Henry John FitzRoy Somerset, 12th Duke of Beaufort (born 22 May 1952), styled Marquess of Worcester between 1984 and 2017, also known as Harry Beaufort, Bunter Beaufort, or Harry Worcester, is an English peer, singer-songwriter, and landowner with estates in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. He is based at Badminton House.
Biography Beaufort is the son of the 11th Duke of Beaufort and his wife, Lady Caroline Jane Thynne (1928–1995), a daughter of the 6th Marquess of Bath of Longleat House. He and his family are descended in the male line from the House of Plantagenet, through an illegitimate line, although this descent has been questioned after the University of Leicester analysis of the Y chromosomal DNA of Richard III found most living male heirs of the 5th Duke of Beaufort carried a relatively common Y chromosome type different from the rare lineage found in Richard III's remains. Beaufort has often been described as the Head of House of Plantagenet because of his descent, and because his line was legitimised under law early on, albeit with a prohibition on succeeding to the throne.
Beaufort was educated at Hawtreys, Eton College, and the Royal Agricultural College.
In the 1980s, he started the band The Business Connection which included Lady Theresa Manners (daughter of the Duke of Rutland) as a singer.
He is currently the lead singer of the rock group The Listening Device. This was a support act at the Highclere Rocks concert in 2006, which also featured Bryan Ferry, Eric Clapton, and Roger Waters.Countryside Alliance: Ferry joins Clapton and Waters for rock benefit , politics.co.uk, 13 April 2006. Accessed 25 April 2008. They supported Jools Holland at Westonbirt Arboretum. The band has also performed at Glastonbury Festival in 2016 and Wychwood Festival in 2017. On 16 July 2023, the band opened for The Who at Badminton Estate, alongside Ali Campbell's UB40.
Since the death of his father, Beaufort is also master of the Duke of Beaufort's Hunt.Duke of Beaufort's Hunt Contact List, beauforthunt.com, accessed 21 June 2021
His autobiography, The Unlikely Duke, was published in 2023. Kara Kennedy, "Cocaine, Ibiza, lunch with Diana – welcome to the real aristocracy", The Telegraph, 19 November 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2024
Personal life His first wife was the environmentalist and former actress Tracy Louise Ward (a sister of Rachel Ward and a granddaughter of William Ward, 3rd Earl of Dudley). They were married on 13 June 1987 at Cornwell, in Oxfordshire, but later separated, and were divorced in 2018. The marriage produced three children:Google Groups — Peerage News
Henry Robert FitzRoy Somerset, Marquess of Worcester, formerly known as Earl of Glamorgan (b. 20 January 1989);Susan Morris, Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage 2019 (2020), p. 3,290 married Lucy Eleanor Yorke-Long (b. 23 June 1986), in August 2020.Annabelle Spranklen, The Marquess of Worcester ties the knot with fiancée Lucy Yorke-Long in small ceremony at Badminton House: Love is in the heir, Tatler, 2 September 2020 They have two sons: Henry, Earl of Glamorgan (b. 28 May 2021) and Lord Jack (b. 24 October 2024) and one daughter: Lady Lara Charlotte (b. 4 July 2023). Lady Isabella Elsa Somerset (b. 3 August 1992) Lord Alexander Lorne Somerset (b. 19 November 1993)
On 30 April 2018, Beaufort married secondly Georgia Powell (born 18 February 1969), a granddaughter of the novelist Anthony Powell.Duke of Beaufort marries Georgia Powell dated Tuesday, 1 May 2018 at Peerage News online, accessed 5 August 2018
Family tree
Arms
Notes
External links The Listening Device Official Website