As a young man, the Hon Miles Fitzalan-Howard hardly expected to succeed to the premier dukedom of England. Duke Bernard, his second cousin once removed, was only seven years older than he was. Bernard's family, however, consisted of daughters, and a male heir was required. When Miles succeeded in 1975, he was very much in his own man.

Miles Fitzalan-Howard picked his ancestry well. He came of a clutch of titles and a maternal line going back to a king of Jerusalem. His forebear Thomas Howard, a lieutenant-general of the English army, defeated the Scots under James IV at Flodden on September 9, 1513, for which Howard was made Duke of Norfolk. The fact his father was granted then stripped of a similar dukedom confusingly means the late duke is usually referred to as the 17th of the line, though pedants insist on the 16th.

The Duke of Norfolk (Miles Francis Stapleton Fitzalan-Howard) KG, GCVO, CB, CBE, MC, soldier and Earl Marshal of England; born July 21,1915, died June 24, 2002.