James Mountbatten-Windsor

**James, Earl of Wessex** (James Alexander Philip Theo Mountbatten-Windsor, born December 17, 2007) is a member of the british royal family. He is the youngest and only son of Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh and youngest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He is 15th in Line of succession to british throne.

He has an older sister Lady Louise (b.2003).

## Early life

Viscount Severn was born December 17, 2007 at Frimley Park Hospital in Frimley, Surrey. On December 21, 2007, His name, James Alexander Philip Theo, was announced.

Mountbatten-Windsor was christened on April 19, 2008 in the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle by David Conner, the Dean of Windsor. His godparents are Alastair Bruce of Crionaich, Duncan Bullivant, Thomas Hill, Denise Poulton and Jeanye Irwin. He wore a newly made replica of the royal christening gown originally used by Victoria, the eldest child of Queen Victoria, in 1840.

## Education

As of 2020, Viscount Severn attended Eagle House School, a coeducational preparatory school near Sandhurst, Berkshire. He has also trained with St John Ambulance cadets.

## Public appearances

In April 2015, James (then styled Viscount Severn) and his sister, Lady Louise, participated in their first overseas engagement by accompanying their parents on a trip to South Africa. In September 2020, he joined his parents to help the Great British Beach Clean at Southsea Beach in Hampshire, in support of the Marine Conservation Society.

Following the memorial service for Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on 29 March, Viscount Severn then attended the Platinum Jubilee National Service of Thanksgiving and the Platinum Party at the Palace in June 2022.

On 17 September 2022, during the period of official mourning for Queen Elizabeth II, he joined his sister and six cousins to mount a 15-minute vigil around the coffin of the late Queen, as it lay in state at Westminster Hall. On 19 September, Lord Severn joined other family members at the state funeral.

On 6 May 2023, James (now Earl of Wessex) attended the coronation of his uncle King Charles III at Westminster Abbey, together with the rest of the royal family. During the procession from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace, he travelled in one of the horse-drawn coaches with his parents, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, and his sister, Lady Louise. The next day they attended the Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle.

## Titles and succession

* December 17, 2007 - March 10, 2023: *James Alexander Philip Theo Mountbatten-Windsor, The Viscount Severn*
* March 10, 2023 - present: *James Alexander Philip Theo Mountbatten-Windsor, The Earl of Wessex, The Viscount Severn*
	+ *in Scotland*: March 10, 2023: *James Alexander Philip Theo Mountbatten-Windsor, The Earl of Forfar*

The title Viscount Severn alludes to the Welsh roots of Sophie's family, which James was accorded at birth, as heir apparent to his father's earldom.

Letters patent issued in 1917 assign a princely status and the style of *Royal Highness* to all male-line grandchildren of a sovereign. When his parents married, Buckingham Palace announced that their children would be styled as the children of an earl, rather than as prince or princess. In 2020, James's mother reaffirmed that James and his sister Louise retained the right to their royal titles and styles and could make a choice on whether to use them from the age of 18.

On his father being elevated as Duke of Edinburgh, James became styled by courtesy as Earl of Wessex, now the family's senior subsidiary title. The Dukedom of Edinburgh, being created as a life peerage, will become extinct upon his father's death, but as heir apparent to his father's hereditary peerages: Earl of Wessex, Earl of Forfar, and Viscount Severn, he is in line to succeed to the substantive title of Earl of Wessex, *etc.*