Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, King Charles, Queen Camilla, Princess Eugenie, and Princess Beatrice are in the spotlight a lot, but remember: they represent only a fraction of the royals. And there are a lot of random Royal Family members who stay out of the spotlight/don’t use their titles.
Example? Princess Anne’s kids, Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips, who are first cousins of Prince William, but spend a lot less time in the news. The same goes for Prince Edward’s kids, Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor and James, Earl of Wessex.
Zara, Peter, Louise, and James all have one thing in common: unlike their cousins, they don’t use Prince/Princess titles, and aren’t called His/Her Majesty. That’s because their parents decided to let them make title decisions themselves at age 18 — and according to The Daily Mail, James just had the milestone birthday and fully rejected the chance to go by “Prince”.
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Per royal expert Richard Eden, “Prince Edward and Sophie’s son, James, turned 18 yesterday, but he won’t be celebrating by following the example of his cousins.” He adds that James — who is 16th in line to the throne — “will not, I’m told, be using his titles”. What’s more, a source claims that a title is “the last sort of thing he’s interested in.”
Meanwhile, James’ mom Sophie told the Sunday Times: “We try to bring them up with the understanding that 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 it’s highly unlikely.”
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Mehera Bonner is a celebrity and entertainment news writer who enjoys Bravo and Antiques Roadshow with equal enthusiasm, She was previously entertainment editor at Marie Claire and has covered pop culture for over a decade.Â