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<![CDATA[In 1999, history was made when an bill was passed through Parliament which abolished the right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords and contribute to the law making process. Almost 15 years on and whilst there is still a push to completely reform the House of Lords, it remains the home of peers – mostly life peers – though still some hereditary. For centuries…

<![CDATA[Anyone who knows will tell you that the British Peerage is a complicated and diverse institution – and in this article (Part 2 of the Story of the Peerage series), I will explain everything you need to know about the Lords and Ladies of the United Kingdom. As discussed in Part 1, there are 5 ranks in the peerage. They are, in descending order, Duke (Duchess); Marquess…

<![CDATA[ The origins of the peerage are not as obscure as one may think at first thought. In fact, documents dating back over a thousand years have helped historian piece together exactly how we have managed to get to where we are today with the nobility. Earls were one of the earliest example of nobility in England. First recorded in during the time of the Anglo-Saxons, it was the earls who…