EXCLUSIVE: 'Toxic' warning issued as royal expert addresses Duke of York 'curse'
The title 'Duke of York' is something of a cursed peerage – involving murder, exile and execution – but Prince Andrew is more than the latest in a series of very unfortunate dukes
The title of Duke of York is traditionally given to the second son of a monarch, but for one reason or another, it has been, over the centuries, a magnet for misfortune.
The most recent Duke of York, the second son of the late Queen Elizabeth II, has been pressured by his family into giving up most of his honours and titles and is now plain Prince Andrew.
Leading royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told the Mirror that, while he’s by no means the first Duke of York to lead a troubled life, Andrew has made it a “toxic” title.
Normally, a dukedom is passed on to the holder’s son — for example, the current Duke of Norfolk is the 18th since it was bestowed on his ancestor John Howard in 1483.
But when the fourth Duke of York won the Wars of the Roses, he became King Edward IV, and the title merged with the Crown. Since then, the story of the many Dukes of York has been one of murder, mystery and misery.
The murdered princes
Edward IV’s second son, Richard of Shrewsbury, inherited the title.
At the age of nine or ten, Richard was placed with his older brother Edward in the Tower of London by their uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, to await Edward’s coronation following their father’s death.
Neither of them was ever heard of again.
The much-married monarch
The next Duke of York went on, after the untimely death of his brother Arthur, to become King Henry VIII.
A vengeful, free-spending individual, he did at least ascend to the throne, but his life is mainly remembered for his six unhappy marriages and the bitter split with the Catholic Church that led to a series of bloody wars.
After Henry’s brief dynasty came to an end, the allied House of Stuart took the English throne, merging the kingdoms of England and Scotland for first time.
The king who lost his head
Again, the expected heir to the throne died, and Charles, Duke of York, the second son of King James VI of Scotland, became King Charles I.
Years of friction with parliament led to a bloody civil war and the execution of Charles in Whitehall, London.
There was an 11-year period with no king before Charles’s son — also named Charles — took the throne in May 1660.
Death in exile
Charles II had many sons by his many mistresses, but no legitimate children with his wife, Catherine of Braganza. The succession therefore passed to his brother, James — a former Duke of York.
James II reigned for three years before being deposed by Parliament in favour of his sister Mary.
The next Duke of York also, unexpectedly, became king after the death of his older brother.
End of empire
While his life wasn’t marked by the personal tragedies of some of his predecessors, his reign as George V was a turbulent one, characterised by the rise of socialism, communism, fascism, Irish republicanism and the Indian independence movement — all of which destabilised the vast empire he had inherited.
George’s son, Edward VIII, reigned for less than a year before abdicating to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson. That thrust his younger brother, Albert, Duke of York, into the spotlight.
The reluctant king
George VI, as he became known, had been a delicate child who was “easily frightened and somewhat prone to tears.” He wasn’t considered natural king material, and there were even discussions at the time about breaking the official line of succession in favour of Prince George, Duke of Kent instead.
While he wrote in his diary that he had “broken down and sobbed like a child” on learning that he was to be king, George overcame a severe stutter to become an inspirational wartime figurehead, giving regular speeches on the radio.
The travails of the most recent Duke of York, born in February 1960, are well known. As for his possible successor, it’s likely that the title will be left to rest for a generation, to allow current scandals to fade.
Six of the eleven times the title Duke of York has been created, the holder became king — but rarely a happy one.
Being a second son in a monarchy is rarely easy, as Prince Harry — who in another timeline might well have become Duke of York himself — has often said.
Fitzwilliams notes that while many Dukes of York “have met with unfortunate ends,” most modern royal-watchers associate the title with George VI, who went from being a painfully shy, stammering Duke of York to a symbol of resistance to the Nazi threat: “The stress of his wartime role undoubtedly shortened his life,” he says.
“Ricardians, who claim Richard III was not responsible for the murder of the two princes, would know that Richard, Duke of York, was one of the Princes in the Tower,” he adds. “Few would link the title with Henry VIII or Charles I, or know that a holder of it was killed at Agincourt.”
But, Fitzwilliams says, the title Duke of York will in future be inextricably bound with the scandals surrounding Prince Andrew: “The title has now, owing to the atrocious behaviour of the current incumbent — though he denies the charges against him — become notorious worldwide.
“No one, after the Abdication crisis, would use the title Duke of Windsor; he was too well known because of the Abdication. The crisis over Andrew is far from over, but don’t expect Louis to take it on. If it has a curse, it’s Andrew who has made it toxic.”