Duke of Cambridge


Duke of Cambridge, one of the six current royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom, is a hereditary title of specific rank of nobility in the British royal family. The title is hereditary among male agnatic descendants of the titleholder by primogeniture, and has been conferred upon members of the British royal family several times. The wife of the titleholder is usually called the Duchess of Cambridge.
The title goes back to the 17th century, and superseded an earlier title of Earl of Cambridge. The title became extinct several times, before being revived after a hiatus of over a hundred years in 2011, when it was bestowed upon Prince William on 29 April 2011 upon his marriage on the same day to Catherine Middleton.

History

The title was first granted to Charles Stuart, the first son of the Duke of York, though he was never formally created Duke of Cambridge because he had died at the age of six months. The first officially recognised creation of the dukedom was in the Peerage of England in 1664, when James Stuart, second son of the Duke of York, was granted the title, but he died early in 1667 at the age of three, and the title again became extinct. The title was then granted later that year to the third son of the Duke of York, Edgar Stuart, but he then died in 1671 at the age of three, and the title again became extinct. The Duke of York's eldest son by his second wife, Charles, was also styled Duke of Cambridge in 1677, but died when about a month old, not having lived long enough to be formally created duke.
The title was recreated in 1706 and granted to George Augustus, son of the Elector of Hanover. When George Augustus ascended to the throne as King George II in 1727, the dukedom merged with the crown.
The title was again recreated and given, in the peerage of the United Kingdom, to Prince Adolphus, the seventh son of King George III. The title was inherited in 1850 by his only son, Prince George. George had three sons, but they were barred from inheriting the title as his marriage was in violation of the Royal Marriages Act 1772, so that upon his death in 1904, the title again became extinct.
During the period leading up to the 1999 wedding of Prince Edward, the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II, experts speculated that the dukedom of Cambridge or Sussex were the most likely to be granted to him, and The Sunday Telegraph later reported that Prince Edward was at one point set to be titled Duke of Cambridge. Instead, Prince Edward was created Earl of Wessex, and it was announced that he would eventually be created the next Duke of Edinburgh after his father.
On 29 April 2011, the day of his wedding, it was announced that Prince William was to be created Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn and Baron Carrickfergus. The letters patent granting these titles received the great seal on 26 May 2011. They were illuminated by Andrew Stewart Jamieson.

Dukes of Cambridge

''Styled'', 1660

First creation, 1664

Second creation, 1667

''Styled'', 1677

Third creation, 1706

Fourth creation, 1801

Fifth creation, 2011

Future dukes

If Prince William dies before becoming king, then his sons are eligible to inherit the dukedom:
  1. Prince George of Cambridge
  2. Prince Louis of Cambridge
If Prince William becomes king, his titles, including the dukedom, will merge with the crown.