prince edward, earl of wessex

His Royal Highness The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex (Edward Antony Richard Louis Mountbatten-Windsor), styled HRH The Earl of Wessex (born March 10, 1964), is a member of the British Royal Family, the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II. He has held the title of Earl of Wessex since 1999. The Earl of Wessex is currently seventh in the line of succession. The Earl of Wessex is mostly famous for his television production and presenting career, and his brief service with the Royal Marines.

Early Life

Prince Edward was born on March 10, 1964 at Buckingham Palace, London. His mother is the current reigning British monarch, HM Queen Elizabeth II, the elder daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. His father is HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, only son of HRH Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and HSH Princess Alice of Battenberg. As a child of the reigning monarch, he was styled His Royal Highness The Prince Edward from birth.

Education

Prince Edward, like other royal children at that time, was educated by a private governess until the age of seven. Afterwards he attended Gibbs School, a pre-preparatory school, in Kensington, West London. In 1972, he went to Heatherdown Preparatory School near Ascot, Berkshire. Following in the footsteps of his father and brothers he attended Gordonstoun School in Scotland, and was elected head boy in his last term. Like his brother, HRH The Prince Andrew, Prince Edward spent a "gap year" abroad, spending two terms at the Collegiate School, Wanganui, New Zealand, as a house tutor/junior master during September 1982. Returning to England, Prince Edward enrolled at Jesus College, University of Cambridge reading history. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1986. This makes Prince Edward only the second member of the Royal Family in history to have obtained a university degree (the other being his eldest brother, HRH Prince Charles, Prince of Wales).

Career

On leaving university, Prince Edward joined the Royal Marines to train as an officer. But Marines proved to be too demanding for the Prince, and he resigned his commission in January 1987. This led to strong public criticism of the Prince for being "too weak". After leaving the Marines, Prince Edward became more involved in theatre, an activity he had enjoyed extensively at school and university. In the late 1980s, he worked for two theatrical production companies, including Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Theatre Company. During his time at Lloyd Webber's company he worked on such plays as Phantom of the Opera, Starlight Express and Cats. Prince Edward's first foray into the world of television production was the widely-ridiculed It's a Royal Knockout television programme in June 1987, in which teams sponsored by himself and other members of the Royal family competed for charity. In 1993, Prince Edward formed the Ardent Television production company, under the name Edward Windsor. Ardent was heavily involved in the production of documentaries and dramas, particularly on the royal families of Europe. With exclusive access to the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle, Prince Edward had plenty of material for his work. However, he was accused in the media of using his royal connections for personal and business gain, particularly given the financial problems of Ardent since its founding (it reported losses in all years of existence except one). The most embarrassing moment came when it was reported that a television crew from Ardent was found to be filming the Prince's nephew, HRH Prince William of Wales, during his stay at university in St Andrews in breach of an agreement between the royals and the media. In 2002, the Prince announced he would step down as director of production and joint managing director of Ardent to concentrate on his public duties, and to support the Queen during her Golden Jubilee year.

Marriage

On January 9, 1999, the Prince announced his engagement to Sophie Rhys-Jones, a public relations manager with her own PR firm. Their wedding took place on June 19, 1999 at St George's Chapel, Windsor. This was a break with the recent tradition of holding large formal royal weddings at Westminster Abbey. On his wedding day, the Queen conferred the titles of Earl of Wessex and Viscount Severn on Prince Edward. This was a break with tradition whereby the sons of a sovereign are usually created a Duke. The title of Wessex was also unusual as it had never been created before, and the place of Wessex has not existed since pre-medieval times. It is said Edward requested the title after the character played by Colin Firth in the film Shakespeare in Love. Edward is styled HRH The Earl of Wessex, with Sophie taking the style HRH The Countess of Wessex. The Earl and Countess of Wessex have one child: The Lady Louise Windsor (born November 8, 2003). The Lady Louise is the first grandchild of the sovereign in the male line not to carry the title of a British princess or the style Her Royal Highness. This was in deference to the Earl and Countess' wishes that their children not carry royal titles and styles. Although the first born male of the couple could use the Earl's courtesy title of Viscount Severn, subsequent males and females would be styled Honorable or Lady Windsor.

Royal duties

The Earl and Countess of Wessex carry out a full schedule of royal duties on behalf of the Queen, receiving civil list monies from the Queen of 141,000 per annum. The Earl has in recent years succeeded many of the roles of his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, who is reducing some of his roles due to age. The Earl is now President of the Commonwealth Games Federation, and opened the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Malaysia. He has also taken over the Duke's role in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. His other appointments reflect his interests in sport and the arts.

Dukedom of Edinburgh

It was announced at the time of his wedding that the Earl of Wessex would eventually receive the title Duke of Edinburgh. However, he will not inherit the title from his father. Like any normal dukedom, the present Dukedom of Edinburgh passes to the heirs-male of the first Duke. So, his eldest son the Prince of Wales will inherit the title. There are several possibilities as to what will happen to the Dukedom. If the current Duke of Edinburgh predeceases the Queen, then the Prince of Wales will become Duke of Edinburgh, and when the Queen dies, the title will merge with the crown, becoming available for the Earl. If the Queen predeceased the Duke of Edinburgh, when the Duke of Edinburgh dies, the Dukedom will merge with the crown, becoming available for the Earl. Some more unlikely possibilities could be that HRH Prince William of Wales has a daughter, then he and his father die, making the daughter heiress-apparent to the Crown. When the Queen dies, the daughter would inherit the Crown, but when the Duke of Edinburgh dies, HRH Prince Henry of Wales would inherit the Dukedom, with it being inherited by his descendants. Or, the Earl could attain the Dukedom if the Prince of Wales, his sons, and the Duke of York all predeceased him.

Titles and Honours

Titles

His Royal Highness The Prince Edward (1964-1999)
His Royal Highness The Earl of Wessex

Honours

Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order

Military Career

2nd Lieutenant, Royal Marines - October 1986 to January 1987

Honorary Military Appointments

Royal Honorary Colonel, The Royal Wessex Yeomanry
Colonel-in-Chief, The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment
Colonel-in-Chief, The Saskatchewan Dragoons