It’s a big day for Prince Edward and his family but, as the King’s brother is named Duke of Edinburgh, there is one person who has missed out on a new title.
Edward’s elder child, Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, 19, has taken on an increasingly public role as the Wessexes moved up the royal chain, following the disgrace of Prince Andrew and the departure of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
She was front and centre at the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, joined her parents at the Commonwealth Games, and made her successful TV debut in a documentary about her beloved grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh.
However, she will not inherit the title of Countess of Wessex from her father due to the ancient rules of primogeniture.
Instead the title will skip Lady Louise and be given to Prince Edward and Sophie’s son, James Viscount Severn, 15, who will become the Earl of Wessex.
Primogeniture is preference in inheritance that is given by law, custom, or usage to the eldest son and his issue.
Edward’s eldest child, Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, 19, may have taken on an increasingly public role in recent years – but she has missed out on the title of Countess of Wessex due to primogeniture
The 19-year-old may be the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh’s eldest child – but due to the rules of primogeniture, she will not inherit a title
In exceptional cases, primogeniture may prescribe such preferential inheritance to the line of the eldest daughter.
The motivation for such a practice has usually been to keep the estate of the deceased, or some part of it, whole and intact.
The Royal Family brought to an end the system of primogeniture that had dictated the line of succession since 1701 in 2013.
Under the Succession to the Crown Act 2013, princes no longer take precedence over their sisters.
It means Princess Charlotte is ahead of her brother Prince Louis in the line of succession.
However, the rule does not stand for Lady Louise and James Viscount because they were born before the change.
It means that, like Princess Anne with her younger brothers Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, Lady Louise is below her brother James in the line of succession.
It also means that the new title change for her parents doesn’t impact Lady Louise – who has missed out on the chance of getting the royal title in favour of her brother.
This comes despite Lady Louise’s own rise to becoming a polished young royal who has been hailed the Firm’s ‘secret weapon’.
Instead the title will skip Lady Louise and be given to Prince Edward and Sophie’s son, James Viscount Severn, 15, who will become the Earl of Wessex
The unassuming teenager, often seen in country casuals or prim dresses, spent her childhood largely out of the spotlight, growing up in the leafy surrounds of the family’s £30million home of Bagshot Park, just a few miles from Windsor Castle.
Now it is a very different story.
Phil Dampier, who has covered the Royals for nearly 40 years, previously told the Daily Telegraph: ‘She seems to be very mature for her age and she’s shaping up to be precisely the kind of person the Queen can rely on in the future.
‘Could there be a role for her in a slimmed-down monarchy? The Queen and Philip had 1,500 patronages between them.
‘You have to ask yourself who is going to continue their legacy with Harry and Meghan and Prince Andrew off the scene? There’s a huge workload there.’
And while Lady Louise is technically a Princess, like her cousins Princess Beatrice and Eugenie, she hasn’t styled herself as one.
Her mother Sophie has previously suggested Lady Louise wouldn’t style herself as an HRH.
In 2020, she revealed her and Prince Edward’s two children will not take up official royal roles and are being raised with the understanding that they’ll probably have to work for a living.
The then-Countess told The Sunday Times Magazine it was ‘highly unlikely’ Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn will use their HRH titles when they turned 18.
‘We try to bring them up with the understanding that they are very likely to have to work for a living,’ she said.
‘Hence we made the decision not to use HRH titles. They have them and can decide to use them from 18, but I think it’s highly unlikely.’
Despite this, many royal fans expressed their dismay for Lady Louise had missed out on the title of Countess of Wessex.
Out of the spotlight: Lady Louise enjoyed a largely ‘normal’ childhood. She made one of her first high profile appearances as a bridesmaid at the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding in 2011. Pictured, travelling in a carriage with her cousin Prince Harry at the event
In the public eye: Lady Louise with her parents and younger brother at Trooping the Colour in 2013. The Wessexes were much further down the royal food chain when she was growing up
One wrote: ‘James gets a promotion, so to speak. And Lady Louise is still just Lady Louise. Chivalric nonsense.’
Another wrote: ‘I was really hoping to hear that plans for the Duke of Edinburgh title would go to Lady Louise (upon the passing of Edward) and make her a Duchess of Edinburgh in her own right.’
One added: ‘Damn! They did Lady Louise dirty.’
But Lady Louise is far from the only socialite who has been skipped over for her younger brother.
Lady Katie Percy, 38, a Gunsmith and mechanic, is the daughter of Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland.
However instead of Lady Katie becoming a Countess, her younger brother George Percy, 36, is an Earl.
Meanwhile Lady Kitty Spencer, niece of Princess Diana, is the eldest child of Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer.
Upon his death, she would be in line to become the next Countess of Spencer, if not for primogeniture, which means her younger brother Louis is set to inherit their father’s title.
In 2015, he said he would be sticking with tradition, saying: ‘If I chose Kitty it would be against all the tradition that goes with Althorp. It’s just the way it is. I get the problems with it as a concept.’
Lady Kitty has spoken out on the topic in the past, calling things ‘tricky’.
‘As times are changing, attitudes are as well. We’ve grown up understanding that it’s Louis to inherit, and Louis will do an incredible job,’ she told Town & Country magazine.
Lady Louise joined her parents to become the first to visit the grieving Queen after Prince Philip’s death
Lady Louise has received praise in recent years for her ‘very mature’ attitude (pictured, with her parents and brother)
Bright and beautiful: Lady Louise has been making more confident fashion choices, as seen in the Royal Family outing to the Easter church service at Windsor Castle last year
Lady Kinvara Balfour, 45, has been a vocal critic of the system and campaigned for change to the practice of male primogeniture.
Her own mother Tessa is the eldest daughter of the Duke of Norfolk. When her father Miles died in 2002, the dukedom was passed to Tessa’s younger brother, Edward, who was the fourth child but the only son.
She has previously called for the practice of male primogeniture to be outlawed, calling it ‘unfair’ and ‘unjust’.
She has argued the rules violate a woman’s ‘right to fair treatment’ and mean daughters are ‘disregarded entirely’.
‘The current rules don’t just malign a bunch of girls who want a jolly nice house and a title,’ Lady Kinvara wrote in the Daily Telegraph.
‘With these titles comes the chance to be elected to one of the 92 seats still reserved for hereditary peers in the House of Lords which have been held almost exclusively by men.’
Lady Louise’s parents’ new title, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, is one of the most senior in the Royal Family.
The couple are due to make their first appearance in the city later today as they attend a reception to mark the first year of the conflict in Ukraine.
Unusually the title of Duke of Edinburgh, which was previously held by Edward’s father, Prince Philip, will only remain with him for his lifetime and on his death revert to the Crown.
The ancient and prestigious title of Duke of Edinburgh was given to Prince Philip by King George VI in 1947 when he married Queen Elizabeth.
Edward was exceptionally close to his father and his later years took on much of his work with the Duke of Edinburgh Awards scheme.
When he and Sophie married in 1999 it was announced that the dukedom would pass to Edward after Philip’s death.
That was two years ago, however, and there has been much to-ing and fro-ing behind the scenes on the issue ever since.
The issue for Buckingham Palace was that Edward is now 13th in line to the throne and will only slide further down the order of succession over the years when the Prince and Princess of Wales’ children grow up and go on to have families of their own.
But Lady Louise isn’t the only female socialite whom the rule impacts – with Lady Kitty set to miss out on her father’s title of Earl of Spencer in place of her younger brother, and Lady Katie Percy losing the chance for her father’s title of Duke of Northumberland to her younger brother George, Earl Percy
Lady Kinvara Balfour, 45, has been a vocal critic of the system and campaigned for change to the practice of male primogeniture. Her own mother was first born child of a Duke – but missed the chance of a title because she had a younger brother
There was concern that the most senior titles associated with a nation of the United Kingdom would be passed on to an ever more junior branch of the family line.
So when Philip died in April 2021, Buckingham Palace announced that the title had reverted to the monarch – and that continued to be the case when Queen Elizabeth died last September.
At one point courtiers discussed the King keeping the title permanently but many felt that it would be wrong not to honour Prince Philip’s wishes and thank Edward for the ceaseless work he has done on behalf of the monarchy in recent years.
He and his wife have particularly stepped up since Harry and Meghan’s acrimonious departure in 2019.
Many royal fans were in uproar over the news, with some feeling the rules around primogeniture were ‘chivalric nonsense’
There were reports that the King was also considering granting the title of Duchess of Edinburgh to his sister Princess Anne, or his granddaughter, Princess Charlotte.
The Mail understands that after Edward’s eventual death that the Duke of Edinburgh title will most likely be given to one of William and Kate’s children, most likely Prince Louis, when they are older.
Sources stressed that the timing of the announcement had nothing to do with developments this week regarding the titles of Harry and Meghan’s children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, as such announcements are normally made on a member of the Royal Family’s birthday.
This is indeed true, although it is likely that the issue of the Sussex children had to be sorted first so as not to offend the notoriously prickly duke and duchess.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said today: ‘His Majesty The King has been pleased to confer the Dukedom of Edinburgh upon The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Forfar, on the occasion of His Royal Highness’s 59th birthday.
‘The title will be held by Prince Edward for His Royal Highness’s lifetime.
‘The Dukedom was last created for Prince Philip in 1947, upon his marriage to Princess Elizabeth, who held the title of Duchess of Edinburgh before acceding to the throne in 1952.
‘The new Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh are proud to continue Prince Philip’s legacy of promoting opportunities for young people of all backgrounds to reach their full potential.’
Like other members of the Royal Family, Edward had a number of titles conferred on him when he married. His other Scottish title is the Earl of Forfar.
He will remain Earl of Forfar, although will use his more senior title of Edinburgh.
His son James will become The Earl of Wessex and Forfar when Edward dies and the now non hereditary title of Edinburgh reverts to the Crown again.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said today: ‘His Majesty The King has been pleased to confer the Dukedom of Edinburgh upon The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Forfar, on the occasion of His Royal Highness’s 59th birthday.
‘The title will be held by Prince Edward for His Royal Highness’s lifetime.
‘The Dukedom was last created for Prince Philip in 1947, upon his marriage to Princess Elizabeth, who held the title of Duchess of Edinburgh before acceding to the throne in 1952.
‘The new Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh are proud to continue Prince Philip’s legacy of promoting opportunities for young people of all backgrounds to reach their full potential.’
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