Duchess of ?

C. O. Thompson wrote:I was surprised that the "territory" she was given did not include some of the crown preserve on Sphinx

saber964 wrote:IMHO the geographical name of some of the peerages were named by the first owners before they became peerage titles because that's what they named their land holdings or they could have named them after terrain features. Look at some of the estates in the US currently like Hearst San Simeon, Washington Mount Vernon, Jefferson Monticello, T Roosevelt Saginaw Hill.

Her Majesty is probably waiting until the opportune moment to turn the Harrington Freehold into a Barony and complete their set of titles.

It's possible the Sphinx Crown Reserve wasn't anywhere near the Harrington home. If it was on the other side of the planet, for example, that might be somewhat inconvenient even if Honor could afford a small fleet of shuttles. Or the Crown Reserve on Gryphon was larger than on the other two planets. I'm not saying Elizabeth did it on the cheap - the Jason Bay house was very expensive - but remember the duchy was lightly populated and hadn't really been invested into.

Somtaaw wrote:Steading also being a complete sovereign ruler in addition... nope, can't really see any protocol specialists complaints gaining any traction. And since the title is hereditary (along with the Steading), and both titles will just about always follow to the same person...

Actually, I think Honor might be wise to make Raoul the next Steadholder Harrington and Katherine the next Duchess Harrington. Each would have their own role and legacy, and would avoid the difficulties Honor has with running two operations on separate worlds.

dscott8 wrote:

Somtaaw wrote:Steading also being a complete sovereign ruler in addition... nope, can't really see any protocol specialists complaints gaining any traction. And since the title is hereditary (along with the Steading), and both titles will just about always follow to the same person...

Actually, I think Honor might be wise to make Raoul the next Steadholder Harrington and Katherine the next Duchess Harrington. Each would have their own role and legacy, and would avoid the difficulties Honor has with running two operations on separate worlds.

Katherine isn't in the line of succession for any of Honor's titles, including Duchess Harrington.
Katherine can inherit the Earldom of White Haven or any of its Cadet titles - William Alexander was mentioned as having one of them. But she's heir after Raoul for the Alexander family titles.

The Harrington titles go Raoul (and then his children) => any other children of Honor (and their children) => Faith (Honor's eldest sibling) => Faith's Children => any siblings of Honor/Faith (currently just their brother).

Honor could split her titles between Raoul and Faith, but that's probably not going to happen any time soon. At least, we probably won't see it happen.

Kytheros wrote:Honor could split her titles between Raoul and Faith, but that's probably not going to happen any time soon. At least, we probably won't see it happen.

No, she cannot split her titles. Raoul could choose to abdicate some of the titles he inherits from Honor or Hamish (which would pass them to the next in the succession), but could not do so until he inherits them.

drothgery wrote:

Kytheros wrote:Honor could split her titles between Raoul and Faith, but that's probably not going to happen any time soon. At least, we probably won't see it happen.

No, she cannot split her titles. Raoul could choose to abdicate some of the titles he inherits from Honor or Hamish (which would pass them to the next in the succession), but could not do so until he inherits them.

Quote or quotes to support this?
Based on what I remember, the passing of Honor's Manticoran title went to her cousin, who at the time was her heir - presumably also the next in line for the Harrington freehold if Honor and her father had died - as Honor had not specified in a will an alternative heir.
If Honor were to write a will explicitly splitting some of her assets to Raoul and some to Faith, I see no particular reason why some of her Manticoran titles might not be able to go to Faith. Obviously, her position as Steadholder goes to Raoul, unless he predeceases her or is somehow unfit to inherit.

Indeed, Honor's Grayson holdings do not fall under Manticoran law. However, Drothgery is correct that she cannot split her Manticoran titles among different heirs, were she to hold multiple titles. Which she does not, as far as I'm aware.

Kytheros wrote:

drothgery wrote:Quote or quotes to support this?
Based on what I remember, the passing of Honor's Manticoran title went to her cousin, who at the time was her heir - presumably also the next in line for the Harrington freehold if Honor and her father had died - as Honor had not specified in a will an alternative heir.
If Honor were to write a will explicitly splitting some of her assets to Raoul and some to Faith, I see no particular reason why some of her Manticoran titles might not be able to go to Faith. Obviously, her position as Steadholder goes to Raoul, unless he predeceases her or is somehow unfit to inherit.

I though I recalled RFC posting that Manticoran titles could not be assigned in a will.

Now we know the holder can abdicate. But just because the title can't be unilaterally redirected by the previous holder's will doesn't mean that there isn't some other mechanism to alter the normal line of inheritance prior to their death. (But it probably wouldn't be unilateral; it would either have to have the legally binding agreement of the person being skipped over or it would likely need a court decision justifying their disinheritance). But that's all my speculation because as far as I recall RFC only mentioned that titles can't be willed.