Lord High Constable

The Lord High Constable of England is the seventh of the Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Great Chamberlain and above the Earl Marshal. His office is now called out of abeyance for coronations alone (and theoretically for trials by combat). The Lord High Constable was originally the commander of the royal armies and the Master of the Horse. He was also, in conjunction with the Earl Marshal, president of the Court of Chivalry or Court of Honour. In feudal times, martial law was administered in the court of the Lord High Constable. The constableship was granted as a grand serjeanty with the Earldom of Hereford by the Empress Maud to Milo de Gloucester, and was carried by his heiress to the Bohuns, Earls of Hereford and Essex. Through a coheiress of the Bohuns it descended to the Staffords, Dukes of Buckingham; and on the attainder of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, in the reign of King Henry VIII it became merged in the crown. The Lacys and Verduns were hereditary constables of Ireland from the 12th to the 14th century; and the Hays, Earls of Erroll, have been hereditary Lord High Constables of Scotland from early in the 14th century.

Lord High Constables of England, 1139-1521

• Milo de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford 1139-1143
• Roger de Gloucester, 2nd Earl of Hereford 1143-1155
• Walter de Gloucester, 3rd Earl of Hereford 1155-1159
• Henry de Gloucester 1159-1164
• Humphrey de Bohun 1164-1176
• Henry de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford 1176-1220
• Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford and 1st Earl of Essex 1220-1275
• Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford and 2nd Earl of Essex 1275-1298
• Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford and 3rd Earl of Essex 1298-1321
• John de Bohun, 5th Earl of Hereford and 4th Earl of Essex 1321-1335
• Humphrey de Bohun, 6th Earl of Hereford and 5th Earl of Essex 1335-1361
• Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford and 6th Earl of Essex 1361-1372
• Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester 1372-1397
• Humphrey Plantagenet, 2nd Earl of Buckingham 1397-1399
• Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford 1399-1403
• Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham 1403-1460
• Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham 1460-1483
• Thomas Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley 1483-1485
• Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham 1485-1521

At this point, the office merged in the crown, and was only revived for coronations. It was held at coronations by the following individuals:

• Henry Grey, 3rd Marquess of Dorset, 1547
• Henry FitzAlan, 18th Earl of Arundel 1553, 1559
• Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester 1603
• George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham 1626
• Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland 1661
• Henry Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Grafton 1685
• James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde 1689
• Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford 1702
• John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu 1714
• Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond and 2nd Duke of Lennox 1727
• John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford 1761
• Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington 1821, 1831, 1838
• Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife 1902, 1911
• Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe 1937
• Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke 1953