The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh are celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary today and while it's not known what they will do to mark the occasion, there can be little doubt who they will be celebrating with. Prince Edward and Sophie are known to enjoy a close relationship with their children, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Earl of Wessex, who was formerly titled Viscount Severn, and it seems highly likely the tight-knit family will come together to mark the occasion this week.
Like his sister Lady Louise Windsor, James has grown up largely out of the spotlight, although he joins his parents, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh (formerly the Earl and Countess of Wessex) for high profile engagements including the coronation and Trooping the Colour.
Here, everything you need to know about the Earl of Wessex.
Born by caesarean section at Frimley Park Hospital on 17 December 2007, James is the second child and only son of the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh. His full name, James Alexander Philip Theo, included a nod to his grandfather Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Announcing the birth of his son, Prince Edward said he was ‘very cute and very cuddly’. The birth had also been less traumatic than that of Lady Louise, who arrived four weeks premature in 2003. Prior to conceiving Louise, Sophie had suffered a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy.
At the time of James's birth, male-preference primogeniture meant that he replaced his elder sister Lady Louise as eighth in line to the throne, despite being younger. These rules changed with Succession of the Crown Act 2013 (introduced ahead of the birth of Prince George to allow eldest children to remain senior in the order, regardless of gender) but only apply to royal children born after 28 October 2011. This means James remains ahead of Louise (now 15th and 16th, respectively).
He was the youngest of the late Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh's eight grandchildren. Indeed, he is 30 years younger than his eldest cousin, Peter Phillips, the son of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips. James is also a first cousin of Peter's sister Zara Tindall, Prince William and Prince Harry, and Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
James was baptised in the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle in April 2008. He became the first royal baby to wear a newly-made replica of the royal christening gown that dates back to the christening of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s eldest child, also named Victoria, in 1840. The original 1800s gown has now been preserved, with most royal babies since the James having also been christened in the replica.
James’s former styling as Viscount Severn (another of his father’s subsidiary titles) is a nod to his mother’s Welsh familial roots, alluding to the River Severn. Although it’s customary to assign princely status and the style of His or Her Royal Highness to all children of a monarch’s sons, it was announced by Buckingham Palace on Edward and Sophie’s marriage in 1999 that any future children would be styled as the children of an earl, rather than children of a prince. The Countess 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.’ Indeed, Lady Louise Windsor, 19, continues not to use the ‘HRH’ styling.
Both Lady Louise and James have lakes named after them in Canada, an honour bestowed on them by the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba-in-Council when their father visited the Canadian province of Manitoba in 2008. The Vancouver Sun reported at the time that the then-Manitoba Premier, Gary Doer, ‘presented the Prince with a pair of framed notices naming two Northwestern Manitoba lakes after his two children, Louise, four, and James, five months.’
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James lives with his parents at the family home of Bagshot Park in Surrey, 11 miles from Windsor – conveniently close to Windsor Castle, and now near to the Prince and Princess of Wales's new home at Adelaide Cottage. James has reportedly been educated at two nearby independent, co-educational prep schools. Proximity allowed James and Louise to spend a significant amount of time with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip growing up.
James is also said to be quite the hit during family summer holidays at Balmoral, where he joins in enthusiastically with outdoor pursuits. In 2019, the Sun quoted a royal source as stating that the young royal ‘is rather good at flipping burgers and liked to get fully involved whenever there was a family barbecue at Balmoral.’ He also reportedly impressed the gamekeepers on his grandmother’s estate with his aptitude for salmon fishing.
The source went on: ‘His enthusiasm for fly fishing delighted Her Majesty because it’s a sport beloved of James’s great-granny, the late Queen Mother. James was in the Dee as often as possible, waders up to his armpits. His mother Sophie, who is a keen fisherwoman herself, liked to stand with him. The Balmoral ghillies [gamekeepers] were impressed with both of them. Edward is not as keen because he’s not as patient, which you need to be when fishing for salmon, even in the plentiful Dee.’
While James doesn’t make many official public appearances, he and Louise participated in their first overseas engagement in April 2015, aged just seven and 11 respectively. The siblings joined their parents on a visit to the Ubunye Foundation in Grahamstown, South Africa, a non-profit organisation for which their mother acts as patron. Sophie stated at the time: ‘It’s very important for my children to see immediately from the moment that they come to South Africa that it’s not just about wonderful, beautiful animals and beautiful scenery. That there is a huge need to support, protect and nurture the communities that live around and within these beautiful surroundings.’ In 2020, James joined his family to lend a hand for the Marine Conservation Society’s Great British Beach Clean.
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Months after joining his family for the Platinum Jubilee festivities, James was front and centre of the Royal Family’s public mourning of Queen Elizabeth II. He won widespread praise for his stoicism as he joined his cousins to stand vigil over Her Majesty’s coffin.
Last year, Prince Edward and his son both made headlines when King Charles III announced he would make his brother the Duke of Edinburgh, the title previously held by his father. By virtue of this decision, James inherited his father's former title of Earl of Wessex.
The teenager also joined his family at the Coronation and at Trooping the Colour. As the son of two working members of the Royal Family, the young Earl of Wessex was given the honour of appearing on the balcony of Buckingham Palace alongside the Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children, the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, and, of course, King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
Clearly a good-humoured, enthusiastic young man who’s dearly beloved by his family, no doubt James’s ability to roll up his sleeves and get involved will stand him in good stead in the years to come.
