PRINCE Edward is the youngest of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s children.
He and his wife Sophie Wessex, Duchess of Edinburgh, tend to stay out of the spotlight – but why don’t their children have titles?
Prince Edward and his wife Sophie decided that their children will not inherit royal titles[/caption]
Who are Prince Edward’s children?
Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones have two children together.
Their first, Louise Alice Elizabeth Mary Mountbatten-Windsor, was born on November 8, 2003.
Her younger brother James Alexander Philip Theo Mountbatten-Windsor was then born on December 17, 2007.
Both siblings were both born at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey.
Louise’s godparents are Lady Sarah Chatto, Lord Ivar Mountbatten, Lady Alexandra Etherington, Francesca Schwarzenbach and Rupert Elliott.
In 2011, at age seven, Louise was a bridesmaid at the wedding of Prince William and Kate.
She went to St George’s School, Windsor Castle before moving to St Mary’s School Ascot in 2017.
Lady Louise then started studying English at the University of St Andrews in September 2022.
James was baptised in 2008 in the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle and his godparents are Alastair Bruce of Crionaich, Duncan Bullivant, Thomas Hill, Denise Poulton and Jeanye Irwin.
He attended Eagle House School – a prep school near Sandhurst in Berkshire.
Louise and James accompanied their parents on a trip to South Africa in April 2015, their first overseas engagement.
The family’s official London residence is based at Buckingham Palace. but they also live in Bagshot Park in Surrey.
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Why do Prince Edward’s children not have official prince and princess titles?
The late Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh had eight grandchildren.
As well as Louise and James, they were grandparents to Peter and Zara Phillips, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, and Princes William and Harry.
Not all were given hereditary titles and, upon his wedding to Sophie, Prince Edward agreed with his mother that his kids would be deemed as children of an Earl, instead of being called His or Her Royal Highness.
Princess Anne‘s children, Zara and Peter, also don’t have royal titles but Louise and James are the Queen‘s first male-line descendants not to have them.
They are also the first in the family to be allowed the proper use of the Mountbatten-Windsor family name.
Lady Louise is known as Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, instead of HRH Princess Louise of Wessex.
James, meanwhile, uses his father’s subsidiary title of Earl of Wessex as a courtesy and is not HRH Prince James of Wessex.
Sophie, who married Prince Edward in 1999, has said her children will not work in an official capacity for the Royal Family when they turn 18.
She told The Sunday Times in 2020: “We try to bring them up with the understanding that they are very likely to have to work for a living.
“Hence we made the decision not to use HRH titles.
“They have them and can decide to use them from 18, but it’s highly unlikely.”
Your Prince Edward questions answered
- Who is Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex?
- What did Prince Edward look like as a child?
- Who is Prince Edward’s wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex?
- Who is Lady Louise Windsor and is she a Princess?
- Who is Prince Edward’s son James, Viscount Severn?
Are Prince Edward’s children in line to the throne?
Louise is 16th in the line of succession to the British throne, while James is 15th in line to the throne.
Their father, the Queen’s youngest child, is 14th in line as of November 2023.
The rules of royal succession have changed significantly since 2011, when leaders of 16 British Commonwealth countries (including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Jamaica) voted to alter the centuries-old tradition to include daughters as well as sons.
Previously, daughters could only inherit the throne if there were no other living sons.
The new rule only takes into account children born after 2011, meaning James, born in 2007, is ahead of his older sister, Louise, born in 2003.
