Another Queen Elizabeth grandchild set to give up royal titles

Buckingham Palace has seemingly confirmed that James, Earl of Wessex, the youngest grandchild of the late Queen Elizabeth II, will not be taking on his royal titles as an adult. The 18-year-old son of Prince Edward and Sophie, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, has earned the necessary grades from his A-level exams to take the next steps towards his future career, but it appears that won’t be as a working senior royal.On Thursday, August 13, the palace announced that James is set to attend the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, beginning this fall. A palace spokesperson 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.”The palace’s decision to refer to James as simply the “Earl of Wessex” in an official announcement about his future is telling.

As a grandson of the late Queen, it is his birthright to publicly adopt a royal title or HRH (His/Her Royal Highness) styling. But like his older sister, Lady Louise, 22, James appears to have chosen a different path, according to PEOPLE.A family decisionJames and Louise were given the option by their parents to decide for themselves when they turned 18 whether to use their royal titles. However, it seems neither of them plans to do so.

Louise was announced as “Louise Mountbatten-Windsor” rather than using a royal title when she graduated from the University of St. Andrews last month, as per the report.Speaking to The Sunday Times in 2020, Sophie had shared, “We try to bring them 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 will be the first member of the royal family to attend the Royal Agricultural University, but not the first alumnus with royal connections. Princess Anne’s first husband, Captain Mark Phillips, studied there, as did Prince Gundakar of Liechtenstein and Ernst August von Hannover, the husband of Monaco’s Princess Caroline.Hands-on experienceHis upcoming studies in Rural Land & Property Management will come after a summer of hands-on work as a farmhand on King Charles’ Sandringham estate.

In recent months, James has been seen driving tractors and “mucking in,” surprising some of the longtime workers on the Norfolk property, as per the report.“Everyone is so used to only seeing James smartly turned out with his family at functions at Christmas and Easter, so I had to do a double take... He might be the King’s nephew, but he is more than happy to get his hands dirty and muck in," one employee recently told The Sun.A modern choiceIf James has officially decided to eschew his royal titles, the modern choice aligns him with not just his sister, but several of his cousins. For instance, the late Queen Elizabeth II's daughter, Princess Anne, opted not to give her children, Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall, royal titles at birth and raised them without the expectation of royal obligation.“I think it was probably easier for them, and I think most people would argue that there are downsides to having titles,” Anne told Vanity Fair in 2020.

“So I think that was probably the right thing to do.”In fact, Prince William, who is the current heir to the throne, is the only one of Queen Elizabeth’s eight grandchildren to hold a full-time working royal role, after his brother, Prince Harry, stepped back from royal duties and moved to the U.S. in 2020.

Meanwhile, the former Prince Andrew gave his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, the princess titles and HRH styling at birth.

However, the sisters are not working royals and grew up to pursue private careers. While Beatrice remains one of King Charles’ Counsellors of State, she and Eugenie have stepped even further back from the royal spotlight in the months since the King stripped Andrew of his royal titles due to the scandal of his involvement in the Epstein files, as per the report.What’s next for James?James’s decision to study Rural Land & Property Management suggests a career focused on the countryside and land stewardship.

The university’s three-year full-time course begins on September 28 and teaches “the fundamentals of rural professional practice as well as planning and development, law, valuation, building construction and management”.The Royal Agricultural University is located in Cirencester, just nine miles from Princess Anne’s home at Gatcombe Park and a few miles from King Charles’ country residence, Highgrove House.For James, the choice to forgo royal titles and pursue a career in land management is a reflection of a changing royal family, one that is increasingly focused on private careers and personal fulfilment over public duty.