Being awarded a peerage?

Question

if you are a non-british citizen? for example your a citizen of one of the commonwealth realms can you be eligible to be granted by elizabeth ii a peerage like earldom or dukedom?

Answer 1

It has never been possible for a non-British citizen to be granted a peerage, because right up until 1999 all peers automatically had the right to sit in the House of Lords as members of the British Government. Obviously it would be out of the question to make a foreign national a member of the Government!

It is possible (though often controversial) for people with dual British and non-British nationality to be granted a peerage, e.g. Lord Black of Crossharbour, who has Canadian/British nationality.

Answer 2

The Queen can grant anyone she likes a peerage. However, non british citizens are not usually granted peerages however, particularly in modern times.

The only peerages granted nowadays are life peerages to allow a person to sit in the House of Lords. Hereditary peerages such as Earl or Duke are rarely granted. The Queen has only ever granted Earldoms and Dukedoms to her own family or former Prime Ministers. The last hereditary peerage was the Earldom of Wessex, created for Prince Edward, her youngest son on his wedding day.  

Answer 3

Could not find anything directly on peerages but I tend to think that 's in the PMs hands now.

Here's what's on the Queen's website....

"While most honours are awarded on the advice of the Government, there are still certain honours in the United Kingdom that the Sovereign confers at his or her own discretion.

The only honours for which the Sovereign personally selects recipients are: the Order of the Garter, the Order of the Thistle, the Order of Merit, the Royal Victorian Order and the Royal Victorian Chain, Royal Medals of Honour and Medals for Long Service.

Honorary decorations and awards are occasionally granted to people from other countries who have made a significant contribution to relations between the United Kingdom and their own country. These awards are granted on the advice of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office."

Answer 4

To be a peer of the realm,you must be a citizen of the realm.Having a peerage title entitles a person to run for a seat in the House of Lords in Parliament.Commonwealth countries are part of the Queen's realm,so a Commonwealth citizen is a citizen of the realm!

Peerages should not be confused with knighthoods and other honors,of which there are "honorary" versions a non-citizen can have.New peerage titles are very rarely given.

Answer 5

Hereditary peerages (those that can be passed on to other generations of the family) such as the titles of Duke, Earl, Marquess, Viscount and Baron are rarely given to anyone outside of royalty.

However, life peerages (conferred on one individual for their life span) which automatically hold the rank of Baron and entitle the holder to be addressed as "Lord..." can be awarded to anyone British and including those from the Commonwealth. They are able to take a seat in the House of Lords should they so wish and being from a Commonwealth nation does not prevent this - after all Britain did have a Canadian Prime Minister (Andrew Bonar Law) for a short period.

There is no law in the UK preventing foreigners from holding a peerage, though only Commonwealth citizens can sit in the House of Lords. However, some other countries such as the United States have laws restricting the acceptances of awards by foreign powers; which is why Ronald Reagan received an honorary knighthood from the Queen. This entitled him to the use of the post-nominal letters GCB, but did not entitle him to be known as "Sir Ronald Reagan."