Prince Matthew, Duke of Somerset
His Royal Highness Prince Matthew The Duke of Somerset & Argyll | |
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 Portrait of Matthew as Lord High Admiral of Great Britain, painted by Thomas Carew
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| Member of the House of Lords | |
Lord Temporal | |
| Assumed office 26 January 2025 (229 days) | |
| Monarch | George VII |
| Title | The Duke of Somerset |
| In office 23 October 2024 – 9 November 2024 (18 days) | |
| Monarch | Charles III |
| Title | The Duke of Somerset |
| In office 5 May 2024 – 22 August 2024 (110 days) | |
| Monarch | Charles III |
| Title | The Duke of Somerset |
| In office 10 January 2024 – 1 March 2024 (52 days) | |
| Monarch | Edward IX |
| Title | The Duke of Somerset |
| In office 19 September 2023 – 1 March 2024 (165 days) | |
| Monarch | Edward IX |
| Title | The Duke of Somerset |
| In office 23 May 2023 – 20 July 2023 (63 days) | |
| Monarch | Edward IX |
| Title | The Duke of Somerset |
| In office 2 February 2023 – 21 March 2023 (48 days) | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth III |
| Title | The Duke of Somerset |
| In office 9 December 2022 – 26 January 2023 (49 days) | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth III Edward IX |
| Title | The Duke of Somerset |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Matthew William Michael John Somerset 20 March 2020 (5 years, 176 days) |
| Other political affiliations | High Tea Party British Royalist Party British Workers' Party |
| Spouse(s) | Queen Elizabeth (div.) Lily Theadora (ann.) |
| Children | Prince Victor, Duke of York Charles III |
| Residence | Somerset House |
| Occupation |
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| Title | Duke of Somerset |
| Nickname(s) | Matt Somers |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | Royal Navy |
| Rank | Admiral of the Fleet (Ret.) |
Prince Matthew, Duke of Somerset & Argyll (Matthew William Michael John; joined 20 March 2020), is a British statesman and the longest-reigning Sovereign of the Empire of Great Britain, serving as King William V (or William the Great) from 20 August 2020 until his abdication on 1 October 2022. He has previously served also as Prime Minister of Great Britain (one of only six people to have served in this office three or more times), Prince of Wales, Attorney General, as Lord Chief Justice, and in a variety of other Parliamentary positions, such as being Lord Speaker and Speaker of the House of Commons.
He currently serves as a Member of the House of Lords, and as a permanent member of the Privy Council.
Joining the region in 2020, Matthew Hanover was named as the heir apparent of the late Victoria II, Queen of Great Britain, and upon her passing, was acclaimed as Sovereign at a meeting of the Accession Council in August 2020. Serving for more than 700 days as Sovereign of Great Britain, he appointed thirteen Prime Ministers, had two Consorts (Queen Elizabeth, and later, Lady Lily Somerset, Duchess of Lancaster), and three Prince(ss)' of Wales. Early into his reign, Matthew changed the royal House to that of the Royal House of Somerset, which continues to this day. Dubbed the Wilhelmine Era by his successor Elizabeth III, the reign of William V was widely seen as a period of unparalleled progress and growth, resulting in the modern-day Empire. Hence, he has been routinely given the epithet of William the Great.
King William V abdicated on the 1 October 2022, and quickly entered the realm of politics, founding the British Royalist Party and ending the dominance of the long-established British Workers' Party (BWP) by winning a landslide at the October 2022 General Election. The BWP, formerly the most successful party in the history of the region, never won another election in its original format, and its successor party, the British Federation of Labour, collapsed in early 2023. Many credit the political career of Matthew Somerset as the driving factor, and his destruction of BWP dominance is widely seen as one of his greatest achievements, and for setting out a continued trend of centrist to centre-right parties returning to Downing Street. He would serve twice more as Prime Minister - first as an Independent Unity Candidate at the April 2023 General Election (making him the only fully Independent Prime Minister, and one of only three to lead a Unity-coalition), and then as a Leader of the newly-reformed Conservative Party at the November 2024 General Election. As of July 2025, he is the seventh-longest serving Prime Minister in regional history by total days in office.
As founder of the Royal House of Somerset, Prince Matthew is the son of the current sovereign George VII; the sibling of Josephine Somerset, The Duchess of Bedford, as well as the father of the late King's Edward IX and Charles III. Married three times, his first wife was HM Queen-Consort Elizabeth: they married in September 2020 but were granted an amicable divorce in January 2021. His second wife, also while still King, was Lily Theadora, who was elevated to the peerage as the Duchess of Lancaster. Married on 3 July 2022, they divorced amicably in September of the same year. His third marriage to his current wife Madeline Sherwood-Somerset, Duchess of Somerset was on the 19 July 2025.
The Prince is no stranger to scandals: his three marriages have been widely publicised by the tabloids, as have his numerous escapades. It was widely circulated that he had numerous liaisons with members of the Household Staff at Somerset House, as well as with former Member of Parliament Noa de Carteret. Other notable controversies include his tax scandal, which resulted in all of the Princes' property being registered as part of the Crown Estate and hence exempt from any and all taxes, and "Rackgate" where rumours circulated of the Prince using cocaine in the House of Lords under inappropiate circumstances, and in the intimate company of fellow Lord Temporal, Kathrine Grey, The Countess of Argyll.
Prince Matthew currently resides at Somerset House, a Neoclassical estate on the bank of the River Thames, and it serves as the ancestral seat of the House of Somerset. He also has properties in Scotland, and uses Cranbourne Tower on the Windsor Estate.
Joining the Empire
Prince Matthew, then known as Matthew Holmes, joined the Empire of Great Britain on 20 March 2020. At this point in the region's history, there were no citizenship laws and no forums, he was accepted into the citizenry by virtue of being a resident.
Early Career
In what would become a cornerstone of the Prince's later works, his first remark when he joined was, "Britain but No House of Lords, sad". [1]