Prestige Titles · Guide
What Is an Earl?
The oldest English title of all, older even than the Norman Conquest.
What an Earl is
Earl is the third degree of the peerage, above viscount and below marquess. It is the only major English title of native origin, the rest borrowed from the continent.
Where an Earl ranks
It is the third of the five degrees. See the order of precedence for the full picture.
A little history
The word descends from the Anglo-Saxon eorl and the ealdorman who governed a shire for the king, keeping order and collecting his taxes. England kept this native word rather than adopting count, as the rest of Europe did, which is why we say Earl and not Count. There was no female form of earl, though, so the wife of an earl is a countess, borrowed from that same continental count.
Examples:Earl Grey · Earl Mountbatten · Earl of Sandwich
How to address an Earl
Written as The Earl of [Place], opened as Dear Lord [Place], and spoken as My Lord. See how to address a Lord or Lady.
Earl and Countess
The female equivalent is Countess. Read what is a Countess.
How to become an Earl
An earldom is inherited or granted by the Crown, and cannot be bought. What you can do is legally change your title to Earl through a title pack, which gives you a personalised Certificate of Title on parchment and a sealed Master Title Deed. See how to become a Lord and are titles real and legal?
Become an Earl
Legally change your title to Earl, beautifully presented on real parchment and ready to gift.
Earl Title Pack
£159.00£199.00
Become an Earl →Real parchment certificate · sealed Master Title Deed · a donation to the Woodland Trust
