Edward's strange request for him to become King - but he had to decline it

10 March 2024 , 09:00

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Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh (Image: Getty Images)

From the day he was born 60 years ago, Prince Edward has probably always known his chances of becoming King are virtually non-existent.

As the youngest brother of King Charles and the late Queen's youngest son, he is now 14th in line to the throne meaning a place near the top of the line of succession is almost certainly out of reach. However, Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, who turns 60 today, was reportedly once bizarrely offered the chance to become King - but of a newly formed country back in the 1990s. It came in 1994 after the collapse of the Soviet Union when a whole host of new countries were created in Eastern Europe.

Edward with wife Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh (Getty Images)

One of them was Estonia, and in the country's first elections after the collapse of the USSR, a political party called the Independent Royalist Party of Estonia gained eight seats in the country's parliament. The party were largely seen as a protest group but wanted Estonia to be established as a monarchy, similar to that of Sweden or Norway.

And according to the Sunday Telegraph at the time, the leader of the party contacted the British royals asking if Edward would become their king, saying they'd be honoured if he were to accept. A letter reportedly said that Edward was "perfect" and that the party admired him "enormously". However, unsurprisingly Buckingham Palace said that it was "a charming idea but a rather unlikely one".

Edward is married to wife Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, and their pair have two children - Lady Louise Windsor and James, the Earl of Wessex. On this day last year, Edward's 59th birthday, his brother the King finally fulfilled a pledge by the late Queen and gave him and Sophie their Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh titles.

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Prince Edward with his mother the late Queen (Getty Images)

It had long been known that Edward would one day become the Duke of Edinburgh after a promise made by the late Queen on his wedding day in June 1999. At the time, eyebrows were raised when he was given an Earldom rather than a Dukedom. However, it was announced at the time of the nuptials that Edward would succeed his father Prince Philip as the Duke of Edinburgh with the blessing of his parents after his death.

The palace said at the time: "The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince of Wales have also agreed that the Prince Edward should be given the dukedom of Edinburgh in due course when the present title now held by Prince Philip eventually reverts to the Crown." Philip's desire for Edward to have the title was in recognition of his son's decades-long commitment to the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, the youth scheme which is one of Philip's greatest legacies.

Meanwhile, Sophie once told the Telegraph of the moment she and Edward were told Philip would like her husband to take on the title. She said: “We sat there slightly stunned. He literally came straight in and said, ‘'Right. I’'d like it very much if you would consider that'’".

The dukedom – which in the past has been hereditary – will not, however, pass down to the Edinburghs' son James when Edward dies. This paves the way for one of the Prince and Princess of Wales’s children to potentially be given the title in the future, with Prince Louis the most likely candidate.

Jennifer Newton