Richard Scott, Earl of Dalkeith

For other persons named Richard Scott, see Richard Scott (disambiguation).

Richard Walter John Scott, Earl of Dalkeith KBE (b. 14 February 1954) is the current heir to the dukedoms of Buccleuch and Queensberry.

Scott was born in 1954, the son of the John Scott, Earl of Dalkeith and his wife, Jane née McNeill, and was baptised with The Princess Margaret as one of his godparents. He later attended Eton, was Page of Honour to The Queen Mother from 1967 to 1969. In 1973, his father inherited the dukedoms of Buccleuch and Queensberry and Scott took the courtesy title of Earl of Dalkeith. He later graduated from Christ Church, Oxford in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts.

In 1981, he married Lady Elizabeth Kerr, a daughter of the 12th Marquess of Lothian (and a sister of Michael Ancram) and they later had four children:

Scott had a brief spell on the board of Border Television from 1989 to 1990 and in 1994 he joined the Millennium Commission as the representative for Northern England. Knighted in 2000 for his services to the Millennium Celebrations, Scott left the commission in 2003. He is President of the National Trust for Scotland and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. The earl currently lives in the Dabton area of Thornhill, Dumfries and Galloway near to his father's home, Drumlanrig Castle.