Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo

Ducal Crown
(Spanish Heraldry)

The Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo (Duque de Ciudad Rodrigo), with accompanying dignity Grandee of Spain 1st Class (Grandeza de España), is a Spanish hereditary ducal title. It was conferred on the British General Arthur Wellesley, then 1st Viscount Wellington, later 1st Duke of Wellington, in January 1812, after his important victory at the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo that same year, as a victory title.

Historically, this Spanish dukedom is held by the descendants of the 1st Duke of Wellington holding the title of Duke of Wellington. However, until the 2006 Spanish changes to nobility succession, the Spanish title passed to male-preference heirs general, while the British title passed to heirs male. Due to this difference, the titles have separated on one occasion: the Dukedom of Ciudad Rodrigo passed to the 7th Duchess of Ciudad Rodrigo (Anne Maud Rhys) and the Dukedom of Wellington passed to her uncle (Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington). Anne Maud Rhys subsequently ceded her Spanish title to the 7th Duke of Wellington; the result is that the 7th and 8th Dukes of Wellington also held the title of Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo. This changed in 2010 for reasons set out in the following paragraph.

In 2010, the 8th Duke of Wellington & 9th Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo ceded the Spanish dukedom to his eldest child, Charles Wellesley, Marquess of Douro, and in accordance with Spanish procedure, the Marquess made formal claim to the title with the Spanish authorities on 10 March 2010.[1] King Juan Carlos of Spain, through his minister, granted the succession of the dukedom to the Marquess of Douro by Royal Decree of 21 May 2010, as confirmed by the notice in the Official State Gazette of 12 June 2010.[2] The new Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo succeeded his father as Duke of Wellington in 2014.

The heir apparent to the Dukedom of Ciudad Rodrigo is the 10th Duke's eldest child, Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Douro. Lord Douro has twins: a girl, Lady Mae Madeleine Wellesley, and a boy, Arthur Darcy Wellesley, Earl of Mornington. The Cortes Generales (Spanish Parliament) passed a law in 2006 which changed the succession from the traditional male-preference cognatic primogeniture to full cognatic primogeniture.[3] As a result of this, his daughter, the first born of the twins, is Lord Douro's heir apparent to the Ciudad Rodrigo dukedom.

Dukes of Ciudad Rodrigo (1812–present)

Coat of arms of the British Dukes of Wellington, also Dukes of Ciudad Rodrigo

Notes

  1. ↑ Anuncio de la Subsecretaría (División de Tramitación de Derechos de Gracia y otros Derechos), sobre solicitud de sucesión por cesión en el título de Duque de Ciudad Rodrigo, con Grandeza de España
  2. ↑ Orden JUS/1527/2010, de 21 de mayo, por la que se manda expedir, sin perjuicio de tercero de mejor derecho, Real Carta de Sucesión en el título de Duque de Ciudad Rodrigo, con Grandeza de España, a favor de Lord Charles Wellesley
  3. ↑ Ley 33/2006, de 30 de octubre, sobre igualdad del hombre y la mujer en el orden de sucesión de los títulos nobiliarios

See also

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