[6] In 1598, a succession dispute between the daughters of Ferdinando and their uncle, William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby, was heard by the Privy Council.

They decided that the right to the Isle of Man belonged solely to Queen Elizabeth I, and the letters patent of 1405 which conferred the lordship of the Isle of Man on the Stanley family were declared null and void as the previous ruler, Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, had not been subject to legal attainder, despite his treason, and the 1405 and 1406 letters patent had therefore not taken effect.

[7][8] The Queen, in consideration of the "many eminent services performed to herself and to her royal predecessors by the honourable and noble House of Stanley", withdrew her right and referred the contending claimants to the decision of the Privy Council as to the best claim of inheritance.

As the oldest of them would not reach the age of majority until 1609, two temporary Lords of Mann were appointed by James I by letters patent,[10] so that the daughters could benefit from the Island's revenues.

In 1765, Charlotte, Duchess of Atholl, 8th Baroness Strange, sold the suzerainty of the island to the British government for £70,000 and an annuity of £2,000 (£5,235,000 and £150,000 respectively in modern terms).

In 1828, all remaining property interests and rights of the Dukes of Atholl on the island were sold to HM Treasury, a department of the British government, for the sum of £417,144, equivalent to £45,127,903 in 2023.