Jean Armand Duplessis, the Duke de Richleau | |
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![]() The cover of the 1950 edition of The Second Seal, depicting the Duke de Richleau and his love interest, the archduchess Ilona Theresa. | |
First appearance | The Forbidden Territory |
Last appearance | Gateway to Hell |
Created by | Dennis Wheatley |
Portrayed by | Christopher Lee |
In-universe information | |
Gender | Male |
Occupation | Occultist, adventurer, aristocrat |
Nationality | Russian-French parentage, British resident |
The Duke De Richleau is a fictional character created by Dennis Wheatley who appeared in 11 novels published between 1933 and 1970.
Dennis Wheatley originally created the character for a murder mystery Three Inquisitive People, written and set in 1931 but which was not published until 1939.[1] The character first appeared in the novel The Forbidden Territory (1933), along with his friends Simon Aron, Richard Eaton and Rex Van Ryn, whom Wheatley dubbed ‘the modern musketeers’.[2] The friends were reunited in Wheatley’s best-selling novel of the occult The Devil Rides Out (1934).
His favoured form of transport is the powerful luxury vehicle the Hispano-Suiza.