Why Prince Edward Was Not Made a Duke on His Wedding Day

In 1999, the announcement that Prince Edward would be made an Earl and not a Duke on his wedding day came as a shock to many royal commentators.

By tradition, male children of the Sovereign receive a Dukedom on their wedding day, making their new wife the Duchess of Aix.

However, this was not the case for Prince Edward, who is the youngest of the Queen's children.

Prince Edward is automatically HRH the Prince Edward by birth, and any other titles come affixed to that.

The title of Earl ranks below Duke, below Prince, and below Marquess.

However, Marquess is never used as a royal title.

It is said that Prince Edward chose the title of Earl of Wessex because of its connotations with one of Edward's favorite films, Shakespeare in Love, which featured a character with the title of Earl of Wessex.

Had he not been given any title, like Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, Sophie would have been referred to as Her Royal Highness the Princess Edward or in shorter reference, Princess Edward.

So why wasn't Prince Edward made a Duke?

According to official sources, one day, when Prince Philip dies, Prince Edward will get the title of Duke of Edinburgh to continue the present Duke's work.

However, it won't be direct and may not happen under some circumstances.

Ultimately, Prince Philip will have to die in order for Prince Edward to receive the Dukedom of Edinburgh.

But it's not quite as simple as the succession to the Crown, where it passes straight to the next in line.

By default, Prince Charles will inherit the title of Duke of Edinburgh, and if he is King at the time, the title will merge with the Crown.

If he is not King, the Queen will be able to reissue the title.

To complicate matters further, if Charles is on the throne, he doesn't have to issue the title to Edward, nor does Her present Majesty.

The Crown is at liberty to do as wished with the title.

It could even be given to another member of the Royal Family.

Despite this, it is believed that they'll stick to the promise of making Prince Edward Duke of Edinburgh.

This would mean that by courtesy, Prince Edward's son James would become Earl of Wessex and instead of being James Viscount Severn, would be James Earl of Wessex.

Lady Louise's title wouldn't change, and Sophie's title would become HRH the Duchess of Edinburgh.

In conclusion, Prince Edward was not made a Duke on his wedding day because he will eventually inherit the Dukedom of Edinburgh from Prince Philip.

However, the succession to titles laws make it uncertain whether this will happen or not.