Duke

TITLES OF NOBILITY
Emperor / Empress
King / Queen
Prince / Princess
Grand Duke / Grand Duchess
Duke / Duchess
Earl / Countess
Baron / Baroness

A duke or a duchess is the ruler or monarch of a sovereign duchy, or a high-ranking member of the nobility within a kingdom or empire. Manticoran duchies are held as territories subsidiary to the Star Kingdom, so SKM dukes and duchesses, while they are the administrators of their territories, are still subjects of the sovereign rather than monarchs of their duchies.

Star Kingdom of Manticore

Regional administration

When the Star Kingdom was founded, the highest ranking peer in each of the former Manticore Colony administrative districts became the hereditary governor. In most cases these corresponded to duchies, so with few exceptions those holding a ducal title have regional executive powers and appoint Shareholders Court judges, subject to the confirmation of the regional legislature.

For the most part, a ducal title is synonymous with a regional governorship. However, in exceptional cases an earl/countess, or even more rarely, a baron/baroness may be the highest ranking peer in an administrative district. In such cases, that peer has the same regional governor responsibities as a duke/duchess. A peer who holds such a regional governorship is referred to as a magister, regardless of their peerage rank.

Forms of Address

A duke or duchess is addressed as "Your Grace." Dukes are referred to in the third person as "His Grace" or "the Duke of Title" or "His Grace the Duke of Title." Duchesses are referred to in the third person as "Her Grace" or "The Duchess of Title" or "Her Grace the Duchess of Title." In the most formal ceremonies and documents the title is prefaced "the Most Noble."

Unlike earls/countesses or barons/baronesses, they are never referred to as "Lord Title" or "Lady Title."

A Duke or Duchess with military rank may be referred to by their rank and title instead of their rank and given name. Formal usage: Admiral the Duke of High Sligo. Less formal usage: Admiral High Sligo.

In the peerage of the Star Kingdom of Manticore and in TRMN a ducal title may be held by a male or female. Dukedoms, like all other Manticoran peerages, are hereditary and typically the current holder will designate their eldest child as their heir, without regard to their gender. The spouse of the title holder is afforded the same title, without regard for the gender of the title holder.

The cadet (heir) of a duke or duchess (usually their eldest child) is addressed as "My Lord" (if male) or "My Lady" (if female), or "Lord/Lady [first name]" and is referred to in the third person as "Lord Firstname Lastname" (if male) or "Lady Firstname Lastname" (if female).

Children of a duke or duchess (other than the cadet) are referred to in the third person as "The Honorable Firstname Lastname." This is customarily abbreviated in written form as "Hon. Firstname Lastname." There is no special form of address for younger children of a duke or duchess.

See Also

Peerage: list of TRMN peers