Wallace Collection the largest, most important and extant collection of French 18th-century decorative arts in the world, rivalled only by the triumvirate of the Musée du Louvre, Château de Versailles and Mobilier National in France. The Wallace Collection is a non-departmental public body and admission is free. The Wallace Collection is a museum which displays the works of art collected in the 18th and 19th centuries by five generations of a British aristocratic family – the first four Marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace, the illegitimate son of the 4th Marquess. In the 19th century, the Marquesses of Hertford were one
Marquess of Normanby of Buckingham and Normanby, and hence Constantine Phipps, 2nd Earl of Mulgrave was the step-great-great-grandson of the 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby. Upon his death, Constantine Phipps, 1st Marquess of Normanby was succeeded by his son, the 2nd Marquess. He was a Liberal politician and also served as Governor of New Zealand. His grandson, the fourth Marquess, served briefly as a Labour Lord-in-waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) in 1945 and was also Lord Lieutenant of the North Riding of Yorkshire and of North Yorkshire. As of 2013 the titles are held by the latter's eldest son,