Like thousands of other teenagers in the UK, the King's nephew James, Earl of Wessex, celebrated achieving his A-levels this week and will soon be heading off to university—and along with that big life change comes another huge decision, concerning his title.
A spokesperson for the royal family announced that James has opted to study at the Royal Agricultural University, in Cirencester, Gloucestershire. A statement issued said: "The Earl of Wessex will be going to the Royal Agricultural University to study Rural Land & Property Management. He will head straight there without taking a year out."
It seems that, much like his sister, Lady Louise Windsor, the Earl of Wessex has broken from royal protocol and has ditched the “HRH” (His Royal Highness) styling before his name and title—something you'd expect to be present in a formal announcement from the Palace.
It's a decision that his parents Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, and Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, have previously commented is one they're allowing their children to make for themselves.
In an interview with The Sunday Times back in 2020, the Duchess said, “We try to bring [James and Louise] 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.”
James’s sister, Louise, graduated from the University of St. Andrews this year and was announced as “Louise Mountbatten-Windsor,” so this could be a name he also chooses to adopt forever.
Prior to university, James has been undertaking some work experience on his uncle King Charles’s Sandringham Estate, with one anonymous fellow employee telling the press, “He might be the King’s nephew, but he is more than happy to get his hands dirty and muck in.”
