The upmarket department store Fortnum & Mason[1] occupies the north-west corner.

Duke Street first appeared in the rate books of the parish of St. Martin in the Fields in 1673.

16, occupies a site that has been a public house has since 1732, when Henry Mason, the then occupant, was granted a victualler's licence for an unnamed tavern.

[3] His successor was Robert Morgoridge, and William Morgridge was granted a victualler's licence for the Mason's Arms in Duke Street in 1744.

Notable residents of Duke Street include:[4] A lodger in Duke Street, St James's was Edmund Burke, who dated letters from here between December 1790 and March 1791, and in January 1794.