Marquesses in The United Kingdom - Forms of Address

Forms of Address

An English or British marquess is formally styled "The Most Honourable The Marquess of " and informally styled "Lord ', and his wife "Lady ". As with dukes, all sons of a marquess have the courtesy style of "the Lord Forename " and all daughters have the courtesy style of "the Lady Forename ". The style for the eldest son, however, is often trumped by a subsidiary title of his father, such as earl or viscount, which is used instead. Especially for signing documents, the signature being only the name of the title, ). This form of signature is true for all peers, including peers by courtesy. For example, The Marquess of Salisbury would sign his name merely "Salisbury".

A marquess by courtesy, however (who would always be the heir to a dukedom, since the courtesy title of an heir must always be at least one rank below that of the peer), does not enjoy the style of "Most Honourable", but is merely Marquess of, without the definite article. The genuine marquess as a peer, however, is always the "The Most Honourable The Marquess of ", to differentiate a marquess by courtesy (i.e., the heir to a dukedom) from a marquess in his own right.

The spelling of the title in a few older Scottish cases is "Marquis", particularly when the title was created prior to the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.