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Can You Buy a Noble Title? The Facts Behind "Titles for Sale"

"Noble titles for sale" is a popular search, and many websites offer to make you a "Lord" or "Lady" for a fee. What follows is what the law and public authorities actually say, country by country. GOTHA sells no titles and has no commercial link with any title seller.

United Kingdom: Peerages Cannot Be Bought

A peerage (duke, marquess, earl, viscount or baron) is a crown distinction created by the sovereign [1]. Selling access to one is a criminal offence. Under the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925, anyone who accepts or seeks "any gift, money or valuable consideration as an inducement or reward" for procuring "the grant of a dignity or title of honour" commits a misdemeanour [2]. On conviction they face imprisonment, a fine or both, and forfeiture of what they received [2].

So no genuine peerage, baronetcy or knighthood is for sale.

"Lord of the Manor": A Property Right, Not a Peerage

What is legally sold in England and Wales is a lordship of the manor. HM Land Registry explains that whoever owns the lordship of a manor "is entitled to refer to themselves as lord of that manor", for example "Lord of the manor of Keswick" [3]. Key points from HM Land Registry guidance [3]:

A lordship is an incorporeal hereditament: property with no physical substance.
The title often "no longer [has] any land or rights attached to it".
Since 13 October 2003 (when the Land Registration Act 2002 came into force) it has no longer been possible to apply for first registration of a lordship title.

A lordship of the manor is not a peerage and does not make the owner noble [1][4].

Scotland: "Laird" Souvenir Plots

Some sellers offer tiny "souvenir plots" in Scotland together with the right to call yourself "Laird". The Keeper of the Registers of Scotland must reject any application to register a souvenir plot in the Land Register. A real right of ownership in Scottish land can be obtained only by registration [7]. In a statement published by Registers of Scotland, the Court of the Lord Lyon said that owning a souvenir plot "does not bring with it the right to any description such as 'laird', 'lord' or 'lady'". It added that "'Laird' is not a title but a description" and that "there is no recognition by the Lord Lyon of 'XY, Laird of Z'" [7]. Owning such a plot is also not enough to qualify for a grant of arms [7]. A laird is not part of the peerage [1][4].

France: Titles Exist Only as Part of the Name

In France the nobility has had no legal existence since 1870 [5]. A genuine title survives only as an attribute of the family name, created by letters patent or a later decree of confirmation. A person may use it on civil-status documents only after receiving an arrêté d'investiture from the Minister of Justice [6]. The Ministry's section du Sceau examines about three requests a year [6]. A title cannot simply be bought and then registered.

Red Flags When Someone Offers You a Title

They promise a "peerage", "baronetcy" or "knighthood" for money. That is illegal in the UK [2].
They imply a manorial lordship makes you a peer. It does not [3][4].
They offer "registration" of a manorial title in England after 2003. First registration is no longer possible [3].

Licence: contains material adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). This article is shared under the same licence. Primary and institutional sources are summarised or briefly quoted.