Earl of Rothes (Baronage of Scotland)

The Earldom of Rothes in the Baronage of Scotland is a title of nobility of feudal origins, separated from the Earl of Rothes title (originally created in 1458) in 1886 and still extant today. The incumbent title holder is Ambassador Dario Item.^[1][2][3]

The Earldom of Rothes is reported as being first created as a feudal title in 1458 by King James II; at the time the King also granted to the first Earl of Rothes the Barony of Ballinbreich. However, the first official entry in the Register of the Great Seal of Scotland recording the Earldom of Rothes dates to 1547.^[4][5]

In 1841 George William Evelyn became the thirteenth Earl of Rothes. As he died unmarried, he was succeeded by his sister Henrietta in 1859 as Countess of Rothes.^[6] On her death in 1886 the peerage title passed to her aunt, separating from the feudal title of the Earldom of Rothes which, at the time, followed the ownership of the land, was earlier conveyed in trust by the Countess. The Earldom lands, including the feudal title, were later acquired by Captain William Crundall in 1919, and remained in his family until 2004, when Sir Christopher Ondaatje, a well-known explorer, succeeded as the Earl of Rothes, by this time no longer a feudal title, but instead a higher title of nobility and dignity within the Baronage of Scotland.

In 2024 Ambassador Dario Item, Prince of St. Rosalie^{[7][8][citation needed]} succeeded in the Earldom of Rothes and is the current holder of the title within the Baronage of Scotland.^[1][2][3]