Throughout history, members of royal and noble houses have engaged in same-sex relationships. However, even in jurisdictions where homosexuality was not prohibited or proscribed by law or religious edicts, titles of aristocracy were almost always directly transferred through married spouses of the opposite sex and their offspring (except when certain titles could be inherited by relatives upon a childless death). Nevertheless, queer relationships occurred before, during, and outside such arrangements, as romance and marriage have widely historically been seen as two very different things.
The terms 'homosexuality' and 'heterosexuality' did not exist until the late 19th century. For much of human history, most societies around the world did not view sexuality in modern binary terms. Indeed, many of these cultures had variously tolerated, acknowledged, accepted, or celebrated diverse sexualities and genders at different moments in their history.
The scope of this list is limited to sovereign rulers and aristocracy who have titles that were recognized during their lives. This list excludes baronets from the United Kingdom, the landed gentry, imposters, and pretenders, and the equivalent in other countries.
History
Ancient and medieval times
Imperial China
Several Chinese emperors had openly homosexual relationships. A famous example is that of Emperor Ai of Han and his lover, Dong Xian, whom Ai promoted quickly through government ranks and ennobled as a marquess (this despite the fact that both men were legally married to women).
Throughout written Chinese history, the role of women is given little positive emphasis, with relationships between women being especially rare. One mention by Ying Shao, who lived about 140 to 206, does relate palace women attaching themselves as husband and wife, a relationship called dui shi. He noted, "They are intensely jealous of each other."
Ancient Rome
A number of Roman rulers had homosexual relationships, including the Emperor Hadrian and his lover Antinous, and the Emperor Elagabalus and his lovers Aurelius Zoticus and Hierocles.
Europe
In many European countries, same-sex relations have historically been stigmatized, illegal, or considered sinful by Christians. Sometimes charges of homosexual relations were propagated by enemies, often rumors of such activities were denied, and sometimes same-sex lovers were acknowledged openly.
In the United Kingdom, despite the legalization of civil partnerships for same-sex couples in 2004 and marriage for same-sex couples in 2013, spouses of ennobled civil partners have not been allowed the extension of title and privilege from their spouses' ennoblements as those accorded to married opposite-sex spouses of ennobled persons. In July 2012, Conservative MP Oliver Colvile announced a private member's bill, titled "Honours (Equality of Titles for Partners) Bill 2012-13", to amend the honours system to both allow husbands of those made dames and for civil partners of recipients to receive honours by their relationship statuses. Another bill, the Equality (Titles) Bill, which would allow for both female first-born descendants to inherit hereditary titles as well as for "husbands and civil partners" of honours recipients "to use equivalent honorary titles to those available to wives", was introduced by Lord Lucas in the House of Lords on 13 May 2013, but did not progress past Committee stage.
On 7 March 2008 Luisa Isabel Álvarez de Toledo, 21st Duchess of Medina Sidonia, a Spanish aristocrat, married Liliana Maria Dahlmann in a civil ceremony on her deathbed.Keeley, Graham. "Red Duchess wed lesbian lover to snub children", "The Daily Telegraph", 2008-03-16. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. Today, the Dowager Duchess is Liliana Maria.From Tiempo: Spanish: Le pese a quien le pese, Liliana Dahlmann es la duquesa viuda de Medina Sidonia, English: Liliana Dahlmann is the Dowager Duchess of Medina Sidona no matter who likes it.
In 2016, Lord Ivar Mountbatten, a cousin of the then-reigning Queen Elizabeth II, became the first member of the British aristocracy to come out as bisexual. He married his partner in 2018.
In June 2025, Maud Angelica Behn, the eldest granddaughter of King Harald V of Norway, came out as bisexual through an Instagram post with images from Oslo Pride celebrations.Happy Pride fra en bifil person!, 29 June 2025 (in Norwegian)
South and Southeast Asia A significant event in LGBT aristocracy occurred in 2006, when Manvendra Singh Gohil, a prince of the former princely state of Rajpipla in Gujarat, India, came out as gay to Indian media; the event caused controversy both in India and abroad, and his family unsuccessfully attempted to disinherit him.
Prince Azim of Brunei was outed in 2019, the year before his death.
List
Austria Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen (1742–1798) Archduke Ludwig Viktor of Austria (1842-1919)Shawcross, Edward, The Last Emperor of Mexico, New York: Basic Books, 2021, p. 92. Archduke Wilhelm of Austria (1895–1948)
Aztec Empire Xicomecoatl
Britain & Ireland James VI and I (1566–1625) (lover of Richard Preston, 1st Earl of Desmond and Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset) George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham (1592-1628) Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (1660-1744) Anne, Queen of Great Britain (1665-1714) (alleged lover of Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough and Abigail Masham, Baroness Masham) Abigail Masham, Baroness Masham (1670–1734) Lady Catherine Jones (1672–1740) (lover of Mary Astell and Mary Kendall) Ernest Augustus, Duke of York and Albany (1674–1728) Lady Frances Brudenell (1677-1736)Margaret Reynolds: The Sappic Companion. Palgrave Macmillan, 30 Jun 2002 p. 126 John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey (1696–1743)Lucy Moore, Amphibious Thing: the Life of Lord Hervey (Viking, 2000) John Tylney, 2nd Earl Tylney (1712–1784) George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville (1716–1785) Caroline Stanhope, Countess of Harrington (1722-1784) Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford (1753–1814) Hon. Edward Onslow (1758-1829) William Courtenay, 9th Earl of Devon (1768-1835) Lord Byron (1788-1824) (controversial) Robert King, 4th Earl of Kingston (1796-1867) Henry Lygon, 5th Earl Beauchamp (1829–1866)Michael Bloch, Closet Queens: Some 20th Century British Politicians, Little Brown 2015. Lord Arthur Clinton (1840–1870) Cyril Flower, 1st Baron Battersea (1843–1907)Hamilton, Trevor (2009). Immortal Longings: FWH Myers and the Victorian Search for Life After Death. Imprint Academic. pp. 23, 181, 184. Lord Ronald Gower (1845–1916)David Getsy, Sculpture and the Pursuit of a Modern Ideal in Britain, C. 1880–1930, Asgate, London, 2004, p. 64. John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll (1845–1914) Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery (1847–1929) (controversial) Lord Henry Arthur George Somerset (1851-1926)H. Montgomery Hyde, "The Cleveland Street Scandal" (W.H. Allen Ltd, 1976), p. 32-3. Reginald Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher (1852-1930) Alexander Hood, 5th Duke of Bronte (1854-1937)Under the Volcano: Revolution in a Sicilian Town, By Lucy Riall, p. 169. Lewis Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt (1863-1922) Sir Roger Casement (1864–1916) Francis Douglas, Viscount Drumlanrig (1867–1894) (uncertain) Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas (1870-1945) George Hamilton-Gordon, 2nd Baron Stanmore (1871-1957) George Seymour, 7th Marquess of Hertford (1871-1940) William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp (1872-1938) Sir Edmund Backhouse, 2nd Baronet (1873-1944)Backhouse; Sandhaus, ed., Décadence Mandchoue, 2011, Introduction. Lady Helena Gleichen (1873-1947) Henry Paget, 5th Marquess of Anglesey (1875–1905) Lord Berners (1883–1950)Tamagne, Florence (1 November 2005). History of Homosexuality in Europe Between the Wars, Vol. I & II Combined. Algora Publishing Hon. Sir Harold Nicolson (1886–1968) Alexander Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Carisbrooke (1886–1950) Ian Maitland, 15th Earl of Lauderdale (1891-1953) Evan Morgan, 2nd Viscount Tredegar (1893-1949)D.J. Taylor, "Bright Young People", Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007, page 232 Harry Crookshank, 1st Viscount Crookshank (1893–1961) Nadejda Mountbatten, Marchioness of Milford Haven (1896-1963) (lover of Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt) Jeffery Amherst, 5th Earl Amherst (1896-1993) (lover and friend of Noël Coward) Oliver Baldwin, 2nd Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (1899-1958) Robert Boothby, Baron Boothby (1900-1986) (controversial) Basil Mackenzie, 2nd Baron Amulree (1900–1983) (presumed lover of Douglas Cooper) Prince George, Duke of Kent (1902–1942) Gavin Henderson, 2nd Baron Faringdon (1902–1977)Farman, Chris; Rose, Valery; Woolley, Liz (2015). No Other Way: Oxfordshire and the Spanish Civil War 1936–39. London: Oxford International Brigade Memorial Committee. p. 79. James Thomas, 1st Viscount Cilcennin (1903–1960) (presumed) Patrick Balfour, 3rd Baron Kinross (1904–1976)Candida Lycett Green, ed. and introduction, John Betjeman: Letters [2 vols, London: Methuen, 1994, reprinted 2006], i, 44). Alan Lennox-Boyd, 1st Viscount Boyd of Merton (1904–1983) Graham Eyres-Monsell, 2nd Viscount Monsell (1905-1994)Fenwick, Simon, "Joan: Beauty, Rebel, Muse: The Remarkable Life of Joan Leigh Fermor, Macmillan, London 2017, passim. Hon. Pamela Mitford (1907–1994) Hon. Tom Mitford (1909-1945) (lover of James Lees-Milne)Deborah Mitford, Duchess of Devonshire (2010). Wait for Me!: Memoirs. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 40 Hon. Desmond Parsons (1910–1937) (lover of Sir Harold Acton and James Lees-Milne) Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu (1926-2015) Nicholas Eden, 2nd Earl of Avon (1930–1985) Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl of Snowdon (1930–2017)He never declared a sexual identity for himself, but several men claimed to have had sexual relationships with him and he did not deny insinuations that he was bisexual. Sheridan Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 5th Marquess of Dufferin and Ava (1938–1988) Hon. Sir Peter Morrison (1944–1995) (uncertain, rumors never confirmed) John Hervey, 7th Marquess of Bristol (1954–1999) Lord Ivar Mountbatten (born 1963–)
Brunei Azim of Brunei (1982–2020)
Bulgaria Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (1861–1948)
China Mizi Xia (uncertain existence) Duke Ling of Wey (534 BCE - 492 BCE) Out of the twelve recognized emperors in the Western Han dynasty (the first half of the Han dynasty), ten were recorded as having had at least one male partner. These include: Emperor Gaozu of Han (256-195 BCE, lover of Ji Ru) Emperor Hui of Han (210-188 BCE, lover of Hong Ru) Emperor Wen of Han (203/202-157 BCE, lover of Deng Tong) Emperor Jing of Han (188–141 BCE, lover of Zhou Wenren) Emperor Wu of Han (156–87 BCE, lover of Han Yuan, likely also Wei Qing and Huo Qubin) Emperor Yuan of Han (75–33 BCE, lover of Hong Gong and Shi Xian) Emperor Cheng of Han (51–7 BCE, lover of Zhang Fang) Emperor Ai of Han (27-1 BCE, lover of Dong Xian) Huo Guang Emperor Wen of Chen (522-566, lover of Han Zigao) Zhengde Emperor (1491-1521) Tianqi Emperor (1605–1627) Puyi (1906–1967)Behr, Edward (1987). The Last Emperor. Toronto: Futura, p. 114 Yoshiko Kawashima (1907–1948)
Cambodia King Sihamoni of Cambodia (1953–Present)
Denmark Valdemar of Denmark (1858-1939)
Egypt Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum King Neferkare and General Sasenet (Pepi II Neferkare)Archaeologies of social life: age, sex, class et cetera in ancient Egypt, Wiley-Blackwell, 1999, p. 95, 145
France John II of France (1319–1364) (presumed lover of Charles de la Cerda) Henry III of France (1551–1589) Jacques Vallée, Sieur Des Barreaux (1599-1673) (lover of Théophile de Viau) Louis XIII (1601-1643) Armand de Gramont, Comte de Guiche (1637-1673) Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (1640–1701) Philippe Jules Mancini, Duke of Nevers (1641–1707)Erlanger, Philippe, Louis XIV, translated from the French by Stephen Cox, Praeger Publishers, New York, 1970, p. 75 (footnote). Philippe, Chevalier de Lorraine (1643–1702)