Charles Gordon-Lennox, 11th Duke of Richmond

The Duke of Richmond
The Duke in 2011
Born	Charles Gordon-Lennox (1955-01-08) 8 January 1955
Spouse(s)	Sally Clayton (divorced) Janet Elizabeth Astor (1991–present)
Issue	5
Parents	Charles Gordon-Lennox, 10th Duke of Richmond Susan Grenville-Grey

Charles Gordon-Lennox, 11th Duke of Richmond, 11th Duke of Lennox, 11th Duke of Aubigny, 6th Duke of Gordon DL (born 8 January 1955) is a British aristocrat and owner of Goodwood Estate in West Sussex.^[1] He is the founder of the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Goodwood Revival.

He is President of the British Automobile Racing Club, Patron of the TT Riders Association and an honorary member of the British Racing Drivers Club, the Guild of Motoring Writers and the 500 Owners Club.

Photography

Having had a passion for film and photography since the age of 10, the Duke left Eton College at the first possible opportunity and at 17 worked for the film director Stanley Kubrick on the film Barry Lyndon.^[1]

In 2012, a major exhibition of his recent photographic work, 'Nature Translated', was staged at the Bermondsey Project Space in London. The exhibition was shown at the Marble Palace, part of the State Russian Museum in St Petersburg, in January 2014 and in Moscow as part of the Moscow Photography Biennale in April 2014. Two new exhibitions of the Duke's photographs were held in early 2015: 'Wood Land' which was held at Venus Over Manhattan Gallery in New York City, and 'Abstract and Intentional' which was held at Hamiltons Gallery in London.

Goodwood

The Duke moved from London to the family seat Goodwood to take over management of the estate, following the family tradition of the duke handing over management of the estate to the heir apparent when the latter turns forty.^[1]

Motor sport at Goodwood was started by his grandfather, Freddie Richmond, who opened the Goodwood Motor Circuit in 1948. March established the Festival of Speed at Goodwood House in 1993. He then brought motor racing back to the circuit, which had closed in 1966, with the creation of the Goodwood Revival in 1998. Both events have since become recognised ^[2] as some of the most unusual, exciting and creative events in the world.

The Goodwood Estate covers 12,000 acres to the north of Chichester. The Goodwood Estate Company is a diverse portfolio of businesses which includes: Goodwood Racecourse, a 4,000 acre organic farm, two eighteen hole golf courses, Goodwood Aerodrome and Flying School, and a 91 bedroom hotel. The Group employs over 550 people and attracts 800,000 visitors to the Estate each year. The headquarters of Rolls Royce Motor Cars is also on the Estate.

Family

The Duke lives in Goodwood House with his wife, Janet (née Astor), and their four children.

He has been married twice, and has three sons and two daughters:

• 1) Sally Clayton; one daughter
  • I) Lady Alexandra Gordon-Lennox (born 1985)
• 2) The Honourable Janet Elizabeth Astor (born 1 December 1961), daughter of the 3rd Viscount Astor (30 November 1991 to date); one daughter and three sons
  • II) Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, Earl of March and Kinrara (born 20 December 1994), is the Duke's heir apparent
  • III) Lord William Rupert Charles Gordon-Lennox (born 29 November 1996)
  • IV) Lady Eloise Cordelia Gordon-Lennox (born 10 March 2000)
  • V) Lord Frederick Lysander Gordon-Lennox (born 10 March 2000)

In January 2016 he and the Duchess (then Earl and Countess of March) were attacked and tied up in a major jewel robbery at Goodwood.^[3]

Titles

• 8 January 1955 – 2 November 1989: Lord Settrington
• 2 November 1989 – 1 September 2017: Earl of March and Kinrara
• 1 September 2017 – present: His Grace The Duke of Richmond, Lennox, and Gordon

Coat of arms of Charles Gordon-Lennox, 11th Duke of Richmond

Coronet A coronet of a Duke Crest 1st, a Bull's Head erased Sable horned Or; 2nd, on a Chapeau Gules turned up Ermine a Lion statant guardant Or crowned with a Ducal Coronet Gules and gorged with a Collar compony of four pieces Argent charged with eight Roses Gules and the last; 3rd, out of a Ducal Coronet a Stag's Head affrontée proper attired with ten Tynes Or Escutcheon Quarterly: 1st and 4th grand quarters, the Royal Arms of Charles II (viz. quarterly: 1st and 4th, France and England quarterly; 2nd, Scotland; 3rd, Ireland); the whole within a Bordure compony Argent charged with Roses Gules barbed and seeded proper and the last; overall an Escutcheon Gules charged with three Buckles Or (the Dukedom of Aubigny); 2nd grand quarter, Argent a Saltire engrailed Gules between four Roses of the second barbed and seeded proper (Lennox); 3rd grand quarter, quarterly, 1st, Azure three Boars' Heads couped Or (Gordon); 2nd, Or three Lions' Heads erased Gules (Badenoch); 3rd, Or three Crescents within a Double Tressure flory counter-flory Gules (Seton); 4th, Azure three Cinquefoils Argent (Fraser) Supporters Dexter: an Unicorn Argent armed, crined and unguled Or; Sinister: an Antelope Argent, also armed, crined and unguled Or, each supporter gorged with a Collar compony as the crest Motto Over the 1st crest, Avant Darnlie; over the 2nd crest, En La Rose Je Fleuris; and over the 3rd crest, Bydand

In popular culture

March's name appears in the video game Gran Turismo 6, when he sends players an invitation related to the Goodwood Festival of Speed.^[4]

Ancestry

References

External links

• Information about his association with Goodwood
• "Typical biker: Earl of March". The Daily Telegraph. 19 September 2000.
• 2012 Goodwood Revival Picture Gallery