The title Earl of Rosebery was created in the Peerage of Scotland for Archibald Primrose. His successor, the fifth Earl, was a politician who served as Foreign Secretary, Lord Privy Seal, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and Lord President of the Council. In 1911, this earl was made Earl of Midlothian in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.
The Earl also holds the subsidiary titles: Viscount of Rosebery (created 1700), Viscount of Inverkeithing (1703), Viscount Mentmore (1911), Lord Primrose and Dalmeny, (1700), Lord Dalmeny and Primrose (1703), Baron Rosebery (1828) and Baron Epsom (1911). All are in the Peerage of Scotland, except for the titles Viscount Mentmore, Baron Rosebery and Baron Epsom, which are in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.
The heir apparent to the Earl is usually styled Lord Dalmeny, but the current Earl, while heir apparent to his father, the 6th Earl, was styled Lord Primrose instead, to avoid using the same courtesy title as his elder half-brother, Archbald Ronald Primrose, who had been styled Lord Dalmeny before his death in 1930. The current heir, Harry Ronald Neil Primrose, has returned to the usual practice and is styled Lord Dalmeny.
The Earls of Rosebery reside at Dalmeny in Scotland, and until 1977 also resided at Mentmore Towers in England.