The Duchess Blogs

Hayley Atwell - Theatre - Major Barbara

Hayley Atwell - Theatre - Major Barbara Excerpt from an article at officiallondontheatre.co.uk: "...The award-winning duo [Simon Russell Beale and Clare Higgins] is joined by exciting young actress Hayley Atwell, who will play the title role. Atwell, who graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2005, returns to the National where she previously appeared in The Man Of Mode. She has also been seen in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Women Beware Women, and on telev

Cunard Cruise Line's Queen Victoria named by the Duchess of Cornwall. Video and short entry about the event.

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A duke is a noble person, historically of highest rank below the King or Queen, and usually controls a duchy or a Dukedom. The title comes from the Latin dux, which had the sense of "military commander" and was employed both by the Germanic peoples themselves and by the Roman authors covering them to refer to their war leaders.

In the Middle Ages the title signified first among the Germanic monarchies. Dukes were the rulers of the provinces and the superiors of the counts in the cities and later, in the feudal monarchies, the highest-ranking peers of the king. There were, however, variants of these meanings and there were even sovereign princes employing ducal titles.

In the Modern Age it has become a nominal rank without an actual principality. It is still the highest titular peerage in France, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Italy.

A woman who holds in her own right the title to such duchy or dukedom, or is the wife of a duke, is normally styled duchess. However, Queen Elizabeth II is known as Duke of Normandy in the Channel Islands and Duke of Lancaster in Lancashire.