Lady Louise Windsor misses out on title thanks to 900-year-old inheritance rule

08 November 2023 , 09:08

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Prince Edward and wife Sophie with their two children, Lady Louise and James, Viscount Severn (Image: Getty Images)

Today is Lady Louise Windsor's 20th birthday. The only daughter of Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex, Louise was born at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey, England, on November 8, 2003.

She was the first child born to the couple; her younger brother, James, Viscount Severn, will celebrate his 16th birthday in December. Nevertheless, she was overlooked for a royal title as a result of a long-standing inheritance rule.

It was announced on 10 March – his 59th birthday – that Edward was being bestowed with the Duke of Edinburgh title from his older brother, King Charles. It meant, in turn, that wife Sophie became the new Duchess of Edinburgh, with the couple's son James taking over his father's former title as Earl of Wessex. But there was no title change for Louise, who was effectively leapfrogged by her younger brother.

When Edward married Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1999, the couple were given the title of the Earl and Countess of Wessex, and Buckingham Palace said that their children "would have courtesy titles as sons or daughters of an earl," according to the BBC .

Courtesy titles are only used by the peer's eldest living son, and the eldest son's eldest living son, and so on. Other descendants, including daughters, are not permitted to use the peer's subsidiary titles. Since she is the daughter of an Earl, Louise has been styled 'Lady' since her birth in 2003.

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Lady Louise is Edward and Sophie's eldest child (Getty Images)

The law also explains why the daughters of Charles Spencer are known as Lady Kitty, Lady Amelia, Lady Eliza, Lady Lara and Lady Charlotte, while his eldest son - his fourth-born child - is styled Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp.

So does that mean that, in time, 15-year-old James will one day also inherit the Duke of Edinburgh title? While the Earl of Wessex is a hereditary title, the Duke of Edinburgh is not. As such, at the time of his passing, Edward's role will not be passed on to his children. Instead, it will revert back to the Crown.

This paves the way for one of the Prince and Princess of Wales's children to potentially receive the title in the future, with Prince Louis the most likely candidate. James will become the Earl of Wessex and Forfar when the title of The Duke of Edinburgh reverts to the Crown, the Palace said.

Edward will also remain the Earl of Forfar, another of his titles, for the remainder of his lifetime but uses the Duke of Edinburgh title because it is the more senior Scottish title.

Gemma Strong