In 1997 Tim succeeded his father. He took a seat in certain sittings of the House of Lords but made no speeches (nor questions) before losing the right, and not standing for selective internal election, under the House of Lords Act 1999. Apart from a lecture tour of the United States on English Eccentrics, he avoids his title and third-person and first-person styles "His Lordship (the Earl of Portland)/My Lord". On 29 December 1732, the Hon. William Bentinck, Baron Bentinck of the Duchy of Guelders (second surviving son of Hans Willem Bentinck), was made a Count of the Holy Roman Empire as "Count (Graf) Bentinck", by Imperial Letters Patent. This title also vests in him. Under the Royal Warrant of 27 April 1932 on Foreign Titles the dispensation granted by Queen Victoria to use the title and daughters' styles socially in Great Britain was rescinded beyond any living heirs, the last of which were Bentinck's late father and aunt. Bentinck married the milliner Judith Emerson in 1979, and they have two sons:  They live in North London. His sister Anna Bentinck is an actress. Specific references: General references:   "of the Holy Roman Empire"