The Unlikely Duke

A lively portrait of life within the mad world of aristocratic privilege and inheritance, from the unlikely 12th Duke of Beaufort.

'Beaufort chronicles his unusual and rarified world with flashes of Wodehousian genius'. --- Jools Holland

'So funny ... bristling with glamorous but eccentric characters'. --- Jilly Cooper

'Very funny and touching, gentle, wise and unpretentious. This is a book I absolutely loved.' --- Anne Glenconner

'...entertaining and at times poignant'. --- The Sunday Telegraph

'An endearing, well-paced read'. --- Country Life

'The enjoyability of the book lies with the Duke's benign and unpretentious attitude to life' . --- The Oldie


The 12th Duke of Beaufort, known to his friends as 'Bunter', inherited his Dukedom and Badminton House in 2017, at the age of sixty-five. But he is also a singer and songwriter with the rock group The Listening Device. Now he combines his responsibilities as Duke with his life as a rock performer.

In this lively and anecdote-filled memoir, Harry Beaufort takes us behind the scenes of his varied life: from playing poker with politicians, to partying on Ibiza with film stars to people watching with The Queen from a balcony at Windsor Castle. He offers an intimate portrait of aristocratic privilege and a lifetime filled with rock stars, royalty, eccentrics and jaw-droppingly unbelievable stories.

But Harry also offers a sensitive and perceptive insight into the worlds he has inhabited and the friendships and laughter that he has experienced along the way. This is the story of an ordinary man facing up to his extraordinary inheritance-the story of The Unlikely Duke.