Name Peregrine 12th Nationality British | Succeeded by John Weatherby | |
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Full Name Peregrine Andrew Morny Cavendish Born 27 April 1944 (age 80) ( 1944-04-27 ) Spouse(s) Amanda Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire Parents Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire (father)Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (mother) | ||
Peregrine Andrew Morny Cavendish, 12th Duke of Devonshire (called "Stoker"; born 27 April 1944) is a British peer. He is the only surviving son of Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire and his wife, the former Deborah Mitford. He succeeded to the dukedom following the death of his father on 3 May 2004. Prior to this succession, he was styled Marquess of Hartington. The duke is worth an estimated £800 million.
Contents
- Education
- Horse racing
- Other interests
- Family
- Possibility of renouncing title
- Titles and styles from birth
- Honours
- References
Education
He attended Eton College and Exeter College, Oxford, where he read History.
Horse racing
The duke is well known in the world of horse racing and served as Her Majesty's Representative at Ascot and chairman of Ascot Racecourse Ltd. In 1980 he was elected to the Jockey Club and in 1989 he was appointed its Senior Steward (that is, Chairman). During his five-year term of office, he oversaw a number of changes within the racing industry, in particular the creation of the British Horseracing Board which is now the governing authority for British racing. He was appointed first chairman of the board in June 1993 and retired at the end of his term in 1996. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to racing in 1997 and Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) in the 2009 New Year Honours for his services as Her Majesty's Representative at Ascot.
Other interests
He was appointed a Trustee of the Wallace Collection in 2007. He is a trustee of Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust. He is Chairman of the Devonshire Arms Hotel Group, a chain of countryside hotels in North Yorkshire and Derbyshire, and Deputy Chairman of Sotheby's. He collects modern British and contemporary painting and sculpture, as well as works in other areas, many of which are on display at his family seat Chatsworth House. The Duke and Duchess and the house and estate grounds were featured in the BBC documentary series Chatsworth. In December 2012, he sold Auxiliary cartoon for the Head of a Young Apostle by Raphael for £29.7m at a Sotheby's auction. As of 2016 he is the owner of Heywood Hill, a notable bookstore in London.
He took up the position as the third Chancellor of the University of Derby at a ceremony on 28 October 2008 in Buxton.
The Duke is a current patron of St Wilfrid's Hospice in Eastbourne.
The range of Cavendish Pianos were named after the family name of the Duke to recognise his support which was critical to the establishment of the new firm.
Family
On 28 June 1967 the future Duke married Amanda Carmen Heywood-Lonsdale, daughter of Commander Edward Gavin Heywood-Lonsdale and a descendant of Arthur Heywood-Lonsdale.
They have three children and ten grandchildren:
Possibility of renouncing title
In February 2010, the Duke announced his intention to give up his title if hereditary peers were removed from the House of Lords, on the basis that "the aristocracy is dead" and "because then it would be clear-cut what the people wanted, and it would be confusing to maintain hereditary titles". This mirrored the view of his mother, who had said "titles are meaningless because peers are no longer legislators". This was dismissed as "nonsense" by Lord Ferrers, who disagreed with the Duke's claims that the aristocracy was dead. It is not known how serious he was in his intention, but if he had gone ahead with his threat then he would have been known as "Sir Peregrine Cavendish, KCVO, CBE."