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The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, KG, KCVO, SOM (Edward Antony Richard Louis; born 10 March 1964) is a member of the British Royal Family, the youngest child and third son of Queen Elizabeth II. He has held the title of Earl of Wessex since 1999. The Earl of Wessex is currently seventh in the line of succession. The Earl of Wessex is mostly famous for his television production and presenting career and his brief service with the Royal Marines. In connection with the television production, he has used the names Edward Windsor and, later, Edward Wessex, leading The Guardian, for one, to refer to him as "the Edward formerly known as Prince".[1]
Early life
He was baptised in the Private Chapel at Windsor Castle on 2 May 1964 by Robert Woods, Dean of Windsor. His godparents were: Prince Richard of Gloucester (now the Duke of Gloucester), Prince Louis of Hesse and by Rhine, The Earl of Snowdon, The Duchess of Kent (for whom Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent stood proxy) and Princess George of Hanover. As a child of the reigning monarch, he was styled His Royal Highness The Prince Edward from birth. EducationPrince Edward, like other royal children at that time, was educated by a private governess until the age of seven. Afterwards he attended Gibbs School, in Kensington, West London. In 1972, he went to Heatherdown Preparatory School near Ascot, Berkshire. Following in the footsteps of his father and brothers, he attended Gordonstoun School in Scotland and was appointed head boy in his last term.
Returning to England, Prince Edward enrolled at Jesus College, University of Cambridge, reading history. He graduated with a 2:2 Bachelor of Arts degree in 1986. This makes Prince Edward only the fourth of five members of the Royal Family in history to have obtained a university degree:
CareerOn leaving university, Prince Edward joined the Royal Marines to train as an officer. But the Marines proved to be too demanding for the Prince, and he resigned his commission in January 1987, before graduation. This led to strong public criticism of the Prince for being "too weak." After leaving the Marines, Prince Edward became more involved in theatre, an activity he had enjoyed extensively at school and university. In the late 1980s, he worked for two theatrical production companies, including Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Theatre Company. During his time at Lloyd Webber's company, he worked on such plays as Phantom of the Opera, Starlight Express, and Cats, and dated actress Ruthie Henshall for two years. Prince Edward's first foray into the world of television production was the widely-ridiculed It's a Royal Knockout television programme in June 1987, in which teams sponsored by himself and other members of the Royal family competed for charity. In 1993, Prince Edward formed the Ardent Television production company, under the name Edward Windsor. Ardent was heavily involved in the production of documentaries and dramas, particularly on the royal families of Europe. With exclusive access to the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle, Prince Edward had plenty of material for his work. However, he was accused in the media of using his royal connections for personal and business gain, particularly given the financial problems of Ardent since its founding (it reported losses in all years of existence except one). In 2002, the Prince announced that he would step down as director of production and joint managing director of Ardent to concentrate on his public duties and to support the Queen during her Golden Jubilee year. Marriage
On 6 January 1999 the Prince announced his engagement to Sophie Rhys-Jones, a public relations manager with her own firm. Their wedding took place on 19 June 1999 at St. George's Chapel, Windsor. This was a break with the recent tradition of holding large formal royal weddings at Westminster Abbey. The marriage quieted, but did not entirely eliminate, rumours that the Prince was homosexual. On his wedding day, the Queen conferred the titles of Earl of Wessex and Viscount Severn on Prince Edward. This was a break with tradition whereby the sons of a sovereign were usually created a Duke. The title of Wessex was unusual. The last person known as "Earl of Wessex" was Harold Godwinson, prior to his accession to the English throne in 1066. Edward is styled HRH The Earl of Wessex, with Sophie taking the style HRH The Countess of Wessex. It was also announced at that time that the Earl of Wessex would be created Duke of Edinburgh when the current creation of that dukedom, held by Prince Philip since 1947, reverts to the crown. The Earl and Countess of Wessex have one child: Lady Louise Windsor (born 8 November 2003) and reside at Bagshot Park in Surrey, once the home of the Duke of Connaught's family. The Earl and Countess of Wessex have requested that their children be styled as children of an earl. However, the necessary letters patent have not been issued, thus they will still be technically styled HRH Prince(sse)s of Wessex. Although the first born male of the couple could use the Earl's courtesy title of Viscount Severn, subsequent males and females would be styled the Honourable or Lady, respectively. Royal dutiesImage:EdwardWessex.jpg The Earl of Wessex (on the right) inspects the Royal Wessex Yeomanry The Earl and Countess of Wessex carry out a full schedule of royal duties on behalf of the Queen, receiving civil list monies from the Queen of £141,000 per annum. The Earl has in recent years succeeded to many of the roles of his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, who is reducing some of his roles due to age. The Earl replaced him as President of the Commonwealth Games Federation (since 2006 its Vice-Patron) and opened the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Malaysia. He has also taken over the Duke's role in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. His other appointments reflect his interests in sport and the arts. Dukedom of EdinburghIt was announced at the time of his wedding that the Earl of Wessex would, upon the death of his father, eventually become the Duke of Edinburgh. However, this title will still be inherited by Philip's eldest son, Charles (as Prince of Wales, or King), and will become merged with the crown when he is King. Charles will then be able to create a new Dukedom of Edinburgh for his younger brother. [1] There are, however, a number of ways that the Dukedom would not merge such as:
Titles, styles, honours and armsTitles
StylesThe Prince's style in full: His Royal Highness The Prince Edward Antony Richard Louis, Earl of Wessex, Viscount Severn, Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, Honorary Member of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit, Aide-de-Camp to Her Majesty. HonoursBritish Honours
Commonwealth Honours Image:Earl of Wessex Visit.jpg The Earl of Wessex meets a Monarchist League of Canada volunteer in Toronto (2005)
Military
Honorary military appointmentsBritish
Commonwealth
ArmsImage:Earl of Wessex Standard.gif Ancestry
TriviaIn 1994, the leaders of Estonia's Royalist Party, with 10 percent of the seats in the Estonian National Parliament, wrote to Prince Edward indicating that they would, if they came to power, like to offer him the position of King of Estonia. In their letter, they said that they wanted Edward as King because of their admiration "for him, Britain, its monarchy, democracy and culture". It is unknown how, or even if, the Earl of Wessex responded, but he obviously has yet to assume the throne of this Baltic State.[3] See alsoNotes
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