Welcome to Brainstuff from house stuff marks dot com where smart happens. I am Marshall Brain with today's question, who are the Duke of York, the Duke of Kent and so on? And how did they get their titles? The British Royal family is like other families, made up of spouses, children, grandchildren, grandparents, uncle's, aunts and cousins. The head of the British Royal family is Queen Elizabeth Too, and she is the one who decides who are bona fide members of the family and
what titles they will carry. To answer your question, a duke is the highest rank you can achieve without being a king or a prince. Historically, a duke is a high ranking nobleman, landowner or a prince, and in feudal times was the lord over some part of the country. Today the titles are largely embolic, and there are twenty eight dukedoms. Some people, like Prince Charles, have several dukedoms,
and some dukedoms are currently unassigned. When a duke who does not have an air dies, the title returns back to the royal family to be given out to someone new. Not everyone who carries the title duke or Earl is a member of today's royal family. Britain has a system of peerage which ranks members of the nobility and aristocracy. Many titles of nobility were one many years ago through great wealth, favors to the king or good deeds, and they're passed on from one generation to the next. This
is known as the inherited peerage. For example, Earl Spencer, the brother of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, is the ninth man in his family to carry that title. Before he came Earl of Spencer. Note that the practices to drop the of upon the death of his father, he was known as Charles Spencer or as Viscount Althorpe, a title his son Lewis now carries. Other noble titles
are given on merit or on special occasions. The life peerage are titles that the monarch confers on exceptional people during their lifetimes, and those titles do not pass to children or descendants. Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of Britain, is now Baroness Thatcher. The British Prime Minister, consults with the Queen about who is deserving of a life peerage and several people are elevated to the peerage every year.
Life peers get a seat in the House of Lords, but a law passed in limits the right of hereditary peers to have a seat. The order of the titles in British isles nobility from highest the lowest are first of all, the duke and duchess title. The name is derived from the Latin ducks, which means lead. Most dukedoms carry a place name, although that means little to the modern titles because the holders are not the sovereigns of
that land area. The title marquis appeared in England with the Norman conquest and was given to nobles who were in charge of border areas. The name is related to older words for the frontier. The title earl comes from a Norse word which meant leader. It's equivalent to account in European nobility. The term viscount comes from the Latin word for companion, and was sort of an assistant nobleman
in the old days. Baron is the lowest rank of nobility and came to England with the Norman's Also, and the word is derived from the Norman word for a freeman. If you have a life peerage. This is the highest title you can carry. Below these are the lower nobility, who carry the titles baronet. This title is granted to members of the upper classes, referred to as the gentle. The story is that King James the First created the
title to raise money. Then there's a knight. In medieval times, knights were the soldiers of the king or of princes. Now the queen grants knighthood to her subjects who have achieved great success in their professions. Paul McCartney, the former Beatle has been knighted, for example. The female equivalent is dom or Dame Esquire in medieval times, and Esquire was a candidate for knighthood. Nowadays, it's applied to members of
the gentry, just below the knights. The queen bestowed titles on her sons at their marriages and gave her daughter a special title. She has several titles that are hers to do with as she wishes. If an inherited peer dies without an error, the title becomes the crown's property. Again. Some titles that the queen's son's hold are part of the Scottish or Irish peerage. The prince's titles can be inherited by their sons. Be sure to check out our
new video podcast, Stuff from the Future. Join how staff Work staff as we explore the most promising and perplexing possibilities of tomorrow. The hou staff Works iPhone app has arrived. Download it today on iTunes.