It’s now six months since King Charles took the throne and the start of his reign has seen plenty of questions about the titles of his family. Now, just days after one pressing query was answered as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex decided they want their children to be Prince and Princess, another possible change could be on the cards. The King’s youngest brother is about to celebrate a birthday but will his gift from the Monarch be the dukedom he was promised over twenty years ago?
Prince Edward turns 59 on March 10th 2023 and the incoming celebrations have raised questions about whether a wish his parents made for him on the day he got married is about to be fulfilled. When Edward wed Sophie Rhys-Jones, on June 19th 1999, Buckingham Palace announced that he would, in time, become Duke of Edinburgh. Has that time now arrived?
The Prince, of course, became Earl of Wessex on his wedding day. However, it has long been expected that he will be Duke of Edinburgh. For that to happen, the title had to return to the Crown. This is the first birthday since that happened so will it be presented as an anniversary gift?
Prince Philip was made Duke of Edinburgh in November 1947, just before his wedding to the then Princess Elizabeth. It was the third creation of the dukedom and the title was governed by the same rules as every other. It would pass, eventually, to his eldest son. When Prince Philip died, in April 2021, the title went to his firstborn child, Charles. When he became King, on the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, the dukedom of Edinburgh returned to the Crown.
King Charles can now recreate the dukedom for whoever he likes although it has always been believed that if he were to bestow it on anyone, it would be his youngest brother as the statement put out by Buckingham Palace in 1999 said that Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip as well as their eldest son had all agreed that would happen.
So is his birthday, albeit not one involving a nice round number or the mention of milestones, the moment it will happen? When Prince Edward turned 55, in 2019, Queen Elizabeth II also made him Earl of Forfar so he has past form in acquiring titles for a birthday.
Ultimately the decision around this title, as around all titles, rests with King Charles III.
