Peerage of The United Kingdom
The title Marquess was always higher than that of an Earl. In the late 19th and the 20th century many Viceroys of India were appointed as marquesses after their term of office. (It is indicative of the importance of the Indian Empire that retiring Viceroys were offered Marquessates while retiring Prime Ministers were only offered earldoms). Some of the German relations of King George V were made marquesses in the Peerage of the United Kingdom after renouncing their German princely titles in 1917. Prince Louis of Battenberg, the princely head of the Battenberg family, became the first Marquess of Milford Haven.
The last marquess created by the British crown was the Marquess of Willingdon in 1936. While the creation of new hereditary titles is today confined almost exclusively to members of the royal family, the creation of new marquessates appears to have ceased entirely. When new Royal Dukes are created (such as the Duke of Cambridge in 2011), the preferred next-highest subsidiary title appears to be that of an earldom. No explanation for this apparent policy of omitting marquessates has been forthcoming.
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