HRH The Prince Philip, the current Duke of Edinburgh

History of title

The dukedom was first created in July 26, 1726, in the Peerage of Great Britain. The title was bestowed by King George I on his grandson Prince Frederick Lewis, who also became Prince of Wales the following year. Upon Frederick's death, the title was inherited by his son Prince George. When Prince George became King George III, the dukedom "merged into the crown," and ceased to exist.

King George III revived the title on November 19, 1764 for his younger brother, Prince William of Wales, the full form of the title being "Gloucester and Edinburgh". The title passed to the Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh's only son, William Frederick, who died without a male heir, causing the title to become extinct.

Queen Victoria created the title on 24 May 1866 for her second son Prince Alfred, this time in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Alfred died without a male heir in 1900.

The title was created a fourth time by George VI in 1947 for his future son-in-law Lt. Philip Mountbatten. Philip married Princess Elizabeth the following day, and became a Prince of the United Kingdom in 1957. After her marriage but before her accession, Elizabeth was known as the Duchess of Edinburgh.

Future Dukes

It was announced in 1999, at the time of the wedding of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, that he would eventually follow his father as Duke of Edinburgh.http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page3025.asp However, the process by which this might happen is not simple, and will almost certainly not involve Edward directly inheriting the title from his father. Like any normal dukedom, the present Dukedom of Edinburgh passes to the heirs-male of the first duke, and Edward is currently fifth in this line of succession, following his two older brothers and his two nephews.

Rather, when the present duke dies, the dukedom will be inherited by his eldest son, Charles, Prince of Wales (or his heir, if he is deceased). If Charles is not yet king when this occurs, he would add "Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich" to his own list of titles. Only after Charles (or his heir) has both inherited the title of Duke of Edinburgh and ascended the throne would the present creation merge in the crown.

Presuming that there is no intention to call a fourth creation of the Dukedom into being while the third remains active, then, Edward will not be created Duke of Edinburgh until after the death of both his parents. At that point in time the monarch of the day (although in no way legally bound to do so) will presumably carry out the announced scheme.

Dukes of Edinburgh, first Creation (1726)

subsidiary titles: Marquess of the Isle of Ely; Earl of Eltham; Viscount Launceston; Baron Snowdon

• HRH Prince Frederick Louis, Duke of Edinburgh (1707-1751)
• HRH Prince George, Duke of Edinburgh (1738-1820) (became King as George III of the United Kingdom in 1760)

Dukes of Gloucester and Edinburgh (1764)

subsidiary title: Earl of Connaught (in the Peerage of Ireland)

• HRH Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (1743-1805)
• HRH Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (1776-1834)

Dukes of Edinburgh, second Creation (1866)

subsidiary titles: Earl of Kent; Earl of Ulster

• HRH Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (1844-1900)

Dukes of Edinburgh, third Creation (1947)

subsidiary titles: Earl of Merioneth, Baron Greenwich

• HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (b. 1921)
  • Heir-apparent: HRH The Prince of Wales (b. 1948), with whom the title will most likely merge in the crown.

Dukes of Edinburgh, in fiction

Prince Edmund (Blackadder) 1461-1498 in the BBC historical comedy television series The Black Adder. Rowan Atkinson played the fictional Prince Edmund Plantagenet, Duke of Edinburgh, Laird of Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles, Lord Warden of the Royal Privies, who was the illegitimate son of Donald MacAngus, third duke of Argyll and Queen Gertrude of Flanders. Prince Edmund was therefore the stepson of King Richard IV (a fictionalised version of Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York).

See also

• Edinburgh
• The Duke of Edinburgh's Award
• Edinburgh of the Seven Seas
• Prince Edmund (Blackadder), for a fictitious Duke of Edinburgh

External links

• HRH The Duke of Edinburgh on Burke's Peerage
• Duke of Edinburgh

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