The Grand Duke

The Grand Duke is a major character who first appeared in Disney's 1950 hit Cinderella. The Grand Duke is the King's right-hand man and is in charge of keeping peace in the Kingdom. The Grand Duke was featured in one of the film's most famous scenes. Due to this The Grand Duke is a very iconic character.

Personality
The Grand Duke's most striking quality is that he is extremely sensible and usually calm, a direct foil to the King's romanticism and passionate temper. He is also rather nervous - likely due to the King's temper being taken out on him so frequently - but not depicted as cowardly. He feels that love at first sight is just a romantic fairy-tale, and points out to the King that the glass slipper which Prince Charming finds could fit any number of girls. He is extremely loyal to the King, despite showing fear of his threats when things go wrong.

The Grand Duke is the 3rd most powerful person in the kingdom after the King and Prince Charming, as he has authority over the guards and palace servants, at the King's orders competently and perfectly arranging the ball to welcome Prince Charming home and find him a wife.

Cinderella
In the 1950 film Disney's Cinderella, the Grand Duke was first shown with the King. The King tries to figure out how to find Prince Charming a wife, and orders the Grand Duke to arrange a ball to celebrate the Prince's return home and find him a wife.

The Grand Duke finds the King's ideas of love at first sight rather foolish, and when Prince Charming finds himself only bored by the women attending the ball, chastises him gently, telling the king that his romantic ideas of the Prince suddenly seeing a strange girl and falling in love with her at first sight were a story seen only in fairy-tales (made especially ironic by the fact that the story of Cinderella is itself a fairy-tale). But even as he does so, Prince Charming sees Cinderella and is fascinated by her.

The King then orders the Grand Duke to ensure that Cinderella and Prince Charming have a perfect evening, undisturbed, which the Grand Duke competently arranges. However, when the clock strikes twelve Cinderella rushes off and the Grand Duke orders guards to try to stop her. He is unsuccessful, but Prince Charming swears that he will wed the girl whose foot fits the slipper. The Grand Duke points out sensibly to the King that the slipper may fit any number of girls' feet, but the King simply points out that that is the Prince's problem. He then orders the Grand Duke to find the girl who fits the slipper.

The next morning, after a long night of searching he finally arrives in the home of Lady Tremaine. After trying the slipper on Anastasia and Drizella, Cinderella appears. Despite Lady Tremaine's insistence that Cinderella is only a serving girl and could not possibly have been at the ball (though she is sure that she did), the Grand Duke is only too happy to try the slipper on her. Before the slipper is tried on though, Lady Tremaine trips the Grand Duke's valet and the slipper is destroyed, much to the Grand Duke's horror and terror at the King's reaction. Cinderella, however, takes out the slipper's match and the Grand Duke tries it on her, finding that it fits. The Grand Duke takes her Bruno, Major and the mice to the castle and they become royalty as Cinderella and Prince Charming become husband and wife.

Cinderella II: Dreams Come True
In the sequel The Grand Duke reappears and tries to help Cinderella adapt to the life of a Princess.

Cinderella lll: A Twist in Time
In the third film The Grand Duke reappears as a main character once again. Lady Tremaine has stolen the magical wand of the Fairy Godmother and change history so that Anastasia was the one who fit the slipper. The Grand Duke maintains his nervous personality and seems to have more of a friendship with Prince Charming in this film.

House of Mouse
In the television series House of Mouse, the Grand Duke makes numerous cameos usually sitting with the King.

Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep
While dealing with the King's temper one night, the Grand Duke held suggestion for a royal ball to be held in order to find Prince Charming a bride. He later watched the ball as it took place, gladly seeing that the Prince had found a maiden he seemed rather fond of. Yet one thing went wrong: at the stroke of midnight, the beautiful girl fled the castle, leaving behind a single glass slipper. It was then that the King gave the order to hold a search party, saying that any maiden who fit the slipper would be Prince Charming's bride. The Grand Duke then left without hesitation to carry out his command.

Eventually coming before the young Aqua, a Keybearer from outside the Castle of Dreams, the Grand Duke had the girl try the slipper, also bringing her before the Prince. Yet this was to no avail, the true maiden who fit the slipper, Cinderella, discovered and marrying Prince Charming to live on happily ever after.

Disney Parks
The Grand Duke make occasional appearances in the Disney Parks. Along with the King, he is very rare and is usually seen in shows.

Fantasmic!
The Grand Duke makes a cameo appearance in Fantasmic! in it's Bubble sequence

Cinderella's Royal Coronation
In the live show Cinderella's Royal Coronation, The Grand Duke appears alongside the King a play a fairly large role in the show itself. The Grand Duke appears and introduces the King and later introduces Disney character guest such as Belle, Goofy, Jasmine and Aurora.

Disney On Ice
The Grand Duke make appearances in the live Disney On Ice tour shows. Usually when the story of Cinderella is featured in Disney On Ice the story is retold and the Grand Duke make an appearance putting the slipper on Cinderella.

Trivia

 * The Grand Duke and the King made a small cameo in The Little Mermaid at the wedding scene.
 * Grand Duke is also the name of a character in the Don Bluth film Rock-A-Doodle. Unlike the Cinderella character, however, that character, the Grand Duke of Owls, was the main villain.

El Gran Duque