Duke of Kent

The title of Duke of Kent has been created several times in the peerages of Great Britain and the United Kingdom, most recently as a royal dukedom for the fourth son of King George V. Since 1942, the title has been held by Prince Edward.

Earliest history

A title associated with Kent first appears anciently with the Kingdom of Kent (or Cantware), one of the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that later merged to form the Kingdom of England. The Kings of Cantware (or Kent) date back to about 449. After 825, when the Kingdom of Kent was taken over by Egbert, King of Wessex, Kent became a dependency of Wessex and was ruled by sub-kings, usually related to the Wessex rulers. The titular kingship became something like the heir-apparent's title, as Aethelwulf, Egbert's son, became King of Kent in 825. By 860, Kent lost its status as a kingdom, becoming absorbed into Wessex.

Earls of Kent

In the peerage of England the first title of Kent was that of the Earl of Kent. After the death of his father, Godwin the Earl of Wessex, Leofwine (c. 1035–1066), sometime between 1056 and 1058, became Earl of Kent, a new earldom at the time. It is possible that Godwin was the first Earl of Kent, since he ruled over that area as well as many others.

Prince Edward

Prince Edward may refer to:

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Kent

Kent /ˈkɛnt/ is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north west, Surrey to the west, East Sussex to the south west, and across the Thames Estuary is the county of Essex. The county town is Maidstone.

Canterbury Cathedral in Kent has been the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the Church of England, since the conversion of England to Christianity by Saint Augustine in the 6th century.

Between London and the Strait of Dover, which separates it from mainland Europe, Kent has seen both diplomacy and conflict, ranging from the Leeds Castle peace talks of 1978 and 2004 to the Battle of Britain in World War II.

England relied on the county's ports to provide warships through much of its history; the Cinque Ports in the 12th–14th centuries and Chatham Dockyard in the 16th–20th centuries were of particular importance. France can be seen clearly in fine weather from Folkestone and the White Cliffs of Dover. Hills in the form of the North Downs and the Greensand Ridge span the length of the county and in the series of valleys in between and to the south are most of the county's 26 castles.

Prince Edward, Duke of Kent

Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, KG, GCMG, GCVO, ADC(P) (Edward George Nicholas Paul Patrick; born 9 October 1935) is a grandchild of King George V and Queen Mary. He has held the title of Duke of Kent since 1942.

The Duke of Kent carries out engagements on behalf of his first cousin, Elizabeth II. He is perhaps best known as President of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, presenting the trophies to the Wimbledon champion and runner-up. He also served as the United Kingdom's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, retiring in 2001. He is also the President of The Scout Association, the Royal United Services Institute, and the Royal Institution of Great Britain, and since 1967 Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England. The Duke of Kent is also Patron of the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) an independent road safety charity which specialises in training and advice for post-licence drivers and riders.

At the time of his birth, Prince Edward was seventh in the line of succession to the throne of his grandfather King George V, behind the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, his cousins Elizabeth and Margaret, his uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, and his father. As of the birth of the Duke of Cambridge's second child, the Queen's fifth great-grandchild, on 2 May 2015, the Duke of Kent was 34th in line. As of the death of the 7th Earl of Harewood in 2011, he became the Queen's oldest living paternal cousin, although he is nine years younger than the Queen herself.

Duke

A duke (male) (British English: /djuːk/ or American English: /duːk/) or duchess (female) can either be a monarch ruling over a duchy or a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch. The title comes from French duc, itself from the Latin dux, 'leader', a term used in republican Rome to refer to a military commander without an official rank (particularly one of Germanic or Celtic origin), and later coming to mean the leading military commander of a province.

During the Middle Ages the title (as Herzog) signified first among the Germanic monarchies. Dukes were the rulers of the provinces and the superiors of the counts in the cities and later, in the feudal monarchies, the highest-ranking peers of the king. A duke may or may not be, ipso facto, a member of the nation's peerage: in the United Kingdom and Spain all dukes are/were also peers of the realm, in France some were and some were not, while the term is not applicable to dukedoms of other nations, even where an institution similar to the peerage (e.g., Grandeeship, Imperial Diet, Hungarian House of Magnates) existed.