William, Sophie, and the Edinburghs: What Really Changed (and What Didn’t) About Lady Louise and James’s Titles
A wave of online chatter claims Prince William “personally approved” brand-new royal titles for the children of the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Lady Louise and James. It sounds dramatic — but the facts tell a different, more measured story. First, titles and styles in the British monarchy are governed by the sovereign and by long-standing instruments such as the 1917 Letters Patent. Under that patent, male-line grandchildren of a reigning monarch are entitled to be prince or princess with the style of Royal Highness. In 1999, however, Buckingham Palace said the children of Prince Edward and Sophie would be styled as the children of an earl, not as prince or princess — a decision aimed at giving them a more private upbringing. What did change recently is clear and straightforward: on 10 March 2023, King Charles III granted his brother Prince Edward the title Duke of Edinburgh. From that moment, Edward’s former subsidiary title, Earl of Wessex, became the courtesy title used by ...