Can you have more than 1 legal title?

Question

If you are already titled "Dr." and you are made a Lord or Lady can you have 2 titles? If so do you become for example Lady Dr XXXXX or Dr Lady XXXXX etc? Or do you just stay Lady or Lord or stay Dr.?

Answer 1

Mr. Charles Percy Snow was graduated from Leicester University and earned a doctorate in physics at Cambridge, where, at the age of 25, he became a fellow of Christ's College. In 1957 he was knighted, becoming Sir Prof. Doctor  Charles Percy Snow, in 1964, he became Baron Snow of the City of Leicester, and had to change his business cards to Lord Prof. Doctor Snow. (In actual practice, one doesn't use all the titles at once -- keeping them for whatever role he has to play. So as a writer, he was known simply as C. P. Snow. As a physicist, he was Dr. Snow. As a teacher, Prof. Snow. And when presiding at fetes, Lord Snow. Depending on the snob level of the occasion, he was probably known in later life as Lord Snow, no matter what hat he was wearing at the time.  To Pamela Hansford Johnson, his wife, AKA Lady Snow, he was probably known as Charles.

About the only time one really discards old titles is as the eldest son of a noble. When one comes into the inheritance Lord Somebody then becomes Lord Omnium, or His Grace, the Duke of Omnium.

It gets especially interesting if Lord Somebody is in Holy Orders and is the Rev. Lord Somebody. If he then becomes the Duke of Omnium, he becomes Rev. The Duke of Omnium . However, if then, he is elevated to a bishopric, he assumes another identity, becoming The Most Reverend Lord Bishop of Trollopeshire, or Lord Trollopeshire, signing documents as +Trollopeacum, or whatever.

During the American Civil War there was a lieutenant general in the Confederal Army named Leonidas Polk.

What was especially interesting was the fact that he was talso the Episcopalian bishop of Louisiana. Was he addressed as General Most Reverend Polk?  

Answer 2

I think they add.

Admiral Lord Nelson, hero of Trafalgar, springs to mind. If you read any WWII history you run into lots of naval Captain Sir . . . when some British sailor got knighted. After the first round of drinks you'd call him "Lord Nelson" or "M'Lord" and the Captian "Sir Thomas".

Prince Charles is Prince of Wales and Duke of Corrnwall. I think he has some minor titles too.

Queen Victoria was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland; Empress of India, Empress of the British Empire (Kenya, Hong Kong, . . .) Defender of the Faith, Grand Commander of the Order of this and that and a dozens more. They usually don't use them all at once. When Charles comes over for pizza and beer we just call him "Sir". <grin> Usually you read he is P of W, but I saw a special on how he's trying to make Cornwall greener. When you are a duke you watch out for your people.

Sir James Cheetum-Howe, Esq. would be a solicitor or a barrister (not suer which) who had been knighted; titles at both ends.

I would assume the academic titles - Dr., Professor, etc. - pile up like the noble and military ones do.

Answer 3

Yes, if an individual has already earned a Ph. D. or M. D. and is later knighted, he or she doesn't give back the advanced degree.  Case in point:  Biochemist Paul Maxime Nurse  (b. 1949) earned a Ph. D. in 1973 from the University of East Anglia.  He was knighted in 1999.  Sir Paul has the distinction of simultaneously being a nurse, a doctor, and a knight--not to mention a 2001 Nobel prize winner.  

P. S.  After reading Nurse's autobiography, including the addendum to it, he probably wouldn't mind either title because he is pretty much a self-made man; however, newspaper articles refer to him as Sir Paul Nurse.

BTW, good answer, lordreit--I didn't think of C. P. Snow!