Prince Edward and Sophie’s Son James Turns 18 — and Now Faces a Major Decision

The Earl of Wessex has an adult decision to make about his royal future

Prince Edward and James, Earl of Wessex attend the Easter Sunday Mattins Service at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on April 20, 2025.Credit : 

Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty

NEED TO KNOW

The son of Prince Edward and Sophie, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh — James, Earl of Wessex — faces a big decision as he turns 18
The Earl of Wessex marked the milestone birthday on Dec. 17 and now has the option of adopting royal styling of His Royal Highness
James is four years younger than his sister Lady Louise Windsor, but is actually ahead of her in the line of succession

Prince Edward and Sophie’s son, James, is celebrating his 18th birthday, and an important royal decision now comes into play.

The Earl of Wessex, the youngest grandchild of the late Queen Elizabeth, turned 18 on Dec. 17. As the child of a monarch’s son, James can have the title of prince and can use the designation His Royal Highness under the 1917 Letters Patent.

Under the rule, James’ cousins Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie have used princess titles in accordance with the wishes of their father, the former Prince Andrew, since birth. However, Prince Edward and Sophie chose a different path for their two children.

Prince Edward, James, Earl of Wessex, Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh and more royals attend the Easter Sunday Mattins Service at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on April 20, 2025.Mark Kerrison/In Pictures via Getty

The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh share son James and daughter Lady Louise Windsor, 22, and gave their kids the option of choosing whether or not they’d like to use royal titles when they came of age. Lady Louise turned 18 in November 2021, but she has not publicly adopted a royal title or Her Royal Highness styling.

Sophie, 60, explained the logic to The Sunday Times in 2023 and said, “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.”

Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh and James, Earl of Wessex depart the Easter Mattins Service at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on March 31, 2024.

Karwai Tang/WireImage

Louise and James often join their parents at royal family events like Christmas, Easter and Trooping the Colour, but they are not expected to take on full-time working royal roles one day like the children of Prince William, who is the current heir to the throne.

Instead, Prince Edward’s kids are currently focused on school. Lady Louise goes to the University of St. Andrew’s in Scotland, where William and Kate Middleton famously met, while James attends Radley College, an all-boys boarding school in Oxfordshire.

James was styled as Viscount Severn at birth and became the Earl of Wessex after his father assumed the Duke of Edinburgh title, which was created for his late father, Prince Philip, in March 2023.

Prince Edward, James, Viscount Severn and Lady Louise Windsor on the balcony of Buckingham Palace following King Charles’ coronation on May 6, 2023.Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty

It was sentimental for James to take on the Earl of Wessex title, as Prince Edward had previously held it since he and Sophie married in 1999.

However, James is not destined to inherit the Duke of Edinburgh title one day, as Buckingham Palace specified that “the title will be held by Prince Edward for His Royal Highness’s lifetime.” After, it will revert back to the crown.

Though James is four years younger than his sister Louise, he is ahead of her in the line of succession to the throne. James is 16th in line while Louise is 17th in line, because they were both born before the Succession to the Crown Act 2013.

The legislation ended the system of male primogeniture for those born after Oct. 28, 2011, meaning that birth order, not gender, now determines the order of succession.