Duke of York

History

In the Middle Ages, York was a main city of Northern England and remains the seat of the archbishop of York since AD 735. Yorkshire is England's largest shire in area.

York under its Viking name "Jorvik" was a petty kingdom in the Early Middle Ages. In the interval between the fall of independent Jorvik under Eric Bloodaxe, last king of Jorvik (d. 954), and the first creation of the Dukedom of York, there were a few earls of York.

The title Duke of York was first created in the Peerage of England in 1385 for Edmund of Langley. His son Edward, who inherited the title, was killed at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. The title passed to Edward's nephew Richard, the son of Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge (who had been executed for plotting against King Henry V). The younger Richard managed to obtain a restoration of the title, but when his eldest son, who inherited the title, became king in 1461 as Edward IV, the title merged into the Crown.

The title was next created for Richard of Shrewsbury, second son of King Edward IV. Richard was one of the Princes in the Tower, and, as he disappeared and was presumed dead without heirs, the title was considered extinct.

The third creation was for Henry Tudor, second son of King Henry VII. When his elder brother Arthur, Prince of Wales, died in 1502, Henry became heir-apparent to the throne. When Henry ultimately became King Henry VIII in 1509, his titles merged into the crown.

The title was created for the fourth time for Charles Stuart, second son of James I. When his elder brother, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, died in 1612, Charles became heir-apparent. He was created Prince of Wales in 1616 and eventually became Charles I in 1625 when the title again merged into the Crown.

The fifth creation was in favour of James Stuart, the second son of Charles I. New York, its capital Albany, and New York City, were named for this particular Duke of Albany and York. In 1664, Charles II of England granted American territory between the Delaware and Connecticut rivers to his younger brother James. Following its capture by the English the former Dutch territory of New Netherland and its principal port, New Amsterdam, were named the Province and City of New York in James's honour. After the founding, the Duke gave part of the colony to proprietors George Carteret and John Berkeley. Fort Orange, 150 mi north on the Hudson River, was renamed Albany after James's Scottish title. When his elder brother, King Charles II, died without heirs, James succeeded to the throne as King James II of England and King James VII of Scotland, and the title once again merged into the Crown.

During the 18th century the double dukedom of York and Albany was created a number of times in the Peerage of Great Britain. The title was first held by Duke Ernest Augustus of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Bishop of Osnabrück, the youngest brother of King George I. He died without heirs, and the title reverted to the Crown. The second creation of the double dukedom was for Prince Edward, younger brother of King George III, who also died without heirs, having never married. Again, the title reverted to the Crown. The third and last creation of the double dukedom was for Prince Frederick Augustus, the second son of King George III. He served as Commander-in-Chief of the British Army for many years, and was the original "Grand old Duke of York" in the popular rhyme. He too died without legitimate heirs, leaving the title, once again, to revert to the Crown.

The sixth creation of the Dukedom of York (without being combined with Albany) was for Prince George, second son of the, then current, Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII. He was created Duke of York following the death of his elder brother, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale. The title merged with the Crown when George succeeded his father as King George V.

The seventh creation was for Prince Albert, second son of King George V, and younger brother of the future King Edward VIII. Albert came unexpectedly to the throne when his brother abdicated, and took the name George VI, the Dukedom then merging into the Crown.

The title was created for the eighth time for Prince Andrew, second son of Queen Elizabeth II. As a result of his marriage to Sarah, Duchess of York, his only legitimate issue are two daughters: Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. As he had no legitimate sons during his tenure, the title would have again become extinct and reverted to the Crown upon his death.

Andrew stepped back from royal duties in 2019 following an episode of the BBC's news and current affairs programme Newsnight, in which he was interviewed about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the American financier and convicted sex offender. On 17 October 2025, following discussions with the King, Andrew agreed to cease using his titles of Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh, although legally he still held them. On 30 October 2025 Buckingham Palace issued a statement announcing that King Charles III had begun a "formal process" to remove Andrew's style, titles, and honours. His name was subsequently removed from the Roll of the Peerage which means the title cannot be used on official documents, though he legally remains Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, and Baron Killyleagh, because depriving a person of the peerage requires parliamentary action, and removal of a peer's name from the Roll of the Peerage does not extinguish the peerage. The dukedom has not been returned to the Crown and if Andrew were to have a son, that son would inherit the dukedom.

Aside from the first creation, every time the Dukedom of York has been created it has had only one occupant, that person either inheriting the throne or dying without male heirs.

Pretenders

In the late 15th century, Perkin Warbeck unsuccessfully claimed the Crown by claiming the identity of Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York.

In the early 18th century, the eldest son of the overthrown King James II & VII and thus Jacobite claimant to the throne, James Francis Edward Stuart, known to his opponents as the Old Pretender, granted the title "Duke of York" (in the Jacobite Peerage) to his own second son, Henry, using his purported authority as King James III & VIII. Henry later became a cardinal in the Catholic church and is thus known as the Cardinal Duke of York. Since James was not recognised as king by English law, the grant is also not recognised as a legitimate creation.

Dukes of York

First creation, 1385–1461

| Edmund of Langley 1385–1402 also: Earl of Cambridge (1362) | [[File:Edmund of Langley 2C Duke of York.jpg|100px|Edmund of Langley]] | 5 June 1341 Kings Langley 4th surviving son of King Edward III and Philippa of Hainault | Isabella of Castile 11 July 1372 - 23 December 1392 3 children

Joan Holland

no children | 1 August 1402 Epworth, Lincolnshire aged 61

|- | Edward of Norwich 1402–1415 also: Duke of Aumale (1397–1399), Earl of Cambridge (1362–1414), Earl of Rutland (1390–1402), Earl of Cork (c. 1396) | [[File:Edward of Norwich Duke of York.jpg|100px|Edward of Norwich]] | 1373 Norwich son of 1st Duke by his first wife Isabella of Castile | Philippa de Mohun no children | 25 October 1415 Battle of Agincourt aged 42

|- | Richard of York 1415–1460 also: Lord Protector of England (1460, see Act of Accord); Earl of Ulster (1264), Earl of March (1328), Earl of Cambridge (1414, restored 1426), feudal Lord of Clare (bt. 1066–1075), Baron Mortimer of Wigmore (1331) | [[File:Richard of York Talbot Shrewsbury Book.jpeg|100px]] | 21 September 1411 Nephew of 2nd Duke and son of Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge (attainted and executed for treason in August 1415) and Anne de Mortimer; restored in blood | Cecily Neville 1437 13 children | 30 December 1460 Wakefield aged 49

|- | Edward Plantagenet 1460–1461 also: Earl of Ulster (1264), Earl of March (1328), Earl of Cambridge (1414), feudal Lord of Clare (bt. 1066–1075), Baron Mortimer of Wigmore (1331) | [[File:EdwardIVofEngland-Yorkist.jpg|100px|Edward Plantagenet]] | 28 April 1442 Rouen son of 3rd Duke by his wife Cecily Neville | Elizabeth Woodville 1 May 1464 10 children | 9 April 1483 Westminster aged 40 |- |}

Second creation, 1474

| Richard of Shrewsbury 1474–1483 also: Duke of Norfolk (1477), Earl of Norfolk (1477), Earl of Nottingham (1476), possibly Earl of Warenne (1477) | [[File:Richard of Shrewsbury.jpg|100px|Richard of Shrewsbury]] |17 August 1473 Shrewsbury Second son of King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville | Anne de Mowbray 15 January 1478 no children

Third creation, 1494

|- | Henry Tudor 1494–1509 also: Prince of Wales (1504), Duke of Cornwall (1502) | [[File:HenryVIII 1509.jpg|100px|Henry Tudor]] | 28 June 1491 Greenwich Palace, London son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York | Catherine of Aragon 11 June 1509 – 23 May 1533 (annulment) 1 surviving daughter, others stillborn or briefly-lived

Anne Boleyn 25 January 1533 – 17 May 1536 (annulment) 1 daughter

Jane Seymour 30 May 1536 – 24 October 1537 1 son

Anne of Cleves 6 January 1540 – 9 July 1540 (annulment) no children

Catherine Howard 28 July 1540 – 23 November 1541 no children

Catherine Parr 12 July 1543 no children | 28 January 1547 Whitehall Palace, London aged 55 |- |}

Fourth creation, 1605

|- | Charles Stuart 1605–1625 also: Duke of Albany (1600); Prince of Wales (1616), Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay (1612) | [[File:Charles I (1625).jpg|100px|Charles Stuart]] | 19 November 1600 Dunfermline Palace, Dunfermline son of James I and Anne of Denmark | Henrietta Maria of France 13 June 1625 9 children | 30 January 1649 Whitehall Palace, London aged 48 |- |}

Fifth creation, 1633/1644

James was styled Duke of York from birth and officially created as such in 1644.

| James Stuart 1633/1644–1685 also: Duke of Albany (1660), Earl of Ulster (1659) | [[File:James II & VII.jpg|100px|James Stuart]] | 14 October 1633 St. James's Palace, London son of Charles I and Henrietta Maria of France | Anne Hyde 3 September 1660 8 children

Mary of Modena 21 November 1673 7 children | 16 September 1701 Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Paris aged 67 |- |}

Jacobite creation, 1725

| Henry Benedict Stuart 1725–1788 also: Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church (1747), Dean of the College of Cardinals (1803) | [[File:Circle of Anton Raphael Mengs, Henry Benedict Maria Clement Stuart, Cardinal York (ca 1750) -002.jpg|100px|Cardinal Stuart]] | 6 March 1725 Palazzo Muti Rome Papal States son of "James III and VIII" (Jacobite Pretender) and Maria Clementina Sobieska | ____ | 13 July 1807 Frascati, Rome aged 82 |- |}

Sixth creation, 1892

Seventh creation, 1920

Eighth creation, 1986

Family trees

Places and things named after the dukes of York

Geographic features

Southern hemisphere

• Cape York Peninsula, Australia
• Duke of York Island, Antarctica
• Duke of York Island, Papua New Guinea
• Duke of York Islands, Papua New Guinea

Canada

• Duke of York Archipelago, Canada
• Duke of York Bay, Canada

Political entities

Canada

• York, Upper Canada, now Toronto, Ontario
• York County, New Brunswick, Canada

United States

• New York, a U.S. state
• New York City, the largest city in the United States.

Schools

• Duke of York's Royal Military School, Dover, Kent, United Kingdom
• Duke of York School, Nairobi, Kenya, renamed Lenana School after Kenya attained independence in 1963.

Pubs

• Duke of York, Bloomsbury
• Duke of York Inn, Elton
• The Duke of York, Fitzrovia
• Duke of York, Ganwick Corner

Ships

• HMS Duke of York (1763), a 4-gun cutter purchased in 1763 and sold in 1776
• HMS Duke of York (17), a King George V-class battleship launched in 1940, and broken up in 1958
• Hired armed cutter Duke of York
• Hired armed lugger Duke of York
• TSS Duke of York (1894)
• TSS Duke of York (1935)

Railways

• Duke of York was one of the GWR 3031 Class locomotives that were built for and run on the Great Western Railway between 1891 and 1915.

Military Music

There is also military march titled Duke of York which is used as an inspection piece or slow march. It is in time, D Major with a form of AABBCCDD. Gordon Ashman in 1991 maintains that the melody was composed in 1805, soon after the Duke of York became Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, and notes it is still in use today as a regimental slow-march. James Merryweather however, researched the melody and found it was composed by John Gamidge in 1789, to be played by the York Waits.

References

Sources

• Miller, John (2000). James II, 3rd ed. .

References

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19. "Edward of Norwich, 2nd duke of York | Military leader, Battle of Agincourt, Lancastrian supporter | Britannica".
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24. "Page 6313 | Supplement 31931, 4 June 1920 | London Gazette | the Gazette".
25. "Page 1 | Supplement 50606, 23 July 1986 | London Gazette | the Gazette".
26. (17 October 2025). "Prince Andrew gives up royal titles including Duke of York after 'discussion with king'". The Guardian.
27. Nanji, Noor. (30 October 2025). "Andrew stripped of 'prince' title and will move out of Royal Lodge". BBC News.
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29. {{London Gazette. (6 November 2025)
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31. Galante, Grace. (17 October 2025). "Here's who could become the next Duke of York after Prince Andrew".
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33. Scadding, Henry. (1873). "Toronto of old: collections and recollections illustrative of the early settlement and social life of the capital of Ontario". [[Adam, Stevenson & Co.]].
34. "York County". Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.
35. "New York Under The Duke of York". Empire State History.
36. (26 March 2016). "The Duke of York March".