Table of contents

Approximate read time: 10 minutes 

1. What is a peerage?

A peerage is a type of honour created by the crown.

The crown can create five types of peerage: dukedom, marquisate, earldom, viscountcy and barony.[1] A person can hold several of these titles at the same time. A dukedom is the highest of the five ranks of peerages. This includes ‘royal dukedoms’ which are given to members of the Royal Family.[2] They include the ‘Duke of York’ title which is traditionally given to the second son or brother of the sovereign. Andrew Mountbatten Windsor held the title of Duke of York from 1986 to 2025.

Peerages can be either hereditary (ie can be passed on to heirs) or lifetime in nature. A hereditary peerage is inherited by the heir on the death of the previous holder of the title.[3] Royal dukedoms return to the crown if there is no male heir or if the title holder becomes monarch.

In contrast, a life peerage remains with a person for the duration of their life only and cannot be passed on. Life peerages are created using the Life Peerages Act 1958, the basis on which most members of the House of Lords sit today. Life peerages made under the act are barons and baronesses appointed by the crown on the advice of the prime minister.[4] Opposition party leaders can also recommend individuals from their own parties to receive life peerages.

The ‘roll of the peerage’ is a legal document containing a list of the names of all those holding peerages, including peers who sit in the House of Lords.[5] Anyone listed on the roll can be legally recognised as a peer in official documents. The roll is maintained by the lord chancellor and secretary of state for justice.

Not all peers sit in the House of Lords. The House of Lords Act 1999 withdrew this right from most hereditary peers, with only 92 excepted hereditary peers now allowed to remain members at any time. The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill currently going through Parliament would remove the right of the excepted hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords, if passed.

Life peers make up the majority of the House of Lords membership. At the time of writing, there are 825 members eligible to attend House of Lords proceedings.[6] Of these, 716 are life peers and 85 are hereditary peers, with the remaining 24 being lords spiritual (bishops).

Further information on types of peerages can be found in the following Lords Library briefings:

2. Can a peerage be removed?

Yes, it is possible to remove a peerage. However, as described in ‘Gadd’s Peerage Law’, once the crown has granted a peerage it is “very difficult to deprive the holder of it”.

A royal warrant dated 30 October 2025 confirmed that King Charles had directed the lord chancellor “to cause the Duke of York to be removed from the roll of the peerage with immediate effect”.[7] The result of this meant that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor was no longer legally recognised as a peer in official documents.

However, a peerage can only be removed by an act of parliament. The government confirmed this in November 2025.[8] Peerages are created by letters patent: a legal document issued by the sovereign and adorned with the great seal. The great seal (formally known as the great seal of the realm) is the chief seal of the crown.[9] It is used to show the monarch’s approval of state documents. As explained in ‘Halsbury’s Laws of England’, the crown does not have the power to cancel a peerage once it has been created.[10]

The Titles Deprivation Act 1917 (TDA) was the most recent act of parliament introduced to remove a peerage. The TDA received royal assent on 8 November 1917. It was used to remove British peerages from “enemies” of the UK during the first world war. Specifically, section 1 introduced powers to remove a peerage from anyone who had “during the present war, borne arms against His Majesty or His Allies, or who [had] adhered to His Majesty’s enemies”.

The TDA meant that any peer suspected of assisting the enemy could be investigated by a committee of the privy council who would then lay a report in both Houses of Parliament for 40 days. If this period elapsed without either House tabling a motion disapproving the report, the report would be taken as final and presented to the monarch. The peer would then be struck off the peerage roll and would have all rights to receive a ‘writ of summons’ and sit in the House of Lords removed. The writ of summons is the mechanism by which an eligible peer takes up their seat in the House of Lords. The TDA also meant that the rights to any peerage title would be removed.

On 28 March 1919, the London Gazette published the names of four people who had their peerages removed under the TDA:[11]

  • Leopold Charles, Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence and Baron Arklow
  • Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, Earl of Armagh
  • Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick, Prince of Great Britain and Ireland
  • Henry, Viscount Taaffe of Corren and Baron of Ballymote

The TDA still remains in force to date. However, as the act refers specifically to the first world war, it is unlikely that its provisions could be used today.

3. Has any recent legislation been introduced to remove peerages?

No new laws to remove peerages have commenced since the TDA. However, several acts of parliament have been introduced to cancel or suspend a person’s membership of the House of Lords in certain circumstances.

For example, the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 ensures that a member convicted of a serious offence will cease to be a member of the House. A ‘serious offence’ means a criminal offence where the member has been sentenced for one year or more, or ordered to be detained indefinitely. ‘Ceasing to be a member’ means that the person is disqualified from attending House proceedings and is no longer entitled to receive a writ of summons, nor can they attend in pursuance of a writ already received. However, their peerage title remains.

The 2014 act brought the House of Lords onto the same footing as the House of Commons, whereby any MP convicted and imprisoned for one year or more is automatically disqualified from the House of Commons and their seat vacated. This is provided by the Representation of the People Act 1981. The 2014 act was initially introduced in the House of Commons as a private member’s bill by Dan Byles (then Conservative MP for North Warwickshire).

Following the commencement of the 2014 act, the updated House of Lords code of conduct provides that any member who is imprisoned in the UK will be deemed to have breached the code.[12] Therefore, if a member’s conviction does not fall within the remit of the 2014 act (for example, where the sentence received is less than 12 months’ imprisonment), their case will be referred to the House of Lords Conduct Committee for it to recommend a sanction. The code includes similar provisions for members sentenced to imprisonment outside of the UK.

Most recently, the House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension) Act 2015 enabled the House to expel or suspend a member by resolution in circumstances other than for non-attendance or being sentenced to over a year in prison (as already provided for by the House of Lords Reform Act 2014). Those expelled would cease to be a member of the House, whereas those suspended would not be entitled to receive a writ of summons during the suspension period. The 2015 act started as a private member’s bill introduced in the House of Lords by Baroness Hayman (Crossbench).

4. Can a member relinquish their peerage?

A life peerage cannot be relinquished. However, the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 enables a life peer to resign from being a member of the House.

There are also limited circumstances where hereditary peerages can be ‘disclaimed’. The Peerage Act 1963 enables hereditary peers to renounce their titles for life. The 1963 act sets out requirements that must be met to do this.

To disclaim a peerage, the person must deliver an ‘instrument of disclaimer’ to the lord chancellor. This must be done within 12 months beginning on the day that the person succeeds to that peerage. The only exception to this time limit would be if the person is under 21 years old, in which case the 12-month time limit would begin on their 21st birthday. Once the instrument has been delivered, the hereditary peerage would be renounced for their life.

Tony Benn was the first person to renounce a hereditary peerage under the 1963 act. He did this on 31 July 1963, the day that the act came into force.[13]

5. Can other types of styles, titles and honours be removed?

Yes, styles such as ‘royal highness’ and titles such as ‘prince’ can be removed. The government confirmed this in November 2025.[14]

Most styles and titles are granted—and can be removed—under the royal prerogative through instruments such as letters patent or a royal warrant, rather than through legislation.[15] The most recent example of this followed Buckingham Palace’s announcement on 30 October 2025 that King Charles had “initiated a formal process to remove the style, titles and honours of Prince Andrew”’.[16] Letters patent dated 3 November 2025 confirmed that “Andrew Mountbatten Windsor shall no longer be entitled to hold and enjoy the style, title or attribute of “Royal Highness” and the titular dignity of “Prince””.[17]

For honours such as knighthoods, ‘Halsbury’s Laws of England’ states that the crown has the power to cancel and annul honours it has previously granted, with the monarch acting on the formal advice of the prime minister.[18] Honours can be forfeited where a person is deemed to have brought the honours system into disrepute; for instance, where they have received a criminal conviction.[19]

A recommendation for the forfeiture of an honour can be made by contacting the Cabinet Office. Recommendations are then considered on an individual basis by the Honours Forfeiture Committee. The committee will not decide if someone is guilty, but instead considers if the honours system has been brought into disrepute. The committee’s recommendations for forfeiture are then presented by the prime minister to the monarch. If the monarch approves a recommendation, a notice of forfeiture is published in the London Gazette.

Recent examples of forfeited honours include the removal of Paula Vennells’ CBE in February 2024 following the Horizon IT scandal.[20]

6. Read more

Image credit: Copyright House of Lords 2019 / Photography by Roger Harris.

This briefing was originally published on 10 February 2022. It was updated on 13 November 2025.

References

  1. Debretts, ‘Ranks and privileges of the peerage’, accessed 12 November 2025. Return to text
  2. Debretts, ‘The royal dukedoms’, accessed 12 November 2025. Return to text
  3. Debretts, ‘An indispensable guide to the peerage’, accessed 12 November 2025. Return to text
  4. UK Parliament, ‘Life peers’, accessed 12 November 2025. Return to text
  5. College of Arms, ‘Roll of the peerage’, accessed 12 November 2025. Return to text
  6. House of Lords Library, ‘House of Lords data dashboard: Current membership of the House’, 2 September 2025. Return to text
  7. The London Gazette, ‘Warrants under the royal sign manual’, 5 November 2025. Return to text
  8. House of Commons, ‘Written question: Honours: Forfeiture (85708)’, 4 November 2025. Return to text
  9. The Royal Household, ‘Great seal of the realm’, accessed 12 November 2025. Return to text
  10. Halsbury’s Laws of England (£), ‘486. Perpetuity of titles’, 2023. A Lexis+ UK login is required to access this resource. House of Lords members should contact the Lords Library to set up a login. Return to text
  11. ‘The London Gazette’, 28 March 1919, p 4,000. Return to text
  12. UK Parliament, ‘Code of conduct for members of the House of Lords’, accessed 12 November 2025. Return to text
  13. Britannica, ‘Tony Benn’, 6 October 2025. Return to text
  14. House of Commons, ‘Written question: Honours: Forfeiture (85708)’, 4 November 2025. Return to text
  15. Institute for Government, ‘The monarch, royal family and Parliament’, 31 October 2025. Return to text
  16. The Royal Household, ‘A statement from Buckingham Palace’, 30 October 2025. Return to text
  17. The London Gazette, ‘Crown Office’, 5 November 2025. Return to text
  18. Halsbury’s Laws of England (£), ‘488. Forfeiture of honours’, 2023. A Lexis+ UK login is required to access this resource. House of Lords members should contact the Lords Library to set up a login. Return to text
  19. Cabinet Office, ‘Having honours taken away (forfeiture)’, updated 3 September 2024. Return to text
  20. Cabinet Office, ‘List of individuals who have forfeited their honour (since August 2023)’, updated 1 August 2025; and BBC News, ‘Ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells stripped of CBE’, 23 February 2024. Return to text