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[02a] The Premier Duke of Scotland (Royal )
Arms: Or a lion rampant Gules armed and langued Azure within a double tressure flory counter flory of the second charged with a label of three points Azure.

The Premier and first duke in Scotland was the Duke of Rothesay

SOURCES, NOTES & CREDITS: The illustration for background, the blazon and the text is based on, and adapted from, information from the Wikipedia article.

Note: The arms illustrated are the conjectural arms of the Duke, being the arms of his father, King Robert III, with a three point label Azure as heir.

David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay was born 24 Oct 1378 was the heir to the throne from about 1390, created Duke of Rothesay and as Earl of Athol in 1398 having been Earl of Carrick since 1390. Robert married Mary Douglas, daughter of Archibald “the Grim” , 3rd Earl of Douglas. The marriage was without issue. In the 1390s Prince David play a role in the peace negotiations with England with John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster in the Marches.

When King Robert created David Duke of Rothesay he also created his own younger brother Robert Stewart, Duke of Athol. The King had been named John before taking the name Robert as King.

The duke of Athol was a bitter rival and enemy of Rothesay and had him arrested on a pretext and imprisoned first at St. Andrews castle and then at Falkland Palace where David died shortly thereafter it is believed of starvation in April 1402. An inquiry into the circumstances cleared the Duke of Albany of all blame in May 1402.

David’s younger brother James then became the second Duke of Rothesay

Four years later King Robert III died in 1406 and was succeeded by David’s younger brother James as King James I who was in captivity in England at the time which allowed the Duke of Albany free reign in Scotland.

Thereafter, the eldest son of the king became Duke of Rothesay and an Act of the Scottish Parliament was passed in 1469 confirming this pattern of succession.

The current Duke of Rothesay is HRH Prince William, in the UK Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Cambridge who succeeded to this title on the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, when his father succeeded her as King Charles III. He is thus a Triple Duke.

The artwork is a rendition of John Hamilton Gaylor

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Cary3.jpg Forbes_02_3664~0.jpg Rothesay.jpg Crawford.jpg GordonHuntly~0.jpg
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