Duke of Clarence is a substantive title which has been traditionally awarded to junior members of the British Royal Family. All three creations were in the Peerage of England.Two double dukedoms, of Clarence and St Andrews and of Clarence and Avondale, were later created for British royal princes. The title also took the form of an earldom for Queen Victoria's son Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, and his son Prince Charles Edward, the Clarence earldom being a subsidiary title. The title was first created for Lionel, a younger son of King Edward III who in 1352 had married Elizabeth de Burgh, 4th Countess of Ulster, the sole heiress via a female line of Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester. The name Clarence referred to the feudal barony of Clare in Suffolk, and as the holder of it (and others) by right of his wife Lionel was given that title. The second and third creations were in respectively 1412 and 1461
Similar titles:
Duke of Clarence and St Andrews (1789)
- William IV (17651837), who became king in 1830, at which point the title merged with the Crown
Earls of Clarence (1881)
- The Prince Leopold, 1st Duke of Albany, 1st Earl of Clarence & 1st Baron Arklow (18531884), fourth son of Queen Victoria.
- Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, 2nd Duke of Albany, 2nd Earl of Clarence & 2nd Baron Arklow (18841954), posthumous son of the 1st Earl, had his British titles suspended in 1919 for waging war against Britain.
Duke of Clarence and Avondale (1890)
- Prince Albert Victor, 1st Duke of Clarence and Avondale (18641892)
'Clarence' is believed to refer to Clare in Suffolk; 'Avondale' refers to the valley of the Avon Water in Scotland.