Murray Beauclerk, 14th Duke of St Albans

Born on 19 January 1939,^[1] Beauclerk was the eldest son of Charles Beauclerk, later 13th Duke of St Albans, and the only child from his first marriage to Nathalie Chatham Walker.^[2] He was a descendant of Charles II and Nell Gwyn through their illegitimate son, Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans. He was the senior representative of the House of de Vere.^{[citation needed]}

Beauclerk was educated at Tonbridge School in Kent.^[3] In 1964, his father succeeded his second cousin Osborne as 13th Duke of Albans, with Murray acquiring the courtesy title of Earl of Burford.^[2]

Beauclerk qualified as a chartered accountant in 1962.^[1][3] He was a partner in the London firm Burford & Partners LLP (formerly Burford & Co) from 1981 to 2015.^[4]

In 1988, St Albans succeeded his father as 14th Duke of St Albans. The dukedom comes with the honorary position of Hereditary Grand Falconer of England which entitled him to an annual haunch of venison from Richmond Park. This was terminated by Tony Blair's Culture Secretary Chris Smith.^[4] He sat in the House of Lords as a Conservative peer until the House of Lords Act 1999.^[5] During the debates over the Act, His son and heir Earl of Burford decried the bill from the woolsack and was escorted from the House.^[6]

In 2015, he and other British dukes were the subject of the documentary film Modern Times: The Last Dukes. St Albans, billed in the film as ‘The Landless Duke’, appeared, along with his wife Gillian, son Charles and Charles’ future wife Sarah. In the film, the duke and duchess’ coronets and robes are displayed, as well as a portrait of the Duke touched robes with a falcon and glimpses inside the Duke and Duchess’ terraced house in London.^[7]

From 1989 to his death, St Albans served as governor-general of the Royal Stuart Society, a monarchist organisation with Jacobite ties.^[3] He was also president of the Beaufort Opera, patron of the Bestwood Male Voice Choir, a freeman of the City of London and liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Drapers.^[3]

On 12 August 2016, St Albans, accompanied by his wife the Duchess of St Albans, unveiled a blue plaque in Regency Square, Brighton, commemorating Harriot Mellon, the actress who married the 9th Duke of St Albans.^[8]

St Albans was married three times. On 31 January 1963, he married Rosemary Frances Scoones.^[1][4] They had two children:

• Lady Emma Caroline de Vere Beauclerk (born 22 July 1963). Had issue;^[1]
• Charles Francis Topham de Vere Beauclerk, 15th Duke of St Albans (born 22 February 1965). Had issue.^[1][2]

They were divorced in 1974.^[1] Rosemary Beauclerk later married Paul Pellew, 10th Viscount Exmouth then William Coleridge, 5th Baron Coleridge.^{[citation needed]}

On 29 August 1974, shortly after his first divorce, he married Cynthia Theresa Mary Howard (1929–2002), former wife of Sir Anthony Robin Hooper, 2nd Baronet.^[1][9] They were divorced in 2001.^[1][4]

St Albans married his third wife Gillian Anita Northam on 14 December 2002 in London. They met at a dinner party.^[4]

St Albans died during the night of 22 April 2026 at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London,^[10] at the age of 87. It was described as ‘fitting’’ that his death should occur on the eve of the birth and death of William Shakespeare, given that St Albans was an Oxfordian. He was succeeded in the dukedom by his son Charles.^[4]

A memorial service was held at St Luke's Church, Chelsea on 25 June 2026.^[10][11]