Henry FitzRoy, 12th Duke of Grafton

Henry Oliver Charles FitzRoy, 12th Duke of Grafton (born 6 April 1978), known as Harry Grafton, is an English peer and music promoter. He inherited the Dukedom of Grafton from his grandfather, Hugh FitzRoy, 11th Duke of Grafton, on 7 April 2011. He is also a direct male-line descendant of Charles II of England.

His Grace

The Duke of Grafton
Duke of Grafton
Assumed office
7 April 2011
Preceded byHugh FitzRoy
Personal details
Born (1978-04-06) 6 April 1978
Spouse(s)
Olivia Sladen (m. 2010)
Children3
Parents
EducationHarrow School
Alma mater

Early life

Grafton is the son of James Oliver Charles FitzRoy, Earl of Euston (1947–2009), and his wife, Lady Clare Amabel Margaret Kerr, the daughter of the 12th Marquess of Lothian.[1][2] He was known as Viscount Ipswich from his birth until he succeeded to the dukedom. On his father's death in 2009 he could have taken the title of Earl of Euston, but did not do so.

His ancestor Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton (1663–1690), was an illegitimate son of King Charles II by his mistress Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland.[3] Grafton shares the surname FitzRoy (meaning "son of the king") with other natural lines descended from Charles II.[4] The ducal coat of arms includes Charles II's royal coat of arms crossed by a baton sinister, indicating both the family's royal lineage and its origin in illegitimacy.[5]

Educated at Harrow School and the University of Edinburgh, he spent a post-graduate year at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, studying estate management.[5][6]

Career

From 2002 to 2004 he worked in the United States in music business management, as a radio host in Nashville, Tennessee, and in 2005–2006 as a merchandise co ordinator for the Rolling Stones on the A Bigger Bang tour.[5][6][7]

In 2007, he moved to London and in 2009, due to the death of his father, he returned to Suffolk to help manage the Euston Estate. He currently promotes live music events through his estate while modernising its 10,000-acre farm.[5]

Family life
The Duke and Duchess of Grafton in front of their home, Euston Hall

On 14 August 2010, Viscount Ipswich, as he was then known, married Olivia Margaret M. Sladen at Snowshill, Gloucestershire.[7][8] Their engagement had been announced on 15 April 2010.[2] Together, they are the parents of two sons and a daughter:

  • Alfred James Charles FitzRoy, Earl of Euston, heir apparent, who was born on 26 December 2012.[9]
  • Lady Rosetta Christina Clare FitzRoy, who was born on 20 July 2015.
  • Lord Rafe FitzRoy, who was born on 16 March 2017.

The Duke's seat is Euston Hall, at Euston in Suffolk, near Thetford in Norfolk.[5][10]

Titles and styles
  • 6 April 1978 – 7 April 2011: Henry FitzRoy, Viscount Ipswich
  • 7 April 2011 – present: His Grace The Duke of Grafton

Arms
Coat of arms of Henry FitzRoy, 12th Duke of Grafton
Coronet
The coronet of a Duke
Crest
On a Chapeau Gules turned up Ermine a Lion statant guardant Or ducally crowned Azure and gorged with a Collar counter-compony Argent and of the fourth
Escutcheon
The Royal Arms of Charles II, viz. Quarterly: 1st and 4th, France and England quarterly; 2nd, Scotland; 3rd, Ireland; the whole debruised by a Baton sinister compony of six pieces Argent and Azure
Supporters
Dexter: a Lion guardant Or ducally crowned Azur
Sinister: a Greyhound Argent; each gorged with a Collar counter-compony Argent and Azure
Motto
Et decus et pretium recti (Latin for "Both the ornament and the reward of virtue")

References
  1. Charles Mosley, ed., Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, vol. II (2004), ISBN 0-9711966-2-1, pp. 1616–1619
  2. Michael Rhodes posting to Peerage News message list, 15 April 2010
  3. David Clune, Ken Turner, The Governors of New South Wales 1788-2010 (2009, ISBN 1862877432), p. 203
  4. Bernard Falk, The Royal Fitz Roys: dukes of Grafton through four centuries (1950), p. 7
  5. Owen, Jane (17 April 2014). "Duke of Grafton uses R&B to restore Euston Hall's pleasure grounds". Financial Times. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  6. 'GRAFTON, 12th Duke of' in Who's Who 2014 (London: A. & C. Black, 2014); online edition by Oxford University Press, December 2013, accessed 8 March 2014 (subscription site)
  7. Richard Eden, Class warrior Lord Mandelson upsets his 'toffee-nosed' pals dated 17 April 2010 from The Daily Telegraph at telegraph.co.uk, accessed 8 March 2014
  8. Henry Oliver Charles FitzRoy at thepeerage.com, accessed 11 April 2011
  9. "GRAFTON". Daily Telegraph. 2 January 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  10. Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (2000), p. 704
Peerage of England
Preceded by
Hugh FitzRoy		 Duke of Grafton
2011–		 Incumbent
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by
The Duke of Richmond		 Gentlemen
The Duke of Grafton 		Succeeded by
The Duke of Beaufort
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