Duke of Victoria

Not to be confused with Duke of la Victoria (title) or Duke of Victoria de las Amezcoas.

For other uses, see Duke of Victoria (disambiguation).

Duke of Victoria (Portuguese: Duque da Vitória, lit. 'Victorious duke, or Duke of the victory')^[1] is a Portuguese title of nobility retained by the Duke of Wellington.

Duke of Victoria Duque da Vitória
Arms of the Dukes of Wellington as Duke of Victoria.
Creation date	18 December 1812
Created by	Prince Regent John of Portugal (later King John VI)
Peerage	Peerage of Portugal
First holder	Arthur Wellesley, 1st Marquess of Wellington
Present holder	Charles Wellesley, 9th Duke of Wellington
Heir apparent	Arthur Wellesley, Earl of Mornington
Remainder to	the 1st Duke's heirs male of the body lawfully begotten
Subsidiary titles	Marquess of Torres Vedras Count of Vimeiro

The title was created by Prince Regent John of Portugal (later King John VI) on 18 December 1812 to honour the British General Arthur Wellesley, who commanded the armies that eventually defeated the troops of Emperor Napoleon I of France in the Peninsular War. It was the only grant of a Portuguese dukedom to a foreigner.^{[citation needed]}

Arthur Wellesley had already received the Portuguese titles Conde de Vimeiro (Count of Vimeiro, 18 October 1811) and Marquês de Torres Vedras (Marquess of Torres Vedras, 17 December 1812), which became titles subsidiary to that of Duque da Vitória. He also received the British peerage title Duke of Wellington, and other titles and honours from the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands. All these titles have been passed to his heirs to the present day.^{[citation needed]}

Dukes of Victoria since 1812

• Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Victoria (1769–1852) from 1812
• Arthur Richard Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Victoria (1807–1884) from 1852
• Henry Wellesley, 3rd Duke of Victoria (1846–1900) from 1884
• Arthur Charles Wellesley, 4th Duke of Victoria (1849–1934) from 1900 until 1934
• Arthur Charles Wellesley, 5th Duke of Victoria (1876–1941) from 1934
• Henry Valerian George Wellesley, 6th Duke of Victoria (1912–1943) from 1941
• Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Victoria (1885–1972) from 1943
• Arthur Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Victoria (1915–2014) from 1972
• Arthur Charles Valerian Wellesley, 9th Duke of Victoria (b. 1945) since 2014

The heir apparent is the present holder's son Arthur Gerald Wellesley, whose heir apparent is his son Arthur Darcy Wellesley.

Family tree

v t e Wellesley family tree: Dukes of Wellington, Victoria, and Ciudad Rodrigo, and Princes of Waterloo

Baron Mornington of Mornington, 1746 Richard Colley Wesley 1690–1758 1st Baron Mornington Earl of Mornington and Viscount Wellesley, of Dangan Castle in the County of Meath, 1760 Richard Colley Wesley 1735–1781 1st Earl of Mornington and Viscount Wellesley, 2nd Baron Mornington Baron Wellesley of Wellesley in the County of Somerset, 1797 Marquess Wellesley of Norragh, 1799 Baron Maryborough of Maryborough in the Queen's County, 1821 Viscount Wellington (UK), 1809 Count of Vimeiro (Portugal), 1811 Marquess of Wellington (UK), 1812 Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo (Spain), 1812 Duke of Victoria and Marquess of Torres Vedras (Portugal), 1812 Duke of Wellington (UK) and Marquess Douro and Baron Douro (Portugal), 1814 Prince of Waterloo (Netherlands), 1815 Richard Wellesley 1760–1842 Marquess Wellesley, 2nd Earl of Mornington and Viscount Wellesley, 3rd Baron Mornington, Baron Wellesley William Wellesley-Pole 1763–1845 3rd Earl of Mornington and Viscount Wellesley, 4th Baron Mornington, 1st Baron Maryborough Arthur Wellesley 1769–1852 1st Duke of Wellington, Duke of Victoria, Prince of Waterloo, Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, Marquess of Wellington, Marquess of Torres Vedras, Marquess Douro, Viscount Wellington, and Baron Douro Marquessate Wellesley and Barony Wellesley extinct, 1842 William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley 1788–1857 4th Earl of Mornington and Viscount Wellesley, 5th Baron Mornington, 2nd Baron Maryborough Arthur Richard Wellesley 1807–1884 2nd Duke of Wellington, Duke of Victoria, Prince of Waterloo, Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, Marquess of Wellington, Marquess of Torres Vedras, Marquess Douro, Viscount Wellington, and Baron Douro, 6th Earl of Mornington and Viscount Wellesley Lord Charles Wellesley 1808–1858 William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley 1813–1863 5th Earl of Mornington and Viscount Wellesley, 6th Baron Mornington, 3rd Baron Maryborough Henry Wellesley 1846–1900 3rd Duke of Wellington, Duke of Victoria, Prince of Waterloo, Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, Marquess of Wellington, Marquess of Torres Vedras, Marquess Douro, Viscount Wellington, and Baron Douro, 7th Earl of Mornington and Viscount Wellesley Arthur Charles Wellesley 1849–1934 4th Duke of Wellington, Duke of Victoria, Prince of Waterloo, Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, Marquess of Wellington, Marquess of Torres Vedras, Marquess Douro, Viscount Wellington, and Baron Douro, 8th Earl of Mornington and Viscount Wellesley Barony Maryborough extinct, 1863 Arthur Charles Wellesley 1876–1941 5th Duke of Wellington, Duke of Victoria, Prince of Waterloo, Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, Marquess of Wellington, Marquess of Torres Vedras, Marquess Douro, Viscount Wellington, and Baron Douro, 9th Earl of Mornington and Viscount Wellesley Gerald Wellesley 1885–1972 7th Duke of Wellington, Duke of Victoria, Prince of Waterloo, Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, Marquess of Wellington, Marquess of Torres Vedras, Marquess Douro, Viscount Wellington, and Baron Douro, 8th Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, 10th Earl of Mornington and Viscount Wellesley Anne Rhys 1910–1998 7th Duchess of Ciudad Rodrigo Henry Valerian George Wellesley 1912–1943 6th Duke of Wellington, Duke of Victoria, Prince of Waterloo, Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, Marquess of Wellington, Marquess of Torres Vedras, Marquess Douro, Viscount Wellington, and Baron Douro, 11th Earl of Mornington and Viscount Wellesley Arthur Valerian Wellesley 1915–2014 8th Duke of Wellington, Duke of Victoria, Prince of Waterloo, Marquess of Wellington, Marquess of Torres Vedras, Marquess Douro, Viscount Wellington, and Baron Douro, 9th Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, 12th Earl of Mornington and Viscount Wellesley Arthur Charles Valerian Wellesley b. 1945 9th Duke of Wellington, Duke of Victoria, Prince of Waterloo, Marquess of Wellington, Marquess of Torres Vedras, Marquess Douro, Viscount Wellington, and Baron Douro, 10th Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, 13th Earl of Mornington and Viscount Wellesley Arthur Gerald Wellesley styled Marquess of Douro b. 1978 Arthur Darcy Wellesley b. 2010 styled Earl of Mornington

Use of titles of nobility in the Portuguese Republic

With the end of the Portuguese monarchy in 1910, all titles of Portuguese nobility were initially abolished. Notwithstanding, although the status of nobility has not been recognised in law since 1910, legitimate titles of nobility (those granted by a reigning monarch before the 5th October 1910) have been given legal recognition and protection, including under article 26 of the Portuguese Constitution, in conjunction with articles 70 and 72 of the Civil Code, as established by decision of Portugal's Supreme Court of Justice in 2014.^[2]

See also

• Prins van Waterloo
• Duque de Ciudad Rodrigo

References

1. "Issue 21388". London Gazette. 6 December 1852. pp. 3563, 3564.
2. Judgment of the Supreme Court of Justice - website Instituto de Gestão Financeira e Equipamentos da Justiça (IGFEJ) of the Portuguese Ministry of Justice