This continued all the way through the 20th century, where the disposable deplorables did the fighting while the aristocracy profited.
There were even strong links to drugs. Look up the history of the opium wars for details.
Most of the UK's country estates were built from the profits of slavery, drugs, and colonialism - which is just nation-scale feudal conquest painted over with flag-waving patriotism.
The upper classes volunteered enthusiastically for WW1 and died in vast numbers in the trenches along with the commoners. Perhaps because they had come to believe their own myths of honour and glory.
Kinda like a mobster turning their money into legit business, and eventually their heirs takes over and people forgetting about how it all started.
So the current nobility are really just the heirs of criminal associations. They shouldn't have a place in the modern world.