Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo is a hereditary title in the Peerage of Spain. It was conferred by Ferdinand VII on the British GeneralArthur Wellesley, then 1st Viscount Wellington, later 1st Duke of Wellington in 1812, after his important victory at the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo that same year, as a victory title. As all Dukedoms in the Peerage of Spain, it has Grandeeship attached. Historically, this Spanish dukedom is held by the successors of the 1st Duke of Wellington holding the title of Duke of Wellington. Although, this has not always been the case because of different succession laws. Traditionally, when titles were created, the first holder could determine how their title would pass: in the United Kingdom, almost all ducal titles were created with agnatic primogeniture, while Spanish titles usually passed either by male primogeniture or by agnatic primogeniture. This would later change with the 2006 reforms to Spanish nobility succession, which enforced succession by absolute primogeniture to all titles. In 1943, Anne Rhys, the only daughter and eldest child of Arthur Wellesley, 5th Duke of Wellington, inherited the Spanish dukedom while having no rights to the British title of her family which passed to her uncle, after her younger brother was killed in action during the Second World War. In 1949 Anne renounced to the title in favor of her uncle Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington. In 2010, His Grace The 8th Duke of Wellington & 9th Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo ceded the Spanish dukedom to his eldest child, Charles Wellesley, Marquess of Douro, and in accordance with Spanish procedure, the Marquess made formal claim to the title with the Spanish authorities on 10 March 2010. King Juan Carlos of Spain, through his minister, granted the succession of the dukedom to the Marquess of Douro by Royal Decree of 21 May 2010, as confirmed by the notice in the Official State Gazette of 12 June 2010. The new Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo succeeded his father as Duke of Wellington in 2014. The heir apparent to the Dukedom of Ciudad Rodrigo is the 10th Duke's eldest child, Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Douro. Lord Douro has fraternal twins, a first-born daughter, Lady Mae Madeleine Wellesley, and a second-born son, Arthur Darcy Wellesley, Earl of Mornington. Lady Mae is Lord Douro's heir apparent to the Spanish dukedom as the eldest child while the second born is the heir to the British dukedom as the eldest male, which could lead to a separation of these titles.
