary's Hospital, London son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales	19 May 2018 Meghan Markle 2 children	Living

Line of succession

Family trees

See also

• Earl of Sussex

References