Charles Courtenay, 19th Earl of Devon

The Right Honourable
The Earl of Devon
Official portrait, 2019
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Elected Hereditary Peer
4 July 2018
By-election4 July 2018
Preceded byThe 4th Earl Baldwin of Bewdley
Personal details
BornCharles Peregrine Courtenay
(1975-08-14) 14 August 1975
Exeter, Devon, England
PartyNone (Crossbencher)
Spouse
​
(m. 2004)​
Children2
Parent(s)Hugh Courtenay, 18th Earl of Devon
Diana Watherston
EducationEton College
Alma materSt John's College, Cambridge
OccupationBarrister

Charles Peregrine Courtenay, 19th Earl of Devon[1] (born 14 August 1975), styled as Lord Courtenay from 1998 until 2015, is an English hereditary peer and barrister. He is a crossbench member of the House of Lords, having been elected at a by-election in 2018.[2][3]

Education and career

Courtenay was educated at Eton College.[1] After obtaining an MA degree from St John's College, Cambridge, in 1997, he followed his legal studies at the Inns of Court School of Law.[1] Courtenay was admitted to the bar at Inner Temple in 1999,[4] and to the California State Bar in 2004.[5]

Personal life

Courtenay married the American actress A. J. Langer in a civil ceremony in 2004.[6] A formal wedding later took place on 30 April 2005, in Los Angeles. With his father's death in 2015, the then Lord Courtenay succeeded to his father's peerage and estate, becoming the 19th Earl of Devon.[7]

Devon and Langer have two children.[6][8] Devon announced that he had filed for divorce in November 2023.[9] In February 2024, Devon filed to dismiss the couple's divorce application “without prejudice” and remains separated from Langer.[10] In March 2026 Devon announced his engagement to Jemima Hannon of Elmwood House, Hampshire.[11]

Devon practised law with the firm of Latham & Watkins from 2005 to 2018, starting at their Los Angeles, California office. In January 2014, he permanently relocated his family to London and transferred to his firm's London office.[4] In January 2019, he joined the Exeter firm Michelmores as a partner, where he is known as Charles Courtenay.[12] He and his family now reside at the family's ancestral home of Powderham Castle in Devon, England. He owns a 3,500-acre estate.[13]

In 2025, Devon called for the House of Lords to abolish the use of the word "Lord" to describe its peers, calling the chamber itself "gendered" and "discriminatory." He is set to lose his position with the abolition of hereditary membership.[14]

Arms

Coat of arms of Courtenay, Earls of Devon[15]
Crest
1st, Out of a ducal coronet or, a plume of seven ostrich feathers four and three argent; 2nd, a dolphin embowed proper
Escutcheon
Quarterly 1st and 4th Or, three torteaux (Courtenay); 2nd and 3rd Or, a lion rampant azure (Redvers, Earls of Devon)
Supporters
Two boars argent, bristled, tusked, and unguled or
Motto
Quod Verum Tutum (What is true is safe)

Ancestry

Ancestors of Charles Courtenay, 19th Earl of Devon
16. Henry Courtenay, Lord Courtenay (1836–1898)
8. Frederick Courtenay, 16th Earl of Devon (1875–1935)
17. Lady Evelyn Pepys (1839–1910),
daughter of Charles Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham
4. Charles Courtenay, 17th Earl of Devon (1916–1998)
18. John Silva (1839–1923)
9. Marguerite Silva (1875–1950)
19. Mary Frances Corrie (1845–1929)
2. Hugh Courtenay, 18th Earl of Devon
10. Capt. John Vikris Taylor (1872–1956)
5. Sybil Venetia Taylor (d. 2001)
22. George Hopkinson (d. 1919)
11. Sybil Mary Hopkinson
23. Blanche Isabella Somerset (1847–1922)
great-granddaughter of Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort
1. Charles Courtenay, 19th Earl of Devon
6. Jack Greenshields Watherston
3. Diana Frances Watherston
7. Elizabeth Jean Eildon McConnel

References

  1. ^ a b c Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th Edition, edited by Charles Mosley, Wilmington, Delaware, 2003, vol I, pp. 1121–6; ISBN 0-9711966-2-1
  2. ^ "Crossbench Hereditary Peers' By-Election, July 2018" (PDF). Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  3. ^ "Oaths and Affirmations, 19 July 2018". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Latham & Watkins: Charles Courtenay profile". Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  5. ^ "Charles Peregrine Courtenay, Member Profile". The State Bar of California. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  6. ^ a b "AJ Langer's Son Becomes Heir to Royal Title". People. 27 August 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ Ivie, Devon (21 November 2017). "This My So-Called Life Star Is Now a Real-Life Countess". New York. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  8. ^ "Passages". People. 67 (9). 5 March 2007.
  9. ^ "Earl of Devon to divorce 'Devon's Meghan Markle' AJ Langer". Devon Live. 4 November 2023. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  10. ^ Bamidele, Afouda (25 February 2024). "'My So-Called Life' Star A.J. Langer's Husband Files To Dismiss Divorce". The Blast. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  11. ^ "The Times". 17 March 2026.
  12. ^ Kitchin, Jonathan (22 January 2019). "Michelmores appoints Charles Courtenay, Earl of Devon, as Partner in Disputes team". michelmores.com. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  13. ^ Born to rule? The hereditary peers about to lose their seats – podcast
  14. ^ Frayer, Lauren (21 March 2026). "End of an heir-a: The U.K. abolishes aristocrats' right to inherit Parliament seats". NPR. Retrieved 21 March 2026.
  15. ^ Debrett's peerage and baronetage 2003. Debrett's Peerage Ltd. 2002. p. 608. ISBN 978-0-333-66093-5.
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