Gentleman detective in the Royal Military Police. Morse's snobbery is intellectual rather than a question of breeding or social advantage. Detective Inspector Lynley is another truly aristocratic member of the Police, being an Earl. Much of the plot of the novels by Elizabeth George revolve around his working relationship with Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, who is of lower-class origins. Both show greater loyalty to each other than to official regulations and accepted attitudes to their relative stations, and both are capable of self-sacrificing actions of "noblesse oblige". Carmen Isabella Sandiego, the "World's Greatest Thief", was originally ACME Crimenet's most intelligent and distinguished
Earl of Oxford and Asquith as a courtesy title by the heir apparent to the earldom. Asquith had originally wanted to be created simply Earl of Oxford. However, this greatly offended the relatives of the dormant earldom of Oxford, held for many centuries by the de Vere family, and Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, held by the Harley family in the second creation. In the face of opposition from them, another title had to be selected – the formal title 'Earl of Oxford and Asquith' was finally decided as a compromise, with it being abbreviated to 'Earl of Oxford' in everyday conversation and letters,