The Duchies of Lancaster and of Cornwall
In England there are two very special dukedoms, they are royal territorial ‘Duchies’. These territorial areas have rights and privileges that are hereditary ‘fiefdoms’ from early feudal origins. They have some similarities to the estates of grand dukes of Europe in as much that they have sovereign HRH status. There is an important difference between the sovereign dukes and the dukes subordinate to the monarch. The estates of these dukes were inviolate and cannot be broken or dissolved through marriage…