There was only ever the slimmest of possibilities that Prince Edward would ever take the throne – that is until a pretty unexpected request came in from another country.
Edward, 60, was third in line to the throne at the time of his birth – even though he was the late Queen and Philip’s fourth child. This is because the law surrounding the line of succession used to mean that male children born were prioritised over any female children, so despite the fact Princess Anne is older than him, his arrival meant he overtook her automatically.
These days, the law has been changed, so it’s birth order rather than gender that cements a royal youngster’s position in the line of succession – but decades after his birth Edward received an “unlikely” request, that could have seen him become King of another country altogether.
When the Soviet Union broke down in 1991, new countries emerged out of the former Soviet Bloc, including Estonia, where some politicians it turns out were pretty keen to see Edward involved in their burgeoning nation-state. In 1994 eight seats were won by the Independent Royalist Party, who wanted to see a monarchy in Estonia – a territory that was undergoing rapid socio-economic and political changes after the dissolution of the USSR.
The Independent Royalist Party went so far as writing a letter to Edward via the palace, beseeching him to take on the top job, the Sunday Telegraph reported at the time, noting that they thought he would be “perfect” for the role and they admired him “enormously”.
However, it wasn’t to be, and Buckingham Palace sent a response politely declining the offer to make Edward, and therefore his now-wife Sophie, the King and Queen. The palace is said to have replied, that it was a “charming idea but a rather unlikely one”.
At the time of the request, Sophie and Edward had been dating for about a year, but they first met in 1987 when she was working as a press officer. The couple got engaged in 1998 and the couple finally tied the knot the following year in 1999. The couple were reportedly offered the titles Duke and Duchess of Cambridge upon their marriage by the late Queen, but turned them down – they were eventually taken up by Kate and William when they got married in 2011.
Instead, Edward requested his mother that he and his wife could use the titles Earl and Countess of Wessex – a title that is said to have been out of use since the 11th century. This was a break with royal tradition, because Edward did not become a duke like his brothers, and no son of a monarch had done this since the Tudor period.
Edward and Sophie welcomed their first child – Lady Louise Windsor – in 2003, and four years later, the couple had James. When the couple were given the titles Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, a request first made by the late Prince Philip who previously held the title and wanted to pass it on to his youngest son, James, 17, then became the Earl of Wessex.
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