Charles Innes-Ker, 11th Duke of Roxburghe

Captain Charles Robert George Innes-Ker, 11th Duke of Roxburghe (born 18 February 1981), also known as Charles Innes or Charlie Roxburghe, is a British aristocrat and military officer.

Life and career

He is the eldest son of the 10th Duke of Roxburghe and his first wife, the former Lady Jane Meriel Grosvenor, daughter of the 5th Duke of Westminster. His uncle was Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster.

He was educated at Eton College and the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. In February 2003, while still a student, he was caught travelling on the Tyne and Wear Metro without paying the £1 fare. He chose to pay a £10 fine rather than take the case to court and risk appearing on "losers' posters" displayed around the city, naming people who had been caught travelling without tickets.

He attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, passing out in December 2004, and served with the Blues and Royals in Windsor and Iraq.

Prior to succeeding to the dukedom on his father's death in August 2019, he was styled Marquess of Bowmont and Cessford. As Lord Bowmont, instead of "sitting around like a hawk at home, waiting to take over", with his fellow Guardsman Rob Bassett-Cross he set up a company called Capstar, which owned a fleet of black Jaguar XJs and provided chauffeur services, employing mostly ex-servicemen and women.

Upon his accession to the dukedom in 2019, he inherited Floors Castle and 60,000 acres around the Cheviot Hills and the River Tweed as well as hotels in the area, with an estimated wealth of up to £100 million.

Marriages and children

On 22 July 2011, he married The Honourable Charlotte Susanna Aitken (b. 15 February 1982), elder daughter of Maxwell Aitken, 3rd Baron Beaverbrook. The couple separated and sued for divorce in June 2012, less than a year after the wedding. In 2016, he had a daughter with fashion designer Morvarid Sahafi. On 30 January 2021, his engagement to Annabel Green was announced, and they married in September 2021 at Floors Castle. Annabel became upon marriage the Duchess of Roxburghe. On 28 February 2024, the Duchess gave birth to a son and heir, Frederick Charles Ian Innes-Ker, Marquess of Bowmont and Cessford.

Chiefship of Clan Innes

The previous Duke of Roxburghe was heir to the chiefship of Clan Innes (Clann Innis, not Mac Aonghuis or Clan MacInnes); however, since he bears the surname Innes-Ker, the Lord Lyon King of Arms will not recognise the present duke as chief of the name Innes.

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