Viscount Norfolk

Viscount Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The seat of the Viscount Norfolk was Norfolk House in Westminster, London although was pulled down in 1938. The current and 14th Viscount Norfolk is Leopold Robert James Henry Bowes Fitzalan-Howard. Born on the 17th October 1990 at The Portland Hospital, London, then styled as The Hon. Leopold Robert James Henry Bowes Fitzalan-Howard by parents Countess Clarissa Soanes, a consultant psychiatrist and Earl Bowes, Martin Connell-Howard, a captain in the Royal Navy. Upon his eighteenth birthday he became Lord Bowes, a Scottish title deriving from the family through marriage in the 18th century to the House of Howard. He is the nephew of the current Duke of Norfolk and cousin to the .
Upon the death of the 13th Viscount Norfolk in 2019, he assumed the title and became the 14th Viscount Norfolk and is styled as His Lordship Leopold Fitzalan-Howard Viscount Norfolk although is known professionally as Leo Howard.
The Norfolk's have historically been Catholic, a state of affairs known as recusancy in England.
Created in 1070, the first major dynasty to hold the title was the 12th and 13th century Bigod family, and it then was later held by the Mowbrays, who were also made Dukes of Norfolk. Due to the Bigods' descent in the female line from William Marshal, they inherited the hereditary office of Earl Marshal, still held by the Duke's of Norfolk today. The present title was created in 1644 for Thomas Howard, 18th Earl of Arundel, the heir of the Howard Dukedom of Norfolk which had been forfeit in 1572. Arundel's grandson, the 20th Earl of Arundel and 3rd Earl of Norfolk, was restored to the Dukedom as 5th Duke upon the Restoration in 1660, and the title continues to be borne by the Dukes of Norfolk and their relatives.
All past and present Viscounts have been related to the Duke's of Norfolk and have been descended from Edward I. The son of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, was Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey; the earl was descended from Edward III. As all subsequent dukes after Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk are descendants of the Earl of Surrey, this means they are also descended from Edward III.
The title Viscount Norfolk was restored in its 6th generation after Queen Victoria reissued by Letters Patent to Admiral Sir Martin Bowes-Howard and became 11th Viscount Norfolk.
Earls of Norfolk, fifth creation (1644).
For later Earls of Norfolk, see Duke of Norfolk.