Commoners in The United Kingdom

Commoners In The United Kingdom

In British law, a commoner is someone who is neither the Sovereign nor a peer. Therefore, any member of the Royal Family who is not a peer, such as Prince Harry of Wales or Anne, Princess Royal, is (technically) a commoner, as is any member of a peer's family, including someone who holds only a courtesy title, such as the Earl of Arundel and Surrey (eldest son of the Duke of Norfolk) or Lady Victoria Hervey (a daughter of the 6th Marquess of Bristol).

Traditionally, members of the House of Commons were commoners — though the name of the House of Commons comes from the communities they represent, not their rank — while members of the House of Lords were peers. Peers whose only titles are in the Peerage of Ireland have been able to stand for election to the House of Commons for centuries. Since the House of Lords Act 1999, which excluded most hereditary peers from the House of Lords, most hereditary peers can now stand for election to the House of Commons. For example, the 3rd Viscount Thurso (aka John Thurso) is currently a member of the House of Commons.

In popular usage, a commoner is a person who does not belong to royalty or aristocracy: in other words, someone who is not a member of a peer's family. In that context, The Guardian, the Times, the Telegraph and the BBC have all seen fit to distinguish Kate Middleton as a "commoner". Many English-language publications have noted that Middleton is the first commoner to marry an heir to the British throne since Anne Hyde married James the Duke of York (later King James II) more than 350 years ago.