What is a Countess? When someone has that title, what are they supposed to do and how you do become a Countess

Question

I was wondering this because on Bravo's Real Housewives of NYC, a wife on the show is a a "countess." She said she is required to do charity events. What does her title mean and how does one become a countess? FYI: Her husband is a "count." I dont know if that automatically makes her a "countess"

Answer 1

In Germany and in areas with titles of the Holy Roman Empire, all wives of sons and wives of male-line descendants of a count are countesses, as are daughters and females descended from a count in the male line. The same is true of Russia, Poland, etc.

To be a countess, just marry a count! A woman is entitled to her husband's titles in most cases. A countess is not required to do anything beyond what a normal woman does.

Answer 2

In Britain, you can become a countess only one way: by marrying an Earl (that the British equivalent of the Count). Once you are married to one, you are automatically a Countess.

You can't inherit the title. Though it is herediatery, passing from father to eldest son, in case there is no direct male heir, the title goes to the closest male relative. So if Earl N has only 1 daughter, she wouldn't become Countess in her own right, but would be merely a Lady.

You can, however, be granted the title in your own right, though for women, it is usually lifelong honour, and cannot be passed to children.

In past, Earl were prominent nobleman. However, immediate male members of the Royal Family (such as children and siblings of the Reigning Monarch) usually enjoyed the style of H.R.H. and title of the 'Duke'. This custom was breaken when the youngest son of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Edward, was granted the title of the Earl of Wessex upon his marriage.

It should be noted, however, that Prince Edward is expected to inherit the title of th "Duke of Edinburgh" after his father passes away.

Answer 3

A countess is a peer of the realm if the title is her own right.She could also be the wife of an earl(UK) or count.A woman who marries a titled man can assume her husband's title.

The title can also be bestowed upon her by the monarchy and Parliament,but that means that she did some kind of work so extraordinarily well as to make  not only her accomplishments,but the country look good.

I would be very leery about a person here using a title;some unscrupulous social climbers buy "titles" that aren't authentic.I'd as Bukre's Peerage or Debrett's if this title were authentic.

And as to what a countess is suppossed to do: support charities and the people in her area--there isn't a job description for the title.

Answer 4

Directly from Bravo's website: LuAnn de Lesseps is a real-life Countess. Her husband, Alexandre Count de Lesseps, is a French aristocrat (of the Suez Canal dynasty). With LuAnn's Countess title comes a great sense of pride -- the de Lesseps presented New York City with the Statue of Liberty. She uses her title to help with her various charities and is a socialite very much in demand, as well as a busy mom of two. The de Lesseps travel extensively around the world, with trips to exotic locales in Italy, Switzerland, France and Africa. She also teaches etiquette on morning television shows and has a local cable show on WVVH-TV in the Hamptons called “The Countess Report.”

Answer 5

One can become a countess, generally, by marrying a count...though LOTS of people have charity work as their careers, so you could do that, without the title.

I believe, if a woman is the oldest, and there are only daughters, of an Earl (in Britain) or a count (in most other European countries) she automatically becomes a countess.  The oldest son of an Earl is the next Earl, and the oldest son of a Count becomes the next Count, so, if there are no sons, the oldest daughter would generally get the title upon her father's death.

PS:  A Count rules a county!

Answer 6

A count is a nobleman in European countries  Whose wife called  a "countess"

Answer 7

If you marry an Earl, (in the UK), you may be styled 'countess', though you are NOT a peeress in your own right. Most countesses are simply referred to socially as 'Lady' somebody. The European equivalent of an Earl, is a Count. Incidentally, Counts or Earls do NOT rule conties. In the UK,  very few Earldoms may pass to a daughter in the absence of a son. The present Lady Mountbatten is the current Countess of Burma, and I believe the present Countess of Mar in Scotland inherited the peerage from her father. It is technicallly possible for women to be appointed a 'Countess' in the UK, and there was some hint that Margaret Thatcher might have got one. At one time most ex-prime ministers received an hereditary honour on retirement. More European titles can pass to daughters than in Britain, which, if the system is going to exist at all, should be the norm. If you are a man marrying a titled lady in the UK, you get nothing, but remain a 'Mr'.  

Despite our 'egalitaritarian society', there is still much interest in these sorts of things, so having a titled lady to make speeches on behalf of a chartity, can be an advantage. Oddly enough, when my local community centre got a 'Lady' to help with a fund raising activity, her services were free of charge, unlike so many 'C' and possibly 'D' list celebrities, whose agents were approached.

Answer 8

A 'Countess" is the wife of a count or earl, or the title used by a women who holds the title (or earldom) in her own right. When a woman marries a count or earl, she will receive a "courtesy title" of Countess. A courtesy title is a form of address in systems of nobility used by wives, children and other close relatives of a peer. These styles may mislead those unacquainted with the system into thinking that they have substantive titles.

The nobility title of Countess may only became a substantive title only when it is held by someone (normally by one person alone), which they gained through either grant or inheritance, as opposed to one given or loaned to them either as a courtesy title, or gained through marriage.

The ranks of the English peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, and Baron. While most newer English peerages descend only in male line, many of the older ones (particularly older baronies) can descend through females. Under English inheritance law all daughters are co-heirs, so many older English peerage titles have fallen into abeyance between various female co-heirs.