What to Know
King Charles‘ nephew is growing up, and now that he’s officially entering adulthood, he’s given the first big clue about how the royal family fits into his future — or, rather, how it doesn’t.
James is headed off to university, and according to a statement released by the palace, it looks like he’s not planning to use his royal title going forward, which could mean he’s planning to put some distance between himself and the monarchy in the future.
James’ future plans have officially been revealed.
Buckingham Palace has announced that James — who is the son of the late Queen Elizabeth‘s youngest child, Prince Edward, and his wife, Sophie — is onto the next chapter of his education.
Now that he’s passed his A-levels (similar to final exams for high school seniors), he is university-bound.
“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,” said the palace in a statement, via People.
Since he was called the Earl of Wessex in the statement, it appears he’s not using his “HRH” title (High Royal Highness) as an adult, even though he had the option to. He was given the title of Earl of Wessex after Elizabeth’s death, though he was formerly known as James, Viscount Severn, before his parents became the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh.
His sister decided against using a royal title, too.
In July, the palace announced that James’ older sister, Lady Louise, had graduated from St. Andrews University — the same school that Will and Kate were attending when they met. She doesn’t seem to be using her HRH titles, either.
This is a break from what their cousins, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, have done, but both of them have remained more public in their work as members of the royal family. This could be a sign that Louise and James plan to live more private lives with no expectations of becoming working royals… or maybe, they just didn’t want that life for themselves, which is totally understandable.
King Charles may have had some influence over this decision.
For years, there have been rumors that King Charles is interested in a “slimmed down” version of the monarchy with fewer working royals than we’ve seen in the past as The Firm attempts to figure out the right way to modernize the institution. Maybe Louise and James taking different paths is a result of Charles’ plan in action?
We’ll have to wait and see what the future holds for them both. But with Prince Harry and his family out of the picture, Charles may realize he’s short on working royals sometime soon, which might not be a good thing when it comes to keeping the monarchy alive for another generation.
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