The Dukes of Northumberland?

Hopefully the Dukes have learned their lesson by now.

The Duke Of Northumberland

no. it is illegal for any peer of the realm in the United Kingdom to be Catholic (that and they would be removed from the line of succession to the throne if they marry a roman catholic or convert). Percy had remained a catholic despite Henry VIII break with the church in rome. Percy was executed in conjunction with suspicions surrounding a coup removing Elizabeth and placing the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots on the English throne. He was executed when he refused to convert to protestantism.

(btw, back then it was EARL of Northumberland....you were correct in saying DUKE as it is now a DUKEDOM not an EARLDOM any longer...it was changed in 1684)

First off, the title of Duke of Northumberland has undergone three recreations:

---Traditionally associated with the Percy family of Northumberland, the first line of Dukes ended when John Dudley, first Duke of Northumberland, was executed for high treason for attempting to place Lady Jane Grey upon the English throne whereupon he forfeited his honours to the Crown.

---Charles II bestowed the second recreation of the Duke of Northumberland upon his bastard son, George Fitzroy, in 1685. This Duke of Northumberland died without heirs.

---A titular Duke of Northumberland, Philip Wharton (1698-1731), a wealthy Whig who supported the Jacobite cause, forfeited the title; he also died with issue.

---Algernon Seymour (1684-1750) was created the first Duke of Northumberland upon its official, third recreation. Since his own child was a daughter, Elizabeth Seymour, her husband, Sir Hugh Smithson, took the name and title of Hugh Percy, second Earl of Northumberland, when he inherited his father-in-law's dukedom.

---The 12th Duke of Northumberland (under its third recreation) is Ralph Percy (b. 1956). His Wikipedia article notes that he has recently created a new ornamental garden at Alnwick Castle, which, btw, also appears as Hogwarts Castle in the Harry Potter films. Ralph Percy succeeded to the title when his older brother, Henry (1953-1995), died of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis linked with alleged amphetamine addiction at age 42. Henry Percy had a romantic relationship with Valerie Morris, the mother of model Naomi Campbell, but he never married. No mention has been made on line about the current Duke of Northumberland's religious beliefs or affiliations.

------

Lady Bubb, wapedia notes that Henry Alan Walter Richard Percy, the 11th Duke of Northumberland (1953-1995) was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, but it doesn't specify where his younger brother, Ralph Percy, the 12th Duke of Northumberland, was educated. However, since Henry Percy was a godchild of Elizabeth II, presumably he and his brother were both Anglicans.

I found a wiki article under Eton College that he is a member of the Church of England.

Anglicanism-Mix of Protestantism,Roman Catholicism, and Eastern Orthodoxy/Basically the way it was when Henry VIII finished with his Church.