What do you give a family that\u2019s already got everything \u2014 including a manor house, a coat of arms, public acclaim, millions in the bank \u2014 and a daughter about to produce the future monarch?\nWhy, a peerage, of course!<\/p>\n
What do you give a family that\u2019s already got everything \u2014 including a manor house, a coat of arms, public acclaim, millions in the bank \u2014 and a daughter about to produce the future monarch?
\nWhy, a peerage, of course!<\/p>\n
Come the birth of Kate and William\u2019s baby in July, the houses of Windsor and Middleton will be linked for ever in history. Yet as things stand, one thing is missing: some form of official recognition for the child\u2019s grandfather, Michael Middleton.<\/p>\n
For the stark fact is that not for 1,000 years of British history has the grandfather of a future sovereign been without a title.<\/p>\n
Some will ask why Mr Middleton \u2014 a former British Airways aircraft despatcher \u2014 should be rewarded for an accident of fate. But ever since the day (nearly 12 years ago) when their daughter first stepped out with Prince William, the Middletons\u2019 rise up the social order has been dizzying.<\/p>\n
From a flat under Heathrow\u2019s flight-path to a \u00a35 million Berkshire manor house; from setting up their own mail-order party-bag firm to shooting at Balmoral, their ascent has been unstoppable.<\/p>\n
\nSo could the Queen crown that rise by making Mr Middleton an earl?
\nHistorically, all grandfathers of future monarchs have been aristocrats with their own title. Indeed, the roll-call of sovereignly grandparents down the ages is heavily spattered with kings, princes and dukes.<\/p>\n
\nWilliam\u2019s maternal grandfather was an earl (Spencer) \u2014 so, too, was the Queen\u2019s (Strathmore). Even Anne Boleyn saw her father promoted from commoner to Earl of Wiltshire long before she gave birth to their daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth I.<\/p>\n
The only other non-titled grandpa in the past millennium, the father of Edward IV\u2019s wife Elizabeth, also had an earldom bestowed on him.<\/p>\n
But Michael Middleton stands naked and alone in history, a commoner condemned to remain so \u2014 unless someone at the Palace does something about it.<\/p>\n
Prince William, who sees the unassuming Mr Middleton as a \u2018second father\u2019, and who is a regular house-guest at his wife\u2019s family home in Bucklebury, would no doubt love to see this happen. Crucially, he has the ear of his grandmother, the Queen, who ultimately decides these things. And he knows how to bend her to his will.<\/p>\n
So is it really possible that soon we shall hear the royal command: \u2018Arise, my Lord of Bucklebury\u2019?
\nThere\u2019s no reason why not. The Crown Office at the House of Lords confirms: \u2018Hereditary peerages have not been discontinued. <\/p>\n
It is just that they are rarely created these days. Most recent is Prince William\u2019s own peerage \u2014 a royal dukedom \u2014 in 2011. It\u2019s to be assumed that Prince Harry will be granted a dukedom upon marriage.<\/p>\n
\u2018Other recent peerages include Prince Edward\u2019s earldom in 1999, and the viscountcies of Whitelaw (for Tory grandee William Whitelaw) and Tonypandy (for the former Commons Speaker George Thomas) in 1983.\u2019<\/p>\n
All that\u2019s required, say the experts, is a recommendation by the Prime Minister to the Queen that Michael Middleton\u2019s name be elevated to the ranks of the Lords.<\/p>\n
And who, according to protocol, recommends to the Prime Minister that someone should be elevated? The Queen, herself. So not much chance of a refusal, then.<\/p>\n
Offered such a scenario, Charles Mosley, former editor of Burke\u2019s Peerage, told me: \u2018Perfect! An earldom would be just about right. A dukedom would be too much \u2014 and anyway you have to be colossally rich to support such a title. The Earl of Bucklebury has the right ring about it.\u2019<\/p>\n
Mr Mosley says he can imagine how a peerage could be created that is specifically designed to descend through the female line \u2014 an idea that is very topical with the Commons just having debated a new Succession Bill that will allow the first-born child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to ascend to the throne whether male or female.<\/p>\n
Indeed, in Scotland, some peerages descend through the female line. For example, the Countess of Mar\u2019s ancient title is inherited by the eldest child, male or female.<\/p>\n
According to Charles Mosley, if Mr Middleton was given such a title, it would pass, on his death, to Catherine as his eldest child, and could be given in turn to any daughter of hers. <\/p>\n
There would be some added bonuses for the Middletons \u2014 Kate\u2019s mum would become Countess Carole, a triumph over the snobs who cruelly nicknamed her \u2018Doors to manual\u2019 after her former career as an air hostess.<\/p>\n
Sister Pippa would become Lady Philippa. Brother James would be given a subsidiary title (such as Viscount Martineau \u2014 a name deriving from one of Michael\u2019s more illustrious forbears).<\/p>\n
And so to the coat of arms. The Middletons already have one, featuring three acorns and a gold chevron \u2014 although it has been described by one heraldic expert as \u2018like something you might pick up at Ikea \u2014 serviceable but pretty basic\u2019.<\/p>\n
Charles Mosley goes further to radically suggest that since Carole is the force behind the family fortune, she should be created a countess in her own right (with a separate title) as well as her husband being given an earldom. But that\u2019s probably a step too far.<\/p>\n
So, what would an earldom mean for the Middletons \u2014 apart from, undoubtedly, a hefty mailbag from people telling them they don\u2019t deserve it? Alas, status aside, there are precious few perks for an hereditary peer.<\/p>\n
Under a deal forged by the New Labour government and Tory grandee Lord Salisbury during Tony Blair\u2019s premiership, only 92 hereditaries were allowed to remain in the House of Lords.<\/p>\n
Thus, Lord Bucklebury would never sit in the chamber of the House nor be permitted to vote on legislation.<\/p>\n
Even so, it would be a wonderful example of modern social mobility in Britain if the Leeds-born son of an airline pilot can become an earl \u2014 and his wife, the descendant of an impoverished Durham coal-miner, can become a countess.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What do you give a family that\u2019s already got everything \u2014 including a manor house, a coat of arms, public acclaim, millions in the bank \u2014 and a daughter about to produce the future monarch? Why, a peerage, of course! Come the birth of Kate and William\u2019s baby in July, the houses of Windsor and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[688],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-infotainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16475\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}