Another Royal Family member ‘blocked’ from receiving Kate Middleton title

A hard-working Royal Family member was blocked from receiving a title which went to Kate Middleton. The old Duchess of Cambridge title, which Kate used to have before the death of the late Queen Elizabeth II, was previously going to be handed to another Royal Family member.

Sophie Wessex was previously going to be given the Duchess of Cambridge title until Prince Edward stepped in and blocked it. Sophie and Edward were both set to be granted the Cambridge titles when they wed back in 1999.

Upon their wedding day, the now-Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh were instead made the Earl and Countess of Wessex. A Buckingham Palace source told The Telegraph in 2010: “Prince Edward was going to be the Duke of Cambridge, but he watched the film Shakespeare in Love, which had a character called the Earl of Wessex.

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“He liked the sound of it and asked the Queen if he could have that instead.” Speaking of their decision to not bestow their children – including Lady Louise Windsor, 21, – titles from birth, Sophie previously told The Times: “We try to bring them up with the understanding 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 I think it’s highly unlikely.” Edward was given the title of Earl of Wessex prior to marrying Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1999.

They have two children: Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor and James Mountbatten-Windsor, Earl of Wessex. Edward’s mother conferred him the additional title of Earl of Forfar in 2019. Lady Louise was born prematurely and delivered through a caesarean section after Sophie went through a placental abruption.

The birth was so sudden that Edward wasn’t even present for the moment his firstborn was welcomed into the world.