Duke of Edinburgh

For the award programme, see The Duke of Edinburgh's Award.

Prince Frederick Lewis (1707-1751) was the very first Duke of Edinburgh, from 1727 to his death.

The Duke of Edinburgh is a British royal title, named after the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, which has been conferred upon members of the British royal family only four times times since its creation in 1726. The current holder is Prince Philip, the royal consort to Queen Elizabeth II.

History of the title

Prince George was the second Duke of Edinburgh, before he became George III.

The title was first created in the Peerage of Great Britain on 26 July 1726 by George I, who bestowed it on his grandson Prince Frederick, 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 in 1760, the title "merged into the crown", and ceased to exist.

Four years later, on 19 November 1764, George III created a variation of the title for his younger brother, Prince William, the full form being "Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh". In 1805, that title was inherited by William's only son, Prince William Fredrick, who died without a male heir, causing the title to cease to exist.

Queen Victoria re-created the title on 24 May 1866 for her second son Prince Alfred, this time in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. When Alfred became the sovereign of the two German duchies Saxe-Coburg and Saxe-Gotha in 1893, he retained his British titles. His only son Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha committed suicide in 1899, so the title Duke of Edinburgh again became extinct upon the elder Alfred's death in 1900.

The title was created for a third time on 19 November 1947 by George VI, who bestowed it the next day on his son-in-law Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, when he married Princess Elizabeth. Earlier that year, Philip had renounced his Greek and Danish royal titles (he was born a Prince of Greece and Denmark, being a male-line grandson of king George I of Greece and male-line great-grandson of king Christian IX of Denmark) along with his rights to the Greek throne. In 1957, Philip became a Prince of the United Kingdom.

Dukes of Edinburgh, first creation (1726-1760)

• Prince Frederick (1707–1751), 1st Duke of Edinburgh (1726–1751). The eldest son of George II, he was created Prince of Wales in 1727 but died before his father.
• Prince George (1738–1820), 2nd Duke of Edinburgh (1751–1760). The eldest son of the first duke, he was created Prince of Wales later in 1751. He succeeded his grandfather as George III in 1760, when the title merged in the crown.

Dukes of Gloucester and Edinburgh (1764-1834)

Prince Alfred was the third Duke of Edinburgh.

• Prince William (1743–1805), 1st Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (1764–1805). He was the younger brother of George III, who created the title for him.
• Prince William Fredrick (1776–1834), 2nd Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (1805–1834). He was the only son of the first duke and died without issue.

Dukes of Edinburgh, second creation (1866-1900)

• Prince Alfred (1844–1900), 1st Duke of Edinburgh (1866–1900). He was the second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and became the sovereign Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1893. Predeceased by his only son, he died without male issue and the title became extinct.

Dukes of Edinburgh, third creation (1947-present)

HRH The Prince Philip is the current Duke of Edinburgh, and the fourth since the title was first created in 1726.

• Prince Philip (born 1921), 1st Duke of Edinburgh (1947-present). He was bestowed the title when he married the future Elizabeth II (who was thereafter known as the Duchess of Edinburgh until she became queen in 1952). However, he was not bestowed the title "prince" until 1957.

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 follow his father as Duke of Edinburgh—when that title "eventually reverts to the crown". 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 all British dukedoms, the title of Duke of Edinburgh passes to the sons in order of age (i.e. "heirs-male" under standard Salic law succession), and Edward is currently fifth in this line of succession following his two elder brothers (Prince Charles and Prince Andrew) and two of his nephews (Prince William and Prince Harry). Thus, if the present duke dies while his wife is still the monarch, the title will be inherited by his eldest son, Charles, Prince of Wales (or Charles' heir if he is deceased). The simplest way for Edward to become Duke of Edinburgh is for Charles to inherit both the dukedom and the crown, at which point the dukedom would merge with the crown and would become available to be newly created for Edward. However, a number of other eventualities are possible.

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, Archbishop of Canterbury, 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); however, his illegitimacy was unknown to the King. He had Scottish titles despite Scotland being a separate kingdom at the time.

See also

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

External links

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