Kinlight · The British Royal Line

Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh

1964 – · Generation XXXVIII · House of Windsor

Portrait of Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh

Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, was born at Buckingham Palace on 10 March 1964, the fourth and youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. He is the youngest brother of King Charles III. He was educated at Heatherdown School in Berkshire and at Gordonstoun in Scotland, where he became head boy. After two terms as a house tutor at Wanganui Collegiate School in New Zealand he read history at Jesus College, Cambridge, graduating in 1986.

He had joined the Royal Marines as a university cadet, but in January 1987, part of the way through commando training, he decided against a military career. He turned instead to the theatre, working as a production assistant for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Theatre Company, and then to television. In 1993 he founded his own production company, Ardent Productions, which made documentaries and dramas. He stepped down from it in 2002, the year of his mother’s Golden Jubilee, to work full time for the royal family.

On 19 June 1999 he married Sophie Rhys-Jones at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. On the wedding day the Queen created him Earl of Wessex rather than giving him the dukedom customary for a sovereign’s son. The couple have two children, Lady Louise, born in 2003, and James, born in 2007, and as of 2026 the family lives at Bagshot Park. He received the further title of Earl of Forfar in 2019.

Much of his public work continues that of his father. He earned the Gold level of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award himself in 1986, has been a trustee of the scheme since 1988, and has chaired the trustees of its international foundation since 2015, presenting awards to young people around the world. He became vice-patron of the Commonwealth Games Federation in 2006 and has attended every Commonwealth Games since 1986. His patronages, more than seventy in all, lean towards the arts and sport, and include the National Youth Theatre, Northern Ballet, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the British Paralympic Association. He served as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 2014 and again in 2024.

On 10 March 2023, his fifty-ninth birthday, the King conferred on him the title Duke of Edinburgh, which their father had held until his death in 2021. The dukedom was granted for Edward’s lifetime. He became patron of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in the same year, and his son James is now styled Earl of Wessex.

Place in the family

  • Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh is a son of Queen Elizabeth II.
  • Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh is the youngest of 4 children of Philip Mountbatten and Queen Elizabeth II recorded in this archive.

Images

One of 53 people of House of Windsor (from 1917) in this archive. The present house — it renamed itself Windsor in 1917, setting aside the German title Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

Line of descent: Owen Tudor → Edmund Tudor → King Henry VII → Margaret Tudor → King James V of Scotland → Mary Queen of Scots → King James I → Elizabeth Stuart → Sophia of Hanover → King George I → King George II → Frederick Prince of Wales → King George III → Edward Duke of Kent → Queen Victoria → King Edward VII → King George V → King George VI → Queen Elizabeth II → Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh.

Read more on Wikipedia

Parents

Siblings

Partners

Children

Life

  • 1964 — Born
  • 1999 — Married Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh

Sources

  1. Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh · Wikipedia
  2. The Duke of Edinburgh · The Royal Family (royal.uk)
  3. His Royal Highness The Prince Edward, has been named The Duke of Edinburgh KG GCVO · The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation

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