A Modern Marathoning Marquess Explains What It’s Actually Like

By Darius Hewitt, Marquess of Cumberland

I’m Darius Hewitt, aka the Marquess of Cumberland, aka that guy who runs for miles on punishing pavement instead of shooting grouse. My family’s been titled since the 17th century, but I run marathons for a living and spend more time in Lycra than in tweed. I figured it was time to demystify what it actually means to be part of the British upper crust…no tiaras required.

Here are 10 things you didn’t know about the British aristocracy, straight from someone who actually has to deal with the paperwork.

1. 🏰 There Are Only About 800 Titled Families Left

Britain’s “peerage” is a shrinking club.
There are roughly 800 hereditary peerages still in existence, and only 92 of those families still hold seats in the House of Lords after the 1999 reforms.

It’s more museum than monarchy now, preserved by heritage grants, not feudal rents.

2. 🏷 Titles Are Ranked (and You Definitely Can’t Buy One)

Here’s the official order:

1. Duke/Duchess
2. Marquess/Marchioness
3. Earl/Countess
4. Viscount/Viscountess
5. Baron/Baroness

You can’t just “buy” a real one. Those “Lord of Glencoe” certificates online? Completely unofficial. Real titles are granted by the Crown, and occasionally still created today, mostly for political or public service.

3. 📖 Debrett’s Is Still the Aristocracy’s Bible

If you want to know who’s who in Britain’s titled world, you check Debrett’s.
They’ve been tracking families, ranks, and etiquette since 1769, the original “Who’s Who.”

It’s where you learn things like how to address a duke properly or which fork to use at dinner (answer: the outside one first).
These days, they even run etiquette workshops for the corporate world. Because apparently, good manners never go out of style.

4. 💰 “Old Money” Doesn’t Mean Endless Money

The idea that every duke is swimming in gold is about a century out of date.

Modern estates are businesses, often part working farm, part wedding venue, part film location.
Take Highclere Castle (home of Downton Abbey): it’s open to the public, hosts events, and even sells gin.

There’s heritage, but there’s also a balance sheet, and plenty of dry rot.

5. 🏃‍♂️ Titled People Still Do Sport, I’m not the only one

Historically, aristocrats were “gentleman amateurs.” Think Lord Burghley, the Marquess who won gold in the 1928 Olympics and inspired Chariots of Fire.
But the modern era has plenty of titled athletes too:

• Lord Coe (Sebastian Coe, Baron Coe of Ranmore) became one of Britain’s greatest middle-distance runners, a double Olympic champion, and later chaired the London 2012 Olympics.
• Lord Bamford, owns a major motorsport team and is a fixture at Formula One paddocks.
• George Spencer-Churchill, the Marquess of Blandford, competes in endurance racing and classic car events.
• Lord Dalmeny is a noted polo player.
• And the Earl of Snowdon is a keen sailor who’s raced in Cowes Week.

A marquess running marathons for a living might be rare, but sport and nobility have always crossed paths, one muddy field at a time.

6. 🌍 Diversity isn’t new, but it’s still rare

Our heritage has always made my father and I stand out among the peerage. My grandmother was Ethiopian. She met my grandfather, the 12th Duke of Cumberland, at Oxford. Historically, there are examples of mixed-race people among the British elite over the centuries, but people like me, with visibly mixed heritage, holding hereditary titles, is more recent (think 1990s).

It’s still unusual to see visible diversity in the upper ranks, but things are shifting.
Take Emma Thynn, Marchioness of Bath. She’s Britain’s first Black marchioness. Or Lady Kitty Spencer, Princess Diana’s niece, whose Italian-Caribbean heritage reflects a more global family tree.

Diversity in aristocratic circles isn’t common, but it’s shifting…slowly.

7. 🏳️‍🌈 The Aristocracy Has Always Included LGBTQ+ Members — We Just Stopped Whispering

The British upper class has always had LGBTQ+ figures; they just weren’t able to be open about it.

Today, peers like Ruth Hunt, Baroness Hunt of Bethnal Green (former Stonewall CEO) and Matilda Simon, 3rd Baroness Simon of Wythenshawe (Britain’s first openly transgender peer) represent a quiet revolution in visibility.

A century ago, such openness could have ruined lives. Now, it’s reshaping what tradition looks like.

8. 💂 Royals and Nobles: Totally Different Jobs

A duke isn’t automatically royal. The royals rule (symbolically); the nobles serve (historically).

My father might attend royal garden parties, but he’s there as a guest, not a cousin.

The connection between Crown and aristocracy is contractual, not familial. It’s a leftover from feudal loyalty, not shared DNA that links the two.

9. 🏡 Big Houses, Bigger Maintenance Bills

Grand country houses survive today because they double as public attractions, not just family homes.
Places like Chatsworth, Blenheim, and Longleat are open to visitors and employ hundreds of people locally.

The upkeep is astronomical. Heating alone can cost thousands a week. The glamour comes with invoices, and spreadsheets.

10. 🕰 The Aristocracy Survives Because Britain Loves Tradition

The peerage endures not because it’s powerful, but because it’s picturesque.
Britain likes continuity, and the aristocracy provides it, complete with portraits, scandals, and occasionally, useful charities.

For those of us born into it, the trick is keeping the balance: to respect the past without living in it.

When I run, I leave it all behind: titles, history, expectations. Just the road ahead, and the next stride.

TL;DR:
The British aristocracy isn’t a fairytale of tiaras and trust funds. It’s a centuries-old ecosystem learning to survive in the modern world. Think, less Downton Abbey, more Heritage Ltd.

*This piece is written from the perspective of a fictional character, Darius Hewitt, Marquess of Cumberland, from Your Pace or Mine by Kim Stephenson. Any resemblance to real persons or titles is coincidental.