James, Earl of Wessex
son of Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh
James Alexander Philip Theo Mountbatten-Windsor, Earl of Wessex (born 17 December 2007), styled Viscount Severn until 2023, is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger child and only son of Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh.
James is the youngest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a nephew of King Charles III. He was born during the reign of his paternal grandmother and was eighth in the line of succession to the British throne at the time of his birth; as of 2026, he is 17th.
Early life and education
James Alexander Philip Theo Mountbatten-Windsor, Viscount Severn was born at 4:20 pm on 17 December 2007 by caesarean section at Frimley Park Hospital, Surrey, the younger child and only son of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, and Sophie, Countess of Wessex (later the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh). His father is the youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His mother worked in public relations before becoming a full-time member of the royal family following her marriage in 1999. His full name was announced on 21 December. He has an older sister, Louise.
James was baptised on 19 April 2008 in the private chapel at Windsor Castle by David Conner, Dean of Windsor. His godparents were Alastair Bruce, Duncan Bullivant, Thomas Hill, Denise Poulton, Jeanye Irwin, and the ceremony was attended by his paternal grandparents, Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
The public source identifies “James, Earl of Wessex” as son of Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around James, Earl and Wessex.
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This entry incorporates text from “James, Earl of Wessex” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.