Edward and Sophie, Earl and Countess of Wessex

[Prince_Lieven]

Marquess is a lesser title than Duke as well.  But above an Earldom. Most Dukedoms have an Marquessate as well, which is used as subsidiary title for the eldest son and heir. Most Dukedoms were formerly Marquessates and then were upgraded to Dukedoms. The title of Marquess is quite familiar in Britain - it is to me! I was just reading about the  Marquess of Bath before, he is so hilarious. 

Well, you're not British though, are you?  Can any British posters here tell us how familiar the general public with be with the title Marquess?

Not all dukedoms have marquessates - the dukedoms of Edinburgh, York, Kent and Gloucester don't.

[Kimberly]

I don't think the General (British) Public could care less what title he has.

[basilforever]

Marquess is a lesser title than Duke as well.  But above an Earldom. Most Dukedoms have an Marquessate as well, which is used as subsidiary title for the eldest son and heir. Most Dukedoms were formerly Marquessates and then were upgraded to Dukedoms. The title of Marquess is quite familiar in Britain - it is to me! I was just reading about the  Marquess of Bath before, he is so hilarious. 

Well, you're not British though, are you?  Can any British posters here tell us how familiar the general public with be with the title Marquess?

Not all dukedoms have marquessates - the dukedoms of Edinburgh, York, Kent and Gloucester don't.

That's my point - I'm not British and am familiar with Marquesses, so why wouldn't British people be? Surely they know what they are? They are no more obscure than Dukes and Earls really. It just sounds more ''French'' perhaps. 

Most Royal Dukedoms don't have Marquessates as you kind of pointed out - nearly all the non Royal ones do. I don't know why the Royal Dukedoms don't, seems a bit strange to me. 

[Prince_Lieven]

The Dukedoms of Fife, Northumberland, Manchester, Lennox and Buccleuch have no marquessate, but the rest do, you're right. Maybe it's just a title that's gone out of fashion these days - I mean, since Edward is a prince, it makes no practical difference whether he's a duke, a marquess or an earl, since as a prince and HRH he outranks all of the above (except Andrew!).

[Kimberly]

Basilforever, I can assure you that "The Great Unwashed"(  ) of the UK really donot know or care. We have a great many other things to keep us awake at night.  If you were to do a straw poll, a "Marquess" (Marquis) is a big tent that goes in your back garden for a really, really good party. 

[basilforever]

Well Marquess is pronounced ''Mar-qwess" so they wouldn't think it was a big tent if pronounced in that spelling. 

[Prince_Lieven]

Oh, lighten up, it was clearly a joke. 

[Kimberly]

  But actually I am being serious

[Robert_Hall]

I have taken a quick poll of my British friends- and universally they  ask  "Why are you bothering?"' They could not care less about this nonsense. Like Kimberly said, the impending road tax is far more relevant that what balderdash some flaky prince is called. BTW, my poll is cross-section, Labour, Tory Lib-Dem and even, shudder, SNP ! About 20 answers at last count. Lest anyone think I am an "outsider" to affairs British, I have lived in England for 3-6 months a year for 30 years and I DO pay taxes there. No one I know wishes the Wessex's harm, but the are pretty irrelevent to  real life and they can call themselves whatever they wish.

[Kimberly]

Thank you Robert.
I don't mean to be rude Basilforever, but we regularly have sick people sitting in ambulances in the parking bays of hospitals for upwards of 12- 18 hours, waiting for a trolley in the hospital corridor. Do you really think they while away the time thinking about Edward and his "Markwessness", or lack of?

[Duke of New Jersey]

I don't know if this has been mentioned already but if anybody is interested:

Thursday, 10th May 2007
The Earl of Wessex Trustee, The Duke of Edinburgh's Award International Foundation, will visit Los Angeles, United States of America from 10th - 13th May 2007.

Sunday, 13th May 2007
The Earl of Wessex Trustee, The Duke of Edinburgh's Award International Foundation, will visit San Fransisco and San Jose, United States of America from 13th - 15th May 2007.

Tuesday, 15th May 2007
The Earl of Wessex Trustee, The Duke of Edinburgh's Award International Foundation, will visit Dallas, United States of America from 15th - 17th May 2007.

:From Britsh Monarchy Page- http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page4056.asp?submitted=true&date=all&MRF=EW&fromDay=-+-&fromMonth=-+-&fromYear=-+-&toDay=-+-&toMonth=-+-&toYear=-+-&region=&submit2=Submit:

-Duke of NJ

[basilforever]

Thank you Robert.
I don't mean to be rude Basilforever, but we regularly have sick people sitting in ambulances in the parking bays of hospitals for upwards of 12- 18 hours, waiting for a trolley in the hospital corridor. Do you really think they while away the time thinking about Edward and his "Markwessness", or lack of?

Of course they don't. I never said THEY WOULD! In fact, I NEVER SAID PRINCE EDWARD'S TITLES WERE A MATTER OF NATIONAL CONCERN! I just asked a question on a forum of people who I thought might also be interested in such matters. Clearly I shouldn't have bothered. And Robert, you really wasted your time conducting your little survey, as I NEVER protested and said that everyone CARED about Edward being or not being a Marquess while he waits for his Dukedom, I just said that surely most British people are familiar with the title, and seeing as I often see Marquesses mentioned in newspapers and magazines, theywould be.

[Duke of New Jersey]

Most people are not familiar with Marquess, they either think 1)It is French or 2)It is for ladies. 

-Duke of NJ

[Robert_Hall]

It is never a waste of time to ask one's friends for their opinion. What is a waste of time is dwelling on this silly topic.

[basilforever]

Most people are not familiar with Marquess, they either think 1)It is French or 2)It is for ladies. 

-Duke of NJ

Marchioness is for Ladies, but you might already have known that.

This topic didn't start out silly Robert  .