Duke of Albany is a peerage title that has occasionally been bestowed on younger sons in the Scottish and later the British royal family, particularly in the Houses of Stuart and Hanover.
History The Dukedom of Albany was first granted in 1398 by King Robert III of Scotland to his brother, Robert Stewart, the title being in the Peerage of Scotland.Balfour Paul, The Scots Peerage, vol. I, pp. 10–15. "Albany" was a broad territorial term representing the parts of Scotland north of the River Forth, roughly the former Kingdom of the Picts. The title (along with the Dukedom of Rothesay) was one of the first two dukedoms created in Scotland. It passed to Robert's son Murdoch Stewart, and was forfeited in 1425 due to the attainder of Murdoch.Barrow, Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland, pp. 275–280.
The title was again created in 1458 for Alexander Stewart but was forfeited in 1483.Balfour Paul, The Scots Peerage, vol. I, pp. 17–20. His son John Stewart was restored to the second creation in 1515 but died without heirs in 1536.Brown, The Black Douglases, pp. 88–90. In 1541, Robert, the second son of James V of Scotland, was styled Duke of Albany, but he died at less than a month old.Balfour Paul, vol. I, pp. 21–22. The fourth creation, along with the Earldom of Ross and Lordship of Ardmannoch, was for Mary, Queen of Scots' king consort Lord Darnley,Balfour Paul, vol. I, pp. 23–25.Evans, R. J. W., Mary, Queen of Scots, pp. 122–125. whose son, later James VI of Scotland, I of England and Ireland, inherited the titles on his death. That creation merged with the Scottish crown upon James's ascension. The title, along with the title of Duke of York, with which it has since been traditionally coupled, was created for a fifth time in 1600 for Charles, son of James VI and I. Upon Charles's ascent to the throne in 1625, the title of Duke of Albany merged once again into the crown.Balfour Paul, vol. I, pp. 26–27.Cokayne, Complete Peerage, vol. III, pp. 355–358.
The title was next granted in 1660 to Charles I's son, James, by Charles II.Cokayne, Complete Peerage, vol. III, pp. 362–364.Balfour Paul, The Scots Peerage, vol. I, pp. 28–29. When James succeeded his elder brother to the throne in 1685, the titles again merged into the crown. The cities of New York and Albany, New York were thus both named after James, as he was the Duke of York and of Albany.Albany, New York, municipal historical records; Short, J. R., Albany: Capital City History, pp. 12–15. The Jacobite pretender Charles Edward Stuart gave the title Duchess of Albany to his illegitimate daughter Charlotte; she died in 1789.Pittock, Charles Edward Stuart: The Young Pretender, pp. 196–198.Balfour Paul, The Scots Peerage, vol. I, p. 30.
The title "Duke of York and Albany" was granted three times by the Hanoverian kings.
The title of "Albany" alone was granted for the fifth time, this time in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, in 1881 to Prince Leopold, the fourth son of Queen Victoria. Prince Leopold's son, Prince Charles Edward (who had succeeded as reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1900), was deprived of the peerage in 1919 for bearing arms against the United Kingdom in World War I. His grandson, Ernst Leopold (1935–1996), only son of Charles Edward's eldest son Johann Leopold, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1906–1972), sometimes used the title "Duke of Albany", although the Titles Deprivation Act 1917 stipulates that any successor of a suspended peer shall be restored to the peerage only by direction of the sovereign, the successor's petition for restoration having been submitted for and obtained a satisfactory review of the appropriate Privy Council committee.
Dukes of Albany First creation, 1398 Other titles (1st Duke): Earl of Fife (1371), Earl of Buchan (1374–1406), Earl of Atholl (1403–1406) Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany (–1420), third son of Robert II of Scotland Other titles (2nd Duke): Earl of Menteith (bef 1189), Earl of Fife (1371), Earl of Buchan (1374) Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany (1362–1425), eldest son of the 1st Duke was attainted and his honours forfeit in 1425
Second creation, 1458 Other titles (1st Duke): Earl of March (1455), Earl of Mar and Earl of Garioch (1482) Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany (–1485), second son of James II, forfeited his honours in 1479, was restored in 1482, then forfeited them again in 1483 Other titles (2nd Duke): Earl of March (1455) John Stewart, Duke of Albany (1482–1536), only legitimate son of the 1st Duke, was restored to his father's dukedom and Earldom of March in 1515. The honours became extinct upon his death without issue
Only styled, 1541
Duke Portrait Birth Marriage(s) Death Robert StewartHouse of Stuart1541–1541 no portrait 12 April 1541Falkland Palace, Falkland, FifeSon of James V of Scotlandand Mary of Guise not married 20 April 1541Falkland Palace, Falkland, Fifeaged 8 days
Third creation, 1565
Duke Portrait Birth Marriage(s) Death Henry StuartHouse of Stuart1565–1567also: Earl of Rossand Lord Ardmannoch (1565) 19 November 1545Dunfermline Palace, DunfermlineSon of Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennoxand Lady Margaret Douglas Mary, Queen of Scots29 July 15651 child 10 February 1567Kirk o' Field, Edinburghaged 21 James StuartHouse of Stuart1567also: Earl of Rossand Lord Ardmannoch (1565);Duke of Rothesay (1398) 19 June 1566Edinburgh Castle, EdinburghSon of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnleyand Mary, Queen of Scots Anne of Denmark23 November 15899 children 27 March 1625De Vere Theobalds Estate, Cheshuntaged 58Prince James succeeded as James VI in 1567 upon his mother's abdication, and his titles merged with the crown.
Fourth creation, 1600
Duke Portrait Birth Marriage(s) Death Charles StuartHouse of Stuart1600–1625Gregg, Pauline (1981), King Charles I, London: Dentalso: Marquess of Ormond,Earl of Ross,Lord Ardmannoch (1600–1625);Duke of York (1605–1625);Prince of Wales (1616),Duke of Cornwall (1337)and Duke of Rothesay (1398) 19 November 1600Dunfermline Palace, DunfermlineSon of James VI and Iand Anne of Denmark Henrietta Maria of France13 June 16259 children 30 January 1649Whitehall Palace, Londonaged 48Prince Charles succeeded as Charles I in 1625 upon his father's death, and his titles merged with the crown.
Fifth creation, 1660
Duke Portrait Birth Marriage(s) Death James StuartHouse of Stuart1633 or 1644 – 1685Callow, John, The Making of King James II: The Formative Years of a King, Sutton Publishing, Ltd, Stroud, Gloucestershire, 2000. Pagealso: Duke of York (1633/1644),Earl of Ulster (1659) 14 October 1633St. James's Palace, LondonSon of Charles I of Englandand Henrietta Maria of France Anne Hyde3 September 16608 childrenMary of Modena21 November 16737 children 16 September 1701Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Parisaged 67Prince James succeeded as James II in 1685 upon his brother's death, and his titles merged with the crown.
Sixth creation, 1881
Duke Portrait Birth Marriage(s) Death Prince LeopoldHouse of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha1882–1884also: Earl of Clarenceand Baron Arklow (1881) 7 April 1853Buckingham Palace, LondonSon of Queen Victoriaand Prince Albert Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont27 April 18822 children 28 March 1884Villa Nevada, Cannesaged 30 Prince Charles EdwardHouse of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha1884–1919also: Earl of Clarenceand Baron Arklow (1881) 19 July 1884Claremont, EsherSon of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albanyand Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein11 October 19055 children 6 March 1954Coburgaged 69The Titles Deprivation Act 1917 suspended the title on 28 March 1919. Johann Leopold, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Ernst Leopold Prinz von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha, and Hubertus Prinz von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha have in succession been the heirs entitled to petition for restoration of this title but have not done so.Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage, 1995 edition, "The Royal Family", "Duke of Albany (Duke 1881,suspended 1917)", pp 129-30.
Family trees
Dukes of Albany in fiction Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville's play Gorboduc includes Fergus, the Duke of Albany, who tries to claim the British throne after Gorboduc's death through his royal descent. William Shakespeare's King Lear, set in no particular century, includes as a major character the Duke of Albany, who is husband to Lear's eldest daughter Goneril. In the aftermath of the royal family’s deaths, Albany offers to share power with the Earl of Kent and Edgar, son of the late Earl of Gloucester. In the 2001 film Kate & Leopold, Hugh Jackman plays "Leopold Mountbatten, Duke of Albany," who holds the title in 1876, making him a fictional analogue of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, who held the title at that time. However, the surname Mountbatten is an anachronism, as the equivalent family at the time would have been called Battenberg.
See also Duchess of Albany Duke of York Duke of York and Albany Alba Albany (disambiguation)
References