His Grace
The Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry
KT KBE CVO DL FSA FRSE FRSGS
Portrait by Allan Warren, 2013
Chancellor of the Order of the Thistle
Assumed office
9 December 2023
MonarchCharles III
Preceded byThe Earl of Airlie
Personal details
Born
Richard Walter John Montagu Douglas Scott

(1954-02-14) 14 February 1954 (age 69)
Edinburgh, Scotland[1]
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1981; died 2023)​
Children4
Parents
EducationEton College
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford

Richard Walter John Montagu Douglas Scott, 10th Duke of Buccleuch and 12th Duke of Queensberry, KT, KBE, CVO, DL, FSA, FRSE, FRSGS (born 14 February 1954), styled as Lord Eskdaill until 1973 and as Earl of Dalkeith from 1973 until 2007, is a Scottish landholder and peer. He is the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, as well as Chief of Clan Scott. He is the heir of James, Duke of Monmouth (9 April 1649 – 15 July 1685), the eldest illegitimate son of Charles II and his mistress, Lucy Walter, and more remotely in a direct male line from Alan of Dol, who came to Britain in 1066 with William the Conqueror.[2]

Scott was once Scotland's largest private landowner, owning 217,000 acres (880 km2) of Scottish land, but was surpassed by Anders Holch Povlsen who currently holds 221,000 acres (890 km2) in the country.[3] [4] The Duke was appointed as Chancellor of the Order of the Thistle by Charles III on 9 December 2023.[5]

Early life and education

Scott was born in 1954, the son of John Scott, 9th Duke of Buccleuch, and his wife, Jane Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch, a daughter of John McNeill, QC. He was baptised with Princess Margaret as one of his godparents.

He was educated at St. Mary's School, Melrose, and Eton College, and was Page of Honour to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother from 1967 to 1969.[6][7] In 1973, his father inherited the Dukedoms of Buccleuch and Queensberry, and Scott took the courtesy title Earl of Dalkeith, having previously been styled Lord Eskdaill. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts.

Career

Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfries and Galloway - a seat of the Dukes of Buccleuch
Boughton House, Northamptonshire - a seat of the Dukes of Buccleuch
The Duke in the uniform of the Captain-General of the Royal Company of Archers in the Scottish Parliament, 2021

As Earl of Dalkeith, he had a brief term on the board of Border Television from 1989 to 1990, and in 1994 he joined the Millennium Commission as the representative for Northern England. He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in the 2000 New Year Honours for his services to the Millennium Celebrations,[8] leaving the commission in 2003. He was president of the National Trust for Scotland from 2003 to 2012, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE).

He also served as Deputy Chairman of the (since abolished) Independent Television Commission, as a member of Scottish Heritage, on the board of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, and was President of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society from 1999 to 2005.

He inherited the titles of Duke of Buccleuch and Duke of Queensberry upon his father's death on 4 September 2007.

The art collection of the Dukes of Buccleuch is of great significance, and the recovery of the stolen Leonardo da Vinci painting Madonna of the Yarnwinder from the collection, valued at 30 million GBP, in a raid on the offices of a prestigious law firm captured public attention in 2007.[9] In 2008 a painting in the family collection at Boughton House, a rare portrait of the young Queen Elizabeth I of England, was discovered.[10]

On 1 January 2011, he was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 6th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland.[11] His honorary colonelcy ended in 2016.[12] In late 2011, he was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Roxburgh, Ettrick & Lauderdale.[13] In November 2016, he was appointed as Lord Lieutenant of Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale with effect from 28 December.[14] He was appointed Captain-General of the Royal Company of Archers, The King's Bodyguard for Scotland in 2014.

The Duke is a trustee of the Royal Collection Trust,[15] President of the Georgian Group and an honorary member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (HonRICS). The Duke is President of St Andrew's First Aid. The Buccleuch family has held the presidency of St Andrew's First Aid since the early 1900s. In 2019 the Duke retired as chairman of the Buccleuch Group with interests in estate management, wind farms, tourism and hospitality, forestry and property[16]

In October 2016, the Duke was appointed High Steward of Westminster Abbey, a position previously held by the 5th Duke in the late 19th century.[17] In December 2017, he was appointed as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland for the year 2018.[18] In October 2018, he was re-appointed for the year 2019.[19]

The Duke was appointed Knight of the Order of the Thistle (KT) in the 2018 New Year Honours with the appointment dated 30 November 2017.[20] He was appointed Chancellor of the Order in succession to the Earl of Airlie in 2023. He was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to the Royal Collections Trust.[21] He took part in the royal procession at the coronation of Charles III and Camilla, carrying the Sceptre with Cross.[22]

Houses owned by the Duke include Boughton House, Drumlanrig Castle, Dalkeith Palace, Eildon Hall (Scottish Borders) and Bowhill House.[23]

Marriage and family

In 1981, he married Lady Elizabeth Marian Frances Kerr (1954–2023),[24] a daughter of the 12th Marquess of Lothian (and a sister of the 13th Marquess of Lothian, a Conservative politician). They had four children:

The Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry was a patroness of the Royal Caledonian Ball.[25] The Duchess died after a short illness on 30 April 2023, aged 68.[26]

Arms

Coat of arms of Richard Scott, 10th Duke of Buccleuch

Coronet
A coronet of a Duke
Crest
A Stag trippant proper armed and attired Or
Escutcheon
Quarterly: 1st grandquarter for the Earldom of Doncaster: the arms of King Charles II debruised by a Baton Sinister Argent; 2nd grandquarter for the Dukedom of Argyll: quarterly, 1st and 4th: Gyronny of eight Or and Sable (Campbell); 2 and 3rd: Argent a Lymphad sails furled Sable flags and pennons flying Gules and oars in action of the second (Lorne); 3rd grandquarter for the Dukedom of Queensberry: quarterly, 1st and 4th: Argent a Heart Gules crowned with an Imperial Crown Or on a Chief Azure three Mullets of the field (Douglas); 2 and 3rd, Azure a Bend between six Cross Crosslets fitchée Or (Mar); the whole of this grandquarter within a Bordure Or charged with a double Tressure flory-counter-flory Gules; 4th grandquarter for the Dukedom of Montagu: quarterly, 1st: Argent three Fusils conjoined in fess Gules a Bordure Sable (Montagu); 2nd: Or an Eagle displayed Vert beaked and membered Gules (Monthermer); 3rd: Sable a Lion rampant Argent on a Canton of the last a Cross Gules (Churchill); 4th: Argent a Chevron Gules between three Caps of Maintenance their fronts turned to the sinister Azure furred Ermine (Brudenell); over the grandquarters at the fess point an Inescutcheon Or on a Bend Azure a Mullet of six points between two Crescents of the field (Scott)
Supporters
On either side a Female Figure proper habited from the waist downwards in a Kirtle Azure gathered up at the knees the arms and bosom uncovered around the shoulders a Flowing Mantle as before suspended by the exterior hand girdle and sandals Gules and her head adorned with a Plume of three Ostrich Feathers Argent
Motto
Amo (I love)

Ancestors

Richard Scott is the son of John Scott, 9th Duke of Buccleuch, the principal male heir of James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth (9 April 1649 – 15 July 1685), the illegitimate son of King Charles II of England and his mistress Lucy Walter, and Monmouth's wife, Anne Scott, 1st Duchess of Buccleuch (11 February 1651 – 6 February 1732). As such, Scott is a member of the royal House of Stuart.

Through his paternal great-grandmother, Lady Sybil Evelyn de Vere Beauclerk - daughter of William Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans (15 April 1840 – 10 May 1898) and his first wife, Sybil Mary Grey (28 November 1848 – 7 September 1871), granddaughter of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey - Scott is also a descendant of Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans (8 May 1670 – 10 May 1726), another illegitimate son of King Charles II of England and his mistress Nell Gwyn.

Scott's mother, Jane McNeill, was the daughter of John McNeill QC (1899–1982), a British Crown Advocate for China, and Amy Yvonne Maynard (d. 1977), a concert pianist. Through her father, Jane McNeill descended from the ancient Scottish Highland family, the McNeills of Colonsay. One of their forebears, Duncan McNeill, 1st Baron Colonsay, FRSE (20 August 1793 – 31 January 1874), had been Lord Advocate of Scotland.

References

  1. ^ "Heir for Earl of Dalkeith". The Times. 15 February 1954. p. 8.
  2. ^ McGinty, Stephen (17 April 2012). "Scotland's DNA: Descended from lost tribes… and related to Napoleon: SCOTS are the descendants of lost tribes who fought the Romans, tribesmen from the Sahara and the diminutive conqueror of Europe, Napoleon Bonaparte". The Scotsman. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  3. ^ Ross, David (5 June 2013). "Questions raised over land swap deal with billionaire". The Herald. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  4. ^ Campsie, Alison (8 October 2018). "This Danish businessman is now the largest landowner in Scotland". The Scotsman. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  5. ^ Lyon Court [@LyonCourt] (9 December 2023). "The King appoints The Duke of Buccleuch as Chancellor of the Order of the Thistle" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ^ "No. 44471". The London Gazette. 8 December 1967. p. 13447.
  7. ^ "No. 44968". The London Gazette. 20 November 1969. p. 11119.
  8. ^ "No. 55710". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1999. p. 8.
  9. ^ Campsie, Alison. Return of da Vinci had more twists than a Hollywood film Archived 5 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine, The Herald (Glasgow), 22 April 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  10. ^ "Rare Elizabeth I portrait found". BBC News. 27 May 2008. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  11. ^ "No. 59692". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 February 2011. p. 2146.
  12. ^ "No. 61462". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 January 2016. p. 107.
  13. ^ "No. 59982". The London Gazette. 1 December 2011. p. 23015.
  14. ^ "Lord-Lieutenant for Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale: Richard Scott". 10 Downing Street. 30 November 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  15. ^ "Home". royalcollection.org.uk. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  16. ^ "Duke to step down as Buccleuch chairman". BBC News. 6 February 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  17. ^ "Duke of Buccleuch appointed as High Steward of Westminster Abbey". westminster-abbey.org. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  18. ^ "Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 2018". 10 Downing Street. 20 December 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  19. ^ "Queen appoints Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland". 10 Downing Street. 3 October 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  20. ^ "No. 62150". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 30 December 2017. p. N2.
  21. ^ "No. 63218". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 31 December 2020. p. N4.
  22. ^ "Coronation order of service in full". BBC News. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  23. ^ Knox, James (18 November 2019). "Bowhill, home to the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry". House & Garden. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  24. ^ Guyard, François (1 May 2023). "The Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry (1954-2023)". Gothanjou (in French). Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  25. ^ "Patronesses". Royal Caledonian Ball. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013.
  26. ^ "Duchess of Buccleuch dies, aged 68, after short illness". BBC News. 1 May 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.

External links

Court offices Preceded byValentine Cecil Page of Honour to The Queen Mother 1967–1969 Succeeded bySimon Mulholland Honorary titles Preceded byGerald Maitland-Carew Lord Lieutenant of Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale 2016–present Incumbent Preceded byThe Earl of Airlie Chancellor of the Order of the Thistle 2023–present Incumbent Peerage of Scotland Preceded byJohn Scott Duke of BuccleuchDuke of Queensberry 2007–present Incumbent Order of precedence in England and Wales Preceded byThe Duke of Hamilton GentlemenThe Duke of Buccleuch Succeeded byThe Duke of Argyll Order of precedence in Scotland Preceded byThe Duke of Hamilton GentlemenThe Duke of Buccleuch Succeeded byThe Duke of Atholl Order of precedence in Northern Ireland Preceded byThe Duke of Hamilton GentlemenThe Duke of Buccleuch Succeeded byThe Duke of Argyll
Current dukes in the peerages of Britain and Ireland
Chancellors of the Order of the Thistle
Current members of the Order of the Thistle
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