Duke of Edinburgh

Dukedom of Edinburgh
Arms of Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh
Creation date	10 March 2023 (announced)[1] 3 April 2023 (Letters Patent)[2]
Creation	Fourth
Created by	Charles III
Peerage	Peerage of the United Kingdom
First holder	Prince Frederick (first creation; 1726)
Present holder	Prince Edward
Subsidiary titles	Earl of Wessex Earl of Forfar Viscount Severn
Status	Extant

Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, is a substantive title that has been created four times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produce any revenue for the title-holder.

The current holder, Prince Edward, was created duke in 2023 on his 59th birthday by his eldest brother, King Charles III, who formerly held the title. The dukedom had previously been granted to their father, then Philip Mountbatten, on the day of his marriage to then-Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth II. Upon Philip's death, the title was inherited by Charles and held by him until Elizabeth died and Charles became king, at which time the title reverted to the Crown.

1726 creation

The title was first created in the Peerage of Great Britain on 26 July 1726 by King George I, who bestowed it on his grandson Prince Frederick, who subsequently became Prince of Wales in 1728. The subsidiary titles of the dukedom were Marquess of the Isle of Ely,^[3] Earl of Eltham, in the County of Kent,^[4] Viscount of Launceston, in the County of Cornwall, and Baron of Snowdon, in the County of Caernarvon, all of which were also in the Peerage of Great Britain. The marquessate was gazetted as Marquess of the Isle of Wight,^[4] apparently erroneously. In later editions of the London Gazette the Duke is referred to as the Marquess of the Isle of Ely.^[5][6] Upon Frederick's death, the titles were inherited by his son Prince George. When Prince George became King George III in 1760, the titles merged in the Crown and ceased to exist.^[3]

1866 creation

Queen Victoria re-created the title, this time in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, on 24 May 1866 for her second son Prince Alfred, instead of Duke of York, the traditional title of the second son of the monarch. The subsidiary titles of the dukedom were Earl of Kent and Earl of Ulster, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.^[7] When Alfred became the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1893, he retained his British titles. His only son that survived birth, Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, committed suicide in 1899, so the Dukedom of Edinburgh and subsidiary titles became extinct upon the elder Alfred's death in 1900.^[3]

1947 creation

The title was created for a third time on 19 November 1947 by King George VI,^[8] who bestowed it on his son-in-law Philip Mountbatten, when he married Princess Elizabeth. Subsequently, Elizabeth was styled "HRH The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh" until her accession in 1952.^[9] The subsidiary titles of the dukedom were Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich, of Greenwich in the County of London; all these titles were in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.^[10] Earlier that year, Philip had renounced his Greek and Danish royal titles (he was born a prince of Greece and Denmark, being a male-line grandson of King George I of Greece and male-line great-grandson of King Christian IX of Denmark) along with his rights to the Greek throne. In 1957, Philip became a prince of the United Kingdom.^[11]

Upon Philip's death on 9 April 2021, his eldest son, Charles, Prince of Wales, succeeded to all of his hereditary titles.^[12] Upon Charles's accession to the throne on 8 September 2022, the peerages merged in the Crown and ceased to exist.^[13]

2023 creation

It was announced in 1999, at the time of his wedding, that Prince Edward would eventually be granted the Dukedom of Edinburgh.^[14] The idea came from Prince Philip, who unexpectedly conveyed his wish to Edward and his fiancée, Sophie Rhys-Jones, only days before their wedding. Edward, then seventh in the line of succession to the British throne, had expected the dukedom to be granted to Prince Andrew, his older brother.^[15]

Prince Philip died in April 2021. His dukedom was inherited by his eldest son, Prince Charles, who was to give it to Edward upon becoming king according to Philip's wish. Edward, who had by then dropped to the 14th place in the line of succession because of births of those higher in line, said in June that him getting such a prestigious title was "a pipe dream of my father's".^[15] In July, The Times reported that Charles had decided not to give the title to his brother.^[16] Clarence House did not deny the reports, which were met with disapproval by commentators in light of Edward and Sophie's increased role in the monarchy after Andrew withdrew from public life and Charles's son Prince Harry and daughter-in-law Meghan quit royal duties.^[15]

It was suggested in November 2022, shortly after Charles III ascended the throne, that Buckingham Palace was considering saving the dukedom for the new king's granddaughter Princess Charlotte of Wales in recognition of her high place in the line of succession and her being the first female member of the royal family whose place in the line of succession cannot be superseded by a younger brother.^[15]

The dukedom was bestowed on Prince Edward on the occasion of his 59th birthday on 10 March 2023.^[17][18][1] This fourth creation of the title is, however, a life peerage, meaning that Edward's son, James, will not inherit the dukedom (unlike with Edward's other peerages). This allows Charles to honour his father's wish and reward his brother and sister-in-law while making it possible for Charles's heir-apparent, Prince William, to confer it on one of his children. According to Camilla Tominey of The Daily Telegraph, there had been concerns regarding the effect that "giv(ing) the Edinburgh dukedom to someone descending fast down the royal ranking" would have on the Scottish independence debate. She proposes that "the prospect of Scottish independence now looking less likely" in the light of Nicola Sturgeon's resignation made the conferral less of a risk.^[15]

Dukes of Edinburgh

First creation, 1726

Also: Marquess of the Isle of Ely, Earl of Eltham, Viscount Launceston and Baron Snowdon.

Duke	Portrait	Birth	Marriage(s)	Death
Prince Frederick House of Hanover 1726–1751 also: Prince of Wales (1728), Duke of Cornwall (1727, created 1337), Duke of Rothesay (1727, created 1469)		1 February 1707 Leineschloss, Hanover son of King George II and Queen Caroline	Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha 17 April 1736 9 children	31 March 1751 Leicester House, Leicester Square, London aged 44
Prince George House of Hanover 1751–1760 also: Prince of Wales (1751)		4 June 1738 Norfolk House, London son of Prince Frederick and Princess Augusta	Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 8 September 1761 15 children	29 January 1820 Windsor Castle, Windsor aged 81
Prince George succeeded as George III in 1760 upon his grandfather's death, and his titles merged in the Crown.

Second creation, 1866

Also: Earl of Kent and Earl of Ulster.

Duke	Portrait	Birth	Marriage(s)	Death
Prince Alfred House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha 1866–1900 also Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1893)		6 August 1844 Windsor Castle, Windsor son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert	Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia 23 January 1874 6 children	30 July 1900 Schloss Rosenau, Coburg aged 55
Prince Alfred and Grand Duchess Maria had two sons, one stillborn, one who predeceased him; and all his titles became extinct on his death.

Third creation, 1947

Also: Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich.

Duke	Portrait	Birth	Marriage(s)	Death
Prince Philip Mountbatten family/House of Glücksburg (by birth) 1947–2021		10 June 1921 Mon Repos, Corfu son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg	Princess Elizabeth 20 November 1947 4 children	9 April 2021 Windsor Castle, Windsor aged 99
Prince Charles House of Windsor 2021–2022 also: Prince of Wales (1958), Duke of Cornwall (1952, created 1337), Duke of Rothesay (1952, created 1469)		14 November 1948 Buckingham Palace, London son of Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II	Lady Diana Spencer 29 July 1981 2 children Divorced 28 August 1996	Living
			Camilla Parker Bowles 9 April 2005 No issue
Prince Charles succeeded as Charles III in 2022 upon his mother's death, and his titles merged in the Crown.

Fourth creation, 2023

Duke	Portrait	Birth	Marriage(s)	Death
Prince Edward House of Windsor 2023–present also: Earl of Wessex (1999), Earl of Forfar (2019), Viscount Severn (1999)		10 March 1964 Buckingham Palace, London son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip	Sophie Rhys-Jones 19 June 1999 2 children	Living
The dukedom will be held for Prince Edward's lifetime as a non-hereditary peerage title.

Family trees

Heraldry

Here are the achievements of the various Dukes of Edinburgh:

• 
  Coat of arms of Prince Frederick as Duke of Edinburgh
• 
  Coat of arms of George III as Duke of Edinburgh
• 
  Coat of arms of Prince Alfred as Duke of Edinburgh
• 
  Coat of arms of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
• 
  Coat of arms of Charles III as Duke of Edinburgh
• 
  Coat of arms of Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh

In media

A fictional Duke of Edinburgh appears in the 1983 sitcom The Black Adder. Rowan Atkinson plays the title character, Prince Edmund, who is granted the title Duke of Edinburgh by his father, a fictitious King Richard IV.^[19]

See also

• Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh
• Duchess of Edinburgh

References