James, Earl of Wessex’s decision about royal titles seemingly confirmed by palace

Buckingham Palace appears to have confirmed that James, Earl of Wessex, will not take on royal titles ahead of going to university.

It was revealed on Thursday, that James – the son of the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh – had successfully achieved the necessary A-level grades to attend the Royal Agricultural University.

“The Earl of Wessex will be going to the Royal Agricultural University to study Rural Land & Property Management. He will head straight there without taking a year out,” the official statement from Buckingham Palace read.

As the official statement referred to James as the Earl of Wessex, rather than, His Royal Highness, this would imply he has no plans on taking on an official royal role.

James is a grandson of the late Queen Elizabeth, which means it is his birthright to publicly adopt a royal title or his HRH titles.

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But it seems neither James, 18, nor his elder sister, Lady Louise, 22, have chosen to do so after being given the option by their royal parents.  

Lady Louise was announced as Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, upon her graduation from St. Andrews University in June.

Duchess Sophie’s plan

It may not come as a shock to some royal fans at the decision of the sibling duo have chosen to bypass their royal titles. 

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Duchess Sophie said in 2020 that she and Prince Edward have raised their children without their royal titles but that, when they were 18, they would have the right to chose whether or not to use them. 

Sophie told the Times: “We try to bring them up with the understanding 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 I think it’s highly unlikely.”

What does James’ course entail?

A synopsis for James’ course reads: “This course offers proven routes to rewarding careers within rural business, estate management, consultancy and property in the countryside. Strutt and Parker, Dalcour Maclaren, Savills and Fisher German are some of the nationally recognised businesses our graduates have gone on to work for – and so could you.”

James is the first member of the British royal family to study at the Royal Agricultural University; however, Princess Anne’s first husband, Captain Mark Phillips, studied there. The institution has some royal alumni, including Prince Gundakar of Liechtenstein and Ernst August von Hannover, who is now the husband of Monaco’s Princess Caroline.