For other uses see Duke of Victoria (disambiguation).
| Duke of VictoriaDuque da Vitória | |
| Creation Date: | 18 December 1812 |
| Peerage: | Peerage of Portugal |
| First Holder: | Arthur Wellesley, 1st Marquess of Wellington |
| Present Holder: | Charles Wellesley, 9th Duke of Wellington |
| Heir Apparent: | Arthur Wellesley, Earl of Mornington |
| Remainder To: | the 1st Duke's heirs male of the body lawfully begotten |
Duke of Victoria (Portuguese: Duque da Vitória|lit=Victorious duke, or Duke of the victory)[1] is a Portuguese title of nobility retained by the Duke of Wellington.
The title was created by Prince Regent John of Portugal (later King John VI) on 18 December 1812 to honour the British General Arthur Wellesley, who commanded the armies that eventually defeated the troops of Emperor Napoleon I of France in the Peninsular War. It was the only grant of a Portuguese dukedom to a foreigner.
Arthur Wellesley had already received the Portuguese titles Conde de Vimeiro (Count of Vimeiro, 18 October 1811) and Marquês de Torres Vedras (Marquess of Torres Vedras, 17 December 1812), which became titles subsidiary to that of Duque da Vitória. He also received the British peerage title Duke of Wellington, and other titles and honours from the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands. All these titles have been passed to his heirs to the present day.
The heir apparent is the present holder's son Arthur Gerald Wellesley, whose heir apparent is his son Arthur Darcy Wellesley.
With the end of the Portuguese monarchy in 1910, all titles of Portuguese nobility were initially abolished. Notwithstanding, although the status of nobility has not been recognised in law since 1910, legitimate titles of nobility (those granted by a reigning monarch before the 5th October 1910) have been given legal recognition and protection, including under article 26 of the Portuguese Constitution, in conjunction with articles 70 and 72 of the Civil Code, as established by decision of Portugal's Supreme Court of Justice in 2014.[2]