Prince Edward’s son James won’t inherit dad’s title – it could go to Princess Charlotte

Prince Edward’s son James may not inherit his father’s current title – even though he took his old title of the Earl of Wessex. Prince Edward’s teenage son James is unlikely to inherit his dad’s current title of Duke of Edinburgh, it has been reported. The 16-year-old royal was bestowed his father’s previous title of Earl of Wessex in March 2023 – when Edward became the Duke of Edinburgh.

To mark his 59th birthday last March, Prince Edward was granted the new title of Duke of Edinburgh – his late father Prince Philip’s previous title – and this meant that James then became the Earl of Wessex. James had been styled as ‘Viscount Severn’ since his birth in 2007. Despite his own title change last year, no changes were made to his older sister Lady Louise Windsor’s title.

In announcing Edward’s title as the Duke of Edinburgh, Buckingham Palace specified that “the title will be held by Prince Edward for His Royal Highness’s lifetime”. Following his own death, the title wll then be reverted back to the crown and it will be for the reigning monarch to decide who takes the title. With James not set to inherit the Edinburgh title, it is thought that Princess Charlotte could take on the title instead.

Princess Charlotte, eight, is Prince William’s only daughter and is currently third in line to the throne. The stipulation that the Edinburgh title will go back to the crown aligns perfectly with King Charles’s apparent wish for a slimmed-down monarchy. Since their children’s births in 2003 and 2007, Edward and his wife – Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh – opted not to use the traditional ‘prince’ and ‘princess’ titles for their children Lady Louise, 20, and Jam

Sophie, 59, previously explained their wish in an interview with The Times of London. The mother-of-two told the publication: “We try to bring them up with the understanding they are very likely to have to work for a living. Hence why we made the decision not to use HRH titles. “They have them and can decide to use them from [the age of] 18, but I think it’s highly unlikely.” The Times previously reported that it had been the late Prince Philip’s wish for his youngest son to take on the Edinburgh title.

The publication even highlighted that Buckingham Palace even indicated on Edward and Sophie’s wedding day in 1999 that the appellation was earmarked for them.

At the time, the Palace released a statement, which read: “The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales have also agreed that Prince Edward should be given the dukedom of Edinburgh in due course, when the present title held now by Prince Philip eventually reverts to the crown.”