on 3/6/2024, 20:58:12, in reply to "Re: Wellington - his royal Spanish art now on display at Apsley House"
Yes, the estate still belongs to the family. As I said a daugther of the present Duke married there (King Juan Carlos and the then Duchess of Cornwall among the guests).
No, estates ceased to be associated to titles at the beginning of the XIX century. That figure was called “mayorazgo”. So, estates are inherited like any other property.
Yes, it is possible that the Spanish and English titles will separate in the future. But it is also possible that an eldest daughter renounced, like it happened in the past with the 7th Duchess .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_of_Ciudad_Rodrigo
Previous Message
According to his Wikipedia page, he also has the Spanish title of "Duke of Victoria" and several courtesy titles which I assume are Spanish ("Marquess of Douro, Marquess of Torres Vedras, and others). But, does the estate in Spain that you refer to still belong in the Wellington family? If it still belongs, is it connected to one particular title of these several Spanish titles that the present Duke of Wellington has? Just interested also, because the son of the present Duke is also his eldest child, but since the Spanish titles are not "male-only" and must go to the eldest child, male or female, then it's possible in future that if a future Duke will have a daughter who is his actual eldest child, then she will take all the Spanish titles - but will she also inherit that Spanish estate in Granada? Previous Message
Yes. It happened as you explained. Other honours he got from the Spanish Govt. (Including the regency and the King) were the title of Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, the Collar of the Golden Fleece and a huge estate in the province of Granada, where his daughter wed.
Wellington was the first non-Catholic Knight of the GF and the family had the privilege to retain the Collar after his death. It can be also seen at Apsley House. Previous Message
In a recent professional newsletter I subscribe to, I noticed this past month an item on the display at Apsley House, home of the Dukes of Wellington, that focuses on the art collection that the first Duke acquired during the Napoleonic wars while he was in Spain. According to the description, the "Iron Duke" was in pursuit of Joseph Bonaparte who was fleeing Madrid but who had made sure to take with him various artworks belonging to the Spanish royal gallery before leaving the Spanish capital. When ex-King Joseph abandoned the art collection in his haste to avoid Wellington, then the latter took temporary poassession but then made sure later to attempt to return them to their rightful place: "Wellington’s men saved most of the paintings, amongst them works by Velzquez, Titian, Rubens and Brueghel. When most of the paintings had been identified and Wellington was informed that they had come from Spain he wrote to the restored King Ferdinand VII and offered them back. Wellington was told that the King was ‘touched by your delicacy’ and he ‘did not want to deprive Wellington of that which has come into your possession by means as just as they are honourable’." So in this unusual historic chain of events, they have remained to the present day at the city home of the Dukes of Wellington and now can be viewed by the wider public also in tours that began this past month of May. There are some 82 individual paintings on display in the collection. The "iron Duke" acquired them at Vitoria, Spain in 1813 after a battle there. Apsley House - Spanish royal art
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