Duke of Buccleuch appointed Chancellor of the Order of The Thistle

The Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry has been appointed to the office of Chancellor of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle.

Richard John Walter Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 10th Duke of Buccleuch, KT, KBE, CVO, DL (born 14 February, 1954), succeeded to the family honours on the death of his father, 4 September, 2007, and was appointed a Knight Companion of the Order of the Thistle in 2017.

The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry and the senior order in Scotland. The current version of the order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland, who asserted that he was reviving an earlier order. The order consists of the sovereign and sixteen knights and ladies, as well as certain "extra" knights (members of the British royal family and foreign monarchs). The sovereign alone grants membership of the order; they are not advised by the government, as occurs with most other orders. 

The current membership of the order: His Majesty the King was admitted a knight in 1977 and has been Sovereign of the Order since his accession, 8 Sept, 2022. The other Royal or Extra knights and ladies are Her Majesty the Queen (2023), HRH The Princess Royal (2000), and Prince William, Duke of Rothesay (2012).

The Knights and ladies currently number thirteen, with three vacancies:-

The Earl of Elgin and Kincardine KT CD JP DL (1981), The Lord Mackay of Clashfern KT PC KC FRSE (1997), The Lord Wilson of Tillyorn KT GCMG FRSE (2000), The Lord Steel of Aikwood KT KBE PC (2004), The Lord Robertson of Port Ellen KT GCMG PC FRSA FRSE (2004), The Lord Cullen of Whitekirk KT PC KC FRSE FREng (2007), The Lord Hope of Craighead KT PC KC FRSE (2009), The Lord Patel KT FMedSci FRSE (2009), The Lord Smith of Kelvin KT CH FRSGS (2014), The Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry KT KBE CVO DL FSA FRSE FRSGS (2017), Sir Ian Wood KT GBE (2018), Lady Elish Angiolini LT DBE PC KC FRSA FRSE (2022), Sir  George Reid KT FRSE (2022).

The Duke of Buccleuch, a great-nephew of the late Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (1901-2004), is 10th Duke of Buccleuch (Scotland, let. pat. 20 Apr 1663, sur. and regrant 16 Jan 1666 and 17 Nov 1687), 12th Duke of Queensberry (Scotland, let. pat. 3 Feb 1683, sur. and regrant 17 Jun 1706), 12th Marquess of Dumfriesshire (Scotland, let. pat. 3 Feb 1683, sur. and regrant 17 Jun 1706), 13th Earl of Buccleuch (Scotland, let. pat. 16 Mar 1619, sur. and regrant 16 Jan 1666 and 17 Nov 1687), 10th Earl of Doncaster (England, let. pat. 14 Feb 1662/3), 10th Earl of Dalkeith (Scotland, let. pat. 20 Apr 1663, sur. and regrant 16 Jan 1666 and 17 Nov 1687), 12th Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar (Scotland, let. pat. 11 Feb 1682, sur. and regrant 17 Jun 1706), 12th Viscount of Nith, Tortholwald and Ross, (Scotland, let. pat. 11 Feb 1682, sur. and regrant 17 Jun 1706), 14th Lord Scott of Buccleuch (Scotland, let. pat.18 Mar 1606, sur. and regrant 16 Jan 1666 and 17 Nov 1687) 13th Lord Scott of Whitchester and Eskdaill (Scotland, let. pat. 16 Mar 1619, sur. and regrant 16 Jan 1666 and 17 Nov 1687), 10th Baron Scott of Tindale, (England, let. pat. 14 Feb 1662/3), 12th Lord Douglas of Kilmount, Middlebie and Dornock, (Scotland, let. pat. 11 Feb 1682, sur. and regrant 17 Jun 1706).

The office of Chancellor is mentioned and given custody of the seal of the order in the 1687 statutes, but no-one was appointed to the position until 1913. The office has subsequently been held by one of the knights, though not necessarily the most senior. 

The Duke of Bucccleuch, one of Europe's biggest landowners, is seated at Bowhill, Selkirk , Boughton House, Kettering, Northamptonshire, and Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfriesshire.

He married 31 October, 1981, the Lady Elizabeth Marian Frances Kerr, daughter of the 12th Marquess of Lothian. He duchess died 30 April, 2023, aged 68, a week before the Coronation of King Charles III in which the duke took a ceremonial role.

-=-