Is the Royal Family Cursed? Apparently One of Its Titles Is—Here’s the Spooky Story Behind the Superstition

Who would say no to a fancy royal title? I don’t know about you, but Your Royal Highness or even milady sound pretty great to me. Well, as it turns out, some titles are more of a curse than a blessing. In fact, there’s one title in the British royal family’s lineage that may literally be cursed!

We’re not just talking a little unlucky in love. We’re talking so bad that it’s effectively been banned from use. Yikes! Also, we’re totally intrigued, and we’re betting you are too.

So which title comes with a whole lot of baggage, and what happened to the royals to whom it was given? And could it ever be brought back from (ahem) the dead? We asked royal historian Tracy Borman, author of The Private Lives of the Tudors: Uncovering the Secrets of Britain’s Greatest Dynasty, to shed some light on the title no modern royal would likely ever want.

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Which title is reportedly cursed?

The Duke of Clarence. It’s a “rare title,” Borman explains, and notable because of the way its three doomed holders died. “Each of them met a fairly sudden and unfortunate death,” she explains. We’ll get to that in a minute, but first, a little history about how this title came to be.

This duchy was created by King Edward III in 1362 for his third son, Lionel of Antwerp. But while it seems safe to say that the monarch had good intentions, it brought Lionel everything but luck, and the “curse” started with him, its very first holder. Lionel was in his early 20s when he received the title. And given his age, he still had his life ahead of him—or at least that’s what he and his family thought. But nobody could have imagined what happened soon after.

What happened to the former dukes of Clarence?

They all died way before their time—and in very unusual circumstances. Coincidence or curse? Keep reading, and decide for yourself.

Lionel of Antwerp (1338–1368)

King Edward III’s third son was born in Antwerp (hence, the name) and married Violante Visconti, daughter of Galeazzo II Visconti, the Lord of Milan. Six years after becoming the Duke of Clarence—and only a couple of months into his second marriage, to Violante—he passed away.

“He was just shy of his 30th birthday,” Borman says. “And he died so suddenly that it was believed he’d been poisoned by his father-in-law.” Let’s just say the Visconti family had a reputation for ruthlessness and the whole “ends justify the means” mentality. Still, there’s no actual confirmation that Lionel’s death was the result of foul play.

Thomas Lancaster (1387–1421)

Next came Thomas of Lancaster, second son of King Henry IV. He received the duchy when he was 24 or 25, in 1412. But this pairing was not meant to be. Borman notes that he was “very active on the battlefield and in government,” and he died while defending his country—but not particularly well. “He led the English in one of their most disastrous defeats to the French at the Battle of Baugé,” she says. “It was a fairly ill-advised attack, and he was killed at the age of 33.”

George Plantagenet (1449–1478)

The most famous Duke of Clarence was George Plantagenet—brother of King Edward IV and King Richard III—who died a rather spectacular death at age 28. “He was the classic middle son of the three brothers, a kind of traitorous character who was not at all trusted by either of his siblings,” says Borman.

George tried to dethrone his brother Edward IV, who then had him convicted for treason. “Famously, it’s said that the Duke of Clarence was able to choose the manner of his death, so he decided to be drowned in Malmsey wine, which was, apparently, his favorite wine,” Borman says. While there’s no proof that this actually happened, “he’s definitely gone down in history for that.”

Did anyone who held this title not meet a tragic end?

Technically, yes, but neither of them held the exact title Duke of Clarence—the two that got away both had extended versions of it. Plus, their lives weren’t all that rosy, as you’ll see.

Prince William Henry (1765–1837), also known as Duke of Clarence and St. Andrews, and later as King William IV, died of old age at 71. However, tragedy (and royal scandals) struck his home decades earlier: A notorious womanizer, William Henry had no less than 10 secret children with his mistress Dorothea Jordan, but he was pushed into marrying a more suitable woman, Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. The royal couple had two daughters together, but they both died in infancy.

The other one who escaped a mysterious death was Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (1864–1892). He died young, at the age of 28, but he was simply a victim of an influenza pandemic. That being said, rumor has it that he carried a dark secret. “Some authors have theorized that he was London’s serial killer Jack the Ripper,” Borman says. Wait, what?! The famous killer, of course, terrorized East London in the late 1800s. He murdered at least five women, all of them prostitutes, and was never caught. Jack the Ripper’s identity is still a mystery today.

Is this title still in use?

No. “It died out, as sometimes happens with ill-fated titles,” says Borman. While there’s no official explanation for this—and monarchs have generally been free to choose whatever title they wanted for their kids—Borman thinks the reason is likely because “there were three fairly bad ends met by Dukes of Clarence, [and] it’s therefore a title people didn’t really want.”

This doesn’t mean that the royals are particularly superstitious, although she adds, “historically, they probably were a bit.” Let’s be honest: Even if you don’t believe in curses, would you really take the risk and give that title to a loved one? The number of untimely deaths aside, there could be another reason why monarchs have shied away from the title. “The last real Duke of Clarence, George, was so notorious and such an enemy to the Crown that the idea of creating another Duke of Clarence was pretty abhorrent,” Borman says. Fair point!

Could any members of the current royal family receive this title?

Yes, but considering what happened to the previous holders, it seems highly unlikely. Rumor had it for a while that Kate and William’s youngest son, Prince Louis, could be named the next Duke of Clarence once William becomes king. But this probably won’t happen. “Historically speaking, you’ve got to be careful with titles,” Borman says. “If there’s any negative association, then people can be quite cautious about bringing them back.”

Plus, we just can’t imagine that Kate or William would want their son associated with a late duke who got drowned in liters of wine and another who tried to overthrow the reigning monarch—and his own brother! 

Sources:

• Tracy Borman, royal historian and author; phone interview, Oct. 23, 2027
• Debretts: “The Royal Dukedoms”
• Westminster Abbey: “Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence”
• Royal.uk: “William IV (r. 1830–1837)
• Historic Royal Palaces: “William IV: The unexpected king”
• BBC: “Jack the Ripper”

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