Lord Brabourne walks with his son, Nicholas

A new story on Lord Brabourne and the Hon. Nicholas Knatchbull, whose appearance shows the years of drug use.   Lord Brabourne is also Lord Romsey, the secondary title for the Mountbatten earldom.  However, as he is a peer in his own right, the Romsey courtesy title is not used.  His children are styled as children of barons, thus Nicholas and Alexandra are Honourables.

So what happens to the Romsey and Brabourne titles when Lord Brabourne inherits his mother's earldom.  He will cease to be styled as Lord Brabourne.  He also can decide to style his son as Lord Brabourne, and not as Lord Romsey.  This will not make Nicholas a peer in his own right, as his father would remain the actual Baron Brabourne.  There is a precedent for this.

The present Duke of Fife is also the Earl of Southesk.  He inherited the dukedom from his maternal aunt, Princess Arthur of Connaught.  He succeeded his father as Earl of Southesk.  The courtesy title for the Fife dukedom is Earl of Macduff, which was how the Duke of Fife's son was styled until the death of the Earl of Southesk.  Not long afterward, the Duke of Fife announced that his son would be styled as the Earl of Southesk, which meant that the Earl's eldest son became Lord Carnegie, the second title for the Southesk earldom.   The Duke remains the actual earl.  Should the Fife title become extinct, the Southesk earldom would be revived as there are collateral line descendants to this title.

This is a similar situation to the Mountbatten earldom and Brabourne barony.  Lord Brabourne will inherit both titles, but the earldom will take precedence.  The earldom's succession is limited to the daughters of the first earl and their male issue.  This means that if the Hon. Nicholas Knatchbull does not marry and have sons, the title will eventually pass to the Hon. Philip Knatchbull's line, as he has two sons by his second wife.  The second son, Michael-John, is the father of a daughter.  

This is the same path for the Brabourne barony as it is a male line only barony, but it has other lines of eligible male heirs.  The Mountbatten earldom's succession is limited to the two daughters of Lord Mountbatten and their male heirs.  Ashley Hicks is the last in the line of succession to this earldom.  He is the father of two daughters. 

Should the 3rd Earl Mountbatten of Burma follow the precedent of the Duke of Fife,  the Romsey title will probably not be used.   The heir apparent will be Baron Brabourne.  The heir apparent's eldest son cannot also be styled as a Baron.


Broadlands opens to the public this summer after several years of major restoration.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2119406/Strolling-father-tattooed-ex-drug-addict-heir-100m-Mountbatten-fortune.html