Talk:Georgiana Spencer, Countess Spencer

A fact from Georgiana Spencer, Countess Spencer appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 14 January 2014 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that during his 1755 birthday party attended by five hundred people, John Spencer secretly married Georgiana Poyntz in an upstairs bedroom?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2014/January.

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An earldom granted by a duke? Nope.

In the lede, the fifth sentence states "The Spencers became earl and countess in 1765, a reward granted by the Duke of Newcastle for John's political loyalty to the Whig party" (emphasis mine). This is confusing, or perhaps just confused. Dukes have never had the authority to grant titles of nobility; that honor belonged exclusively to the sovereign (in this instance, George III). It may well be that the Duke requested that George grant John Spencer that title, but he could not have bestowed it. This should be rewritten (and properly sourced) or removed. Bricology (talk) 20:08, 8 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]