The youngest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II is turning 18 and as James, Earl of Wessex celebrates his coming of age, it’s opened up the question of whether this young royal could actually become more royal and take the title of Prince. And it turns out that his mother knows best.
Just a few years ago, the Duchess of Edinburgh confirmed in an interview that the option to become HRH was open to both her children, under Letters Patent issued in 1917. And Sophie said at the time that it was a decision that both could make once they turned 18. So how likely is it that the Earl of Wessex could become HRH Prince James of Edinburgh?
Under the Letters Patent of 1917 issued by King George V, all the grandchildren of a Monarch in the male line are allowed to use HRH and Prince or Princess. It means that the children of a Monarch’s son can take the title. And James, and his sister Louise, are both children of a Monarch’s son and so the Letters Patent specify they fall into the category of people who can be known as HRH and Prince or Princess.
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When their parents married, in 1999, Buckingham Palace issued a press release about the titles that would come to Edward and Sophie. It was announced that Prince Edward had been made Earl of Wessex and Viscount Severn on his wedding day and so after marriage, the couple would be known as the Earl and Countess of Wessex.
It also stated that their children would not be given the style of HRH but instead take the titles due to the children of an earl. However, no fresh Letters Patent were issued and the royal rules of 1917 remain in place.
In 2020, the now Duchess of Edinburgh revealed that despite never using them, her children do in fact have royal titles. She told Christina Lamb that both Louise and James could be HRH, saying of that and the style of Prince and Princess that her children ”have them and can decide to use them from 18, but I think it’s highly unlikely.’’
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Sophie also revealed the reason why the press release of 1999 had stated that her children would use the courtesy titles of an earl, as she said ”they are very likely to have to work for a living….hence we made the decision not to use HRH titles.’’
Buckingham Palace issued no clarification to Sophie’s words and so the official, royal record remains that James and Louise, as the 1917 Letters Patent dictate, can both use HRH if they wish. However, their parents and grandmother decided they wouldn’t but the ultimate decision rests with them and, legally, once they reach adulthood then they have complete agency over their own actions.
Given Sophie’s closeness to Queen Elizabeth II, and the late Queen’s deep affection for her daughter in law, it is highly unlikely that the Duchess made such a statement without the backing of her ‘dear Mama’. Sophie is the ultimate and original source for the statement that James and Louise are HRH, just choose not to use it.
It seems unlikely that either would choose to take that path. While both appear at major royal events, such as Trooping the Colour, they have led quiet, private lives and go relatively under the radar. .Lady Louise was recently spotted sitting on a train carriage floor when the service she was on became overcrowded. It’s hardly the move of someone about to declare themselves a princess.
However, the bottom line remains that the Letters Patent of George V, the written open statement of a Monarch’s will, are the over riding decider of how the descendants of those who wear the Crown are known. Until fresh Letters Patent are issued, they remain the ultimate source.
The press release in which it was declared that Edward and Sophie’s children would take courtesy titles rather than HRH has already been shown to be more than flexible anyway.
The same press release also stated that Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and their eldest son, Charles, had agreed that the title of Duke of Edinburgh would also one day come to Prince Edward. At the time, Prince Philip was Duke of Edinburgh but it wasn’t as simple as passing the title on to his younger son at death.
For the Dukedom of Edinburgh created for Prince Philip was hereditary. And so, on his death in 2021, the title actually passed to his eldest son, Charles, who was Duke of Edinburgh between April 9 2021 and September 8 2022. When Charles became King, all his other titles merged with the Crown and the Dukedom of Edinburgh created for Prince Philip ceased to exist.
For the wish expressed in the press release to become reality, King Charles had to recreate the Dukedom of Edinburgh and give it to Prince Edward which he did in March 2023 to mark his youngest brother’s 59th birthday. However, he created it as a lifetime peerage only, meaning it cannot be passed on by Edward to his son.
The press release of 1999 did not state that it would be a lifetime peerage with an implicit understanding that it would be created in the same way as other royal dukedoms when it came time to pass it to Edward. However, a quarter of a century later, the new Monarch decided that this title would be for one person only. A press release does not carry the same weight as the royal will expressed in Letters Patent.
All that said, James is very unlikely to take up a royal title. The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh know that their children will work for a living (Lady Louise has already done a stint in a garden centre) and Edward and Sophie have made it clear that their focus is on the duties of the Royal Family rather than on titles.
James, as the eldest son of a Duke, uses his father’s secondary title and so is known as the Earl of Wessex. In time, he will inherit that along with another title not mentioned in the 1999 press release but with just as much validity. Queen Elizabeth II also made her youngest son the Earl of Forfar, to mark a birthday, and so James will one day be the Earl of Wessex and the Earl of Forfar. For an unassuming young man who just happens to be the youngest grandchild of the longest reigning Monarch in British history, that is more than enough to be getting on with.
