Buckingham Palace confirmed that James, the Earl of Wessex, will study Rural Land and Property Management at the Royal Agricultural University after securing his A-level grades, referring to him solely by his earldom with no His Royal Highness style.
The 18-year-old son of the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh heads straight to Cirencester this autumn with no gap year. The announcement on A-level results day locks in a choice his parents offered him at birth and his sister already made.
Palace Statement Uses Only the Earldom
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson told outlets including People: “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 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 wording matches how the palace has long treated the family. James was born Viscount Severn in 2007. When his father became Duke of Edinburgh for life in March 2023, the courtesy title Earl of Wessex passed to him. He remains heir to the hereditary earldoms of Wessex and Forfar plus the viscountcy, but the dukedom itself ends with his father.
As a male-line grandson of Queen Elizabeth II he was entitled under the 1917 Letters Patent to be styled His Royal Highness Prince James. His parents never used that form. The new statement continues the practice.
The Decision Sophie Flagged Six Years Ago
In 2020 Sophie, then Countess of Wessex, told The Sunday Times Magazine exactly what would happen. “We try to bring them up with the understanding they are very likely to have to work for a living,” she said. “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.”
Lady Louise, now 22, kept the same course. When she graduated from the University of St Andrews she was listed as Louise Mountbatten-Windsor. James has now done the same at the moment the choice became fully his.
- 1999: Edward and Sophie marry; titles Earl and Countess of Wessex created; children to be styled as children of an earl.
- 2003 and 2007: Louise and James born without public HRH use.
- 2020: Sophie publicly explains the work-for-a-living plan and the open choice at 18.
- 2023: Edward created Duke of Edinburgh for life; James becomes Earl of Wessex by courtesy.
- August 2026: Palace announcement confirms the no-HRH path for university entry.
The official profile of the Duchess of Edinburgh still lists the children as Lady Louise and The Earl of Wessex, consistent with that long-standing approach.
What the Cirencester Degree Covers
The BSc Rural Land and Property Management course at the Royal Agricultural University is a four-year programme with a professional placement year. It is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Graduates typically move into rural practice surveying, estate management, consultancy and countryside property work with firms such as Strutt and Parker, Savills, Dalcour Maclaren and Fisher German. Many complete the Assessment of Professional Competence to become Chartered Surveyors and often pursue Fellowship of the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers at the same time.
- 95 percent of graduates in work or further study 15 months after the course (Graduate Outcomes Survey 2025)
- Placement year of 9-12 months in industry during year three
- Core modules cover valuation, land and property law, building construction, agriculture for land managers, planning and development, and sustainability of natural and built environments
- Entry typically around 104 UCAS points (roughly BCC at A-level)
The campus sits in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, a short drive from Highgrove and near Gatcombe Park. James becomes the first British royal to take a full degree there.
Earlier Royal Connections to the Same Campus
Captain Mark Phillips, Princess Anne’s first husband, completed an intensive farm-management course at the institution in 1978. Other alumni with royal ties include Prince Gundakar of Liechtenstein and Ernst August von Hannover, husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco.
The university itself dates to 1845. Its focus on applied land-based education matches the practical summer James has already spent.
Sandringham Summer and the Family Pattern
After leaving Radley College, James worked as a farmhand on King Charles’s Sandringham estate. Sources told The Sun he drove tractors and joined longtime workers for long hours. One estate employee said everyone was used to seeing him only in formal settings at Christmas and Easter and 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.”
That hands-on start fits the same model Princess Anne chose for Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall. Anne has said the decision not to give her children titles made life easier and avoided some of the downsides that come with them. Beatrice and Eugenie hold princess titles and HRH styles yet pursue private careers. Among Queen Elizabeth’s eight grandchildren only Prince William holds a full-time working royal role.
James stands around 16th in the line of succession. His parents have increased their official duties since 2020 while deliberately keeping their children free of that expectation.
How the Private Path Serves the Slimmer Monarchy
Edward and Sophie’s children will build careers outside the Civil List and the daily rota of engagements. Their parents remain working royals who stepped up after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back. The arrangement gives the institution two active supporters without adding two more full-time titles and households.
James’s degree points toward estate and land work that could one day support royal or private countryside holdings. The same skills that run Sandringham or Highgrove are useful whether or not the holder rides in a carriage at Trooping the Colour. Public reaction on X after the palace statement mixed congratulations with calls to keep him available as a working royal and light jokes about him eventually running Sandringham itself. The dominant note treated the tractor-and-degree path as a grounding choice rather than a snub.
He and Louise have already appeared at major family occasions including the King Charles III coronation ceremony, Trooping the Colour, Christmas at Sandringham and Easter at Windsor. Those appearances continue without the daily obligations of HRH status.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does James, Earl of Wessex, still legally hold an HRH title?
Under the 1917 Letters Patent he is entitled to the style His Royal Highness Prince as a male-line grandson of a sovereign, but his parents never used it and the palace continues to style him only as the Earl of Wessex; the choice to use or not use the style rests with him as an adult.
What degree is James studying at the Royal Agricultural University?
He is enrolled on the four-year BSc (Hons) Rural Land and Property Management with professional placement year, a RICS-accredited programme that prepares graduates for careers as rural surveyors, estate managers and countryside property specialists.
Will James inherit the Dukedom of Edinburgh?
No. The dukedom was created as a life peerage for Prince Edward only and becomes extinct on his death; James remains heir to the hereditary titles Earl of Wessex, Earl of Forfar and Viscount Severn.
Which other royal grandchildren do not use HRH titles?
Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall all live without HRH styles; Princess Anne deliberately withheld titles from her children, while Edward and Sophie left the choice open until 18 and both children declined public use.
Has any British royal studied full-time at the Royal Agricultural University before?
James is the first member of the British royal family to take a full degree there; Captain Mark Phillips completed a shorter intensive farm-management course in 1978 and several European royals have also attended.
James begins classes at a campus that has trained land managers since the Royal Agricultural University founded in 1845. The earldom stays. The HRH style stays unused. The pattern his parents set is now complete for both children.
