After the members of the British royal family, the Duke of Norfolk ranks first on the imaginary ranking of the British aristocracy. For centuries, he has inherited the state office of England's Supreme Marshal. Today it is Edward William Fitzalan-Howard, a well-known patron of scouts.
The Howard family has been one of the most important families of the English aristocracy since the 15th century. Throughout British history, they have played an important role as high dignitaries, politicians, soldiers and diplomats. Since the English Reformation, they have been regarded as lay leaders of Catholics in the United Kingdom.
This historic title has been awarded about three times
Holders of the hereditary title of duke and earl (equivalent to the continental title of count) from Norfolk often intervened in English and British history. It is an ancient title and its holder has always been at the forefront. Over the centuries, it has been gained more character. It passed from Ralph de Gaël during the time of King William I - the Conqueror, through the powerful, Norman descent of the Bigod family to the Mowbray family. King Edward II of England awarded this title in 1312 to his half-brother, Thomas of Brotherton. His grandson was appointed by King Richard II of England the first duke of Norfolk with the rank of highest marshal of England. The parliament of the new King Henry IV., however, annulled the first dukedom of Norfolk by declaring the Norfolk title invalid. Mowbray's hereditary duke title was restored as order of merit of the crown only in 1425.
When the 4th Duke of Norfolk, John Mowbray, died without a male heir, his then-three-year-old daughter, Anne, became the heiress. She was engaged to the young son of King Edward IV, Richard, Duke of York, to whom was transferred extensive property after her death including the title of Duke of Norfolk. When the parliament proclaimed the children of Edward IV and Eleanor Butler illegitimate and the claim to the throne was passed to his younger brother Richard, the aristocratic opposition provoked an uprising in the country. Richard III managed to suppress it and had his nephews Edward, the Duke of York and Richard the Duke of Norfolk imprisoned in the Tower of London, where they perished under tragic circumstances. The title of Duke of Norfolk remained briefly unclaimed to return to the Mowbray descendants of the current Duke of Norfolk and Earl of Norfolk title holders, the Howards.
Howard Dukedom
The last granting of the hereditary title of Duke of Norfolk took place in 1483, when King Richard III. he also conferred on the then administrator of the royal household, John Howard, the rank of English earl-marshal. After the War of the Roses until the end of the English Revolution, some members of the family and bearers of the title of Duke of Norfolk found themselves in the monarch's disfavour. While one monarch revoked their title, another restored it.
Two wives of King Henry VIII of England also came from this family. Tudor - Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. Their uncle, the 3rd Duke of Norfolk, fell into the disfavour of Henry VIII. He was accused of treason and executed for the involvement of the 4th Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Howard, in the conspiracy and cooperation with Spain. His children, who were descendants of the Scottish Stuart House after their mother Mary Fitzalan, lost their ducal title and the dukedom eventually ceased to exist. In 1580, however, after the Fitzalan family, in addition to the title of Earl of Arundel, they also acquired Arundel Castle, which is still the seat of the current Duke of Norfolk.
Hereditary title of the Earl Marshal of England
The Dukedom of Norfolk was restored by King Charles II. in December 1660, when the great-grandson of the 4th Duke Thomas Howard regained not only the title but also the family property. The succession was passed on over time to the descendants of the younger brothers of the dukes, and today the holder of this title is a member of the Fitzalan-Howard family, who in the 19th century added to the original surname the name Fitzalan.
The Duke, who is one of the eight highest civil servants in the United Kingdom, traditionally has the rank of Earl Marshal of England. This important rank with priority inheritance has been held by holders of the title of Norfolk Earl since 1245. Although the traditional line of succession of Dukes of Norfolk in the rank of Earl Marshal of England has been interrupted in history by holders from other families, the Howards have held it continuously from 1672 to the present. England's Earl Marshal plays an important role in the coronations of British monarchs at Westminster Abbey, organizing grand royal court or parliament ceremonies as well as state funerals. He regularly attends the royal ceremonies of the grand opening of the new session of parliament.
He is the head of Her Majesty's Royal Heraldic College. Without his consent, the British Crown cannot give anyone a Coat of arms or any other heraldic insignia. He represents the Crown as a co-establisher of all royal armies. He also presides over Her Majesty's Supreme Knights' Court with jurisdiction in civil and heraldic disputes for England and Wales. Despite the adoption of the House of Lords Act in 1999 abolishing automatic membership in the House of Lords by hereditary peers his membership remains automatic.
Duke in the Czech Republic
Until 2002, the highest marshal of England was held by the father of the current Duke of Norfolk, Major General Miles Francis Stapleton Fitzalan-Howard, 17th Duke of Norfolk. During World War II, he participated in the invasion of Sicily and the Italian mainland and the landing of the Allies on D-Day in Normandy. After the Victoria Cross, he received another highest British award for bravery for officers for his services during the bloody crossing of the Sangro River, the Military Cross. In the post-war period, he served as a regiment commander in Kenya, a divisional commander of the British Army on the Rhine and the British Embassy in Washington, and as a liaison officer for Soviet forces in Germany. And later on, he served in senior military intelligence positions in London. After leaving active service, in which he spent thirty years, he became a commercial banker and a leading figure of British Catholics. The Duke of Norfolk, as the highest marshal of England, accompanied the British Queen Elizabeth II. during her visit to Czechia in 1996. When he died in 2002, his eldest son, then already two years serving as Deputy High Marshal, Edward William Fitzalan-Howard, took over his place.
Edward William Fitzalan-Howard in 1981, as 18th Duke of Norfolk to be.
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The current Earl Marshal
Edward William Fitzalan-Howard inherited from his father not only hereditary roles but also numerous Count and Baron titles as well as extensive family property. He became the 18th Duke and Earl of Norfolk, also Earl of Arundel, Surrey and Norfolk, Baron Beaumont, Maltravers, Fitzalan, Clun, Oswaldestre and Baron Howard of Glossop. He graduated from Catholic School at Ampleforth College and Lincoln College, Oxford University. After graduation, he worked in several companies - including Sigas Ltd. and Parkwood Group Ltd .Today, his name is associated, in addition to these companies, mostly with NGOs such as the Scout Movement or the Society of Friends of Arundel Cathedral or the Oxford and Cambridge Catholic Education Board. He became a scout during his studies. Until 2010, he was president of the 1st Arudel Scout Group and is still the president of the Arundel and Littlehampton district scouts and the patron of the scouts of West Sussex. In June 2003, he was awarded the Medal of Merit for services to the scout movement. He is an honorary member of the College of St Edmund's College in Cambridge and a member of the Fishermen's Association of the City of London. He and his wife Georgina Susan Gore have three sons and two daughters. The heir to the title is his eldest son, Henry Miles Fitzalan-Howard, 37th Earl of Arundel (* 1987).
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