Can people really buy into royalty?

Question

Please forgive me for my ignorance as I am not well-versed in British royalty but I would like to know if people can buy into royalty? I have heard people say, "Well a the title of a Lord or Lady can be bought but a Princess title is given." Is there any truth to that? Thanks for explaining!

Answer 1

First of all, being a Lord doesn't make you royalty. All royals are lords, but not all lords are royals.



You can't actually buy titles, no matter what any website says. They're all elaborate scams with confusing explanations of copyhold and copyright, designed to fool gullible people into parting with their money for a fancy-looking sheet of paper.



Peerages cannot be sold due to the 'Honours (Abuses of) Act 1925' which expressly forbids the sale of titles. The only 'title' you can buy is a Lordship of the Manor or Scottish Feudal Barony or Earldom. In these cases, the buyer is only John Smith, Lord of the Manor of London, John Smith, Baron of Skye or John Smith, Earl of Arran respectively.



Moreover, there is no such title as Lord. Lord is a styling of Peers or their sons, for example:



The Duke of Edinburgh is Lord Edinburgh in conversation.

The Earl of Wessex is Lord Wessex in conversation.



The son of a Duke or Marquess is entitled to the style of Lord John Smith, but this is a courtesy title and not held in his own right.



These 'Seated titles' are just hogwash. The idea is that you buy a centimetre of land and become Lord of it, which is unfounded and silly.



Also, if you're American, you cannot hold a title of nobility under US law, which outlaws Americans from using, claiming or granting titles of nobility, lest they lose citizenship.

Answer 2

British Royals are:



The monarch

children of the monarch

grandchildren of the monarch from males.



That's it - NO-ONE else is Royal in the UK, and, obviously, being Royal is only by birth.



Noble titles (Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, etc.) can also not be bought. It is illegal - titles come only from HM the Queen - or, being inherited from someone with a title, but, that still came from a previous monarch.



The only actual titles that can be purchases are the "Lords of the Manor" titles (called Barons in Scotland). But, there are not peerage titles, but, property - like real estate. They do NOT make you a Lord at all.



It is impossible to buy a peerage title.

Answer 3

A lord isn't always royal they might have royal blood, most Lords these days are business people who are given the title. It is said at certain business people have made donations the the government at the time and ended up with a Title of Lord.



You can only marry into royalty but you will not be royal however your children will be

Answer 4

You cannot legally buy royal titles, and you cannot legally buy peerage titles, which are the only lords' titles that matter.



The ones being sold online are either scams or not real peerage titles. Those old feudal "lord of the manor" titles are actually meaningless insofar as the peerage is concerned.