Lady Louise, the only great-grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II to carry the surname Mountbatten-Windsor, finds herself in a unique position.
While her father, Prince Edward, was recently conferred the title of Duke of Edinburgh, Lady Louise’s own royal title remains unchanged.
This has sparked a debate: should she be given a new title as well?
Buckingham Palace made an announcement regarding this matter, stating that Prince Edward’s wife, Sophie, will now be known as the Duchess of Edinburgh.
The palace released a statement saying, “His Majesty the King has been pleased to confer the Dukedom of Edinburgh upon Prince Edward on the occasion of HRH’s 59th birthday today.
The title will be held for HRH’s lifetime.”
The title of Duke of Edinburgh was last created in 1947 for Prince Philip upon his marriage to Princess Elizabeth, who later ascended to the throne as Queen Elizabeth II in 1952.
The new Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh are proud to continue Prince Philip’s legacy of promoting opportunities for young people from all backgrounds to reach their full potential.
According to royal tradition, the couple’s 15-year-old son, James, is now known as the Earl of Wessex.
However, Lady Louise, who is 19 years old, missed out on becoming the Countess of Wessex.
This is due to the Succession to the Crown Act 2013, which no longer gives precedence to male siblings over their older sisters.
However, as Lady Louise and James were born before the act came into effect, it does not apply to them.
Prince Edward and Sophie made a conscious decision to style their children as the son and daughter of an Earl rather than as Prince and Princess, titles they were entitled to at birth.
In an interview with the Times in 2020, Sophie explained their reasoning, stating, “We try to bring them up with the understanding that they are very likely to have to work for a living.
Hence, we made the decision not to use H.”
In other news, King Charles is facing questions about his upcoming coronation as anti-monarchy protests are set to take place outside Westminster Abbey today.
Approximately 30 activists from the anti-monarchy group Republic are expected to stage protests, holding placards and shouting at the king as he delivers his Commonwealth Day message.
Graham Smith, the leader of Republic, plans to confront the monarch with questions about the necessity of a multi-million pound coronation during a time of financial hardship.
Instead of a coronation, Smith suggests that Britain should engage in a public debate about the future of the monarchy.
He stated, “There will be noise.
And I will be loudly shouting with a mic at Charles, asking him questions and saying to him, ‘Why don’t you come and talk to us and answer those questions?
Why don’t you agree to a live debate?'”
King Charles aims to unite the 54 Commonwealth countries and their 2.5 billion citizens today, as some nations have already expressed intentions to hold referendums or make constitutional reforms to distance themselves from the monarchy.
Since Barbados became a republic in 2021, several other Caribbean nations, including Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, the Bahamas, Grenada, and Jamaica, as well as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, have hinted at potential referendums or constitutional changes to become republics.