The Dukes Read Free

of Howard since 1672, but the office of Lord Steward, merged with the Crown since Henry IV, is appointed pro hac vice by the Sovereign. The current Steward is the Duke of Northumberland. The office originally consisted in placing the dishes on the lord's table at solemn feasts ("and cleaning out the fireplace, I think," said the Duke), but now it consists in announcing the Queen's guests on Great State Occasions. The Royal House of Stuart derived its name from the hereditary tenure of this office in Scotland, as the Butlers (Earls and Marquesses of Ormonde) were originally butlers to the monarch of Ireland. 8
    Dukes have always been high in the list of Knights of the Garter, the family of the Duke of Norfolk providing no less than twenty-four members (or thirty-five if you count the allied branches of Mowbray and Fitzalan as well as the Howards), closely followed by the family of Cavendish. Of the eleven Dukes of Devonshire in this family, the
    first ten all had the Garter. Today, three dukes are K.G. - Grafton, Northumberland, and Norfolk.
    All dukes have the right to a coronet, on which are eight gold strawberry leaves, and a cape edged with stoat with black tails. Only on great State occasions, such as a Coronation, are these items now removed from the wardrobe, and a few of the dukes don't have them at all and are obliged to hire them. Even they may retain the favour of being addressed as "Your Grace", but some prefer to discourage it. A little boy was introduced to the Duke of Sutherland, whom he addressed as "Sir", to the consternation of his proud father, who dug him in the ribs and loudly whispered "Your Grace"; the boy looked the Duke in the eye and said, "For what we are about to receive may the Lord make us truly thankful." 4
    More often than not, while the privileges have been eroded, the responsibilities for which they were in some way a recompense have remained. Not that these responsibilities extend to an active involve­ment in governing the country; only Buccleuch, Portland, and Devonshire have held political office, the first two before they came to the title. There was a time when almost every duke was in politics; the Russells (Dukes of Bedford) have had a connection with the House of Commons for nearly 500 years, and the Cavendishes (Dukes of Devonshire) have always been political, from a sense of duty rather than predilection, as a natural return for the privilege of rank. The last duke to be Prime Minister was Wellington in 1828, but before him there were the Duke of Portland (1783 and 1807-9), the Duke of Grafton (11767-70), the Duke of Newcastle (1754-6 and 1757—62) and the Duke of Devonshire for eight months from November 1756 to July 1757.
    The responsibilities that have remained are those of a landowner towards his tenantry, and towards the house in which he lives, often so beautiful as to be a national monument but to which the nation pays no contribution, towards the inheritance of which he is the guardian. A few have abnegated and abandoned their estate, not without reason, for they did not ask to be born to such responsibilities, and undeniably find life easier without them. They prefer to construct their own future. Most, however, hang on in the face of public misunderstanding and political prejudice, knowing that some dark force, as strong as the blood in their veins, commands them to do their best for the estate which they have been given. They are "men with few of the average man's opportunities, men who cannot rise but can only descend in the social scale, men condemned to eternal publicity, whose private lives are seldom their own. Men who may live only where their grandfathers have chosen and where the public expects. Men hamstrung by an inherited amateur status, to whom barely a profession is open. Men limited by the responsibilities of too large an income." 5 Some, like the Duke of Richmond, have successfully over­come the disadvantage of title by seeking the "average man 's