Duke of Edinburgh

This article is about the title. For the holder from 1947 to 2021, see Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. For other uses, see Duke of Edinburgh (disambiguation).

Dukedom of Edinburgh
File:The Duke of Edinburgh (2).jpg Longest serving Prince Philip 20 November 1947 – 9 April 2021
Creation	Third
Monarch	King George VI
Peerage	Peerage of the United Kingdom
First holder	Prince Frederick (first creation; 1726)
Last holder	Prince Charles, now Charles III
Remainder to	the 1st Duke's heirs male of the body lawfully begotten
Subsidiary titles	Earl of Merioneth Baron Greenwich
Status	merged in the Crown
Extinction date	8 September 2022

Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, was a substantive title that has been created three times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produce any revenue for the title holder.

On its last creation, in 1947, the title was bestowed by George VI on Prince Philip upon his marriage to George's daughter, Princess Elizabeth, the future Elizabeth II. The title was inherited on Philip's death, in 2021, by his and Elizabeth's son, Charles, the then Prince of Wales. The title merged in the Crown on Charles's accession to the throne upon the death of his mother in 2022.

1726 creation

Frederick, Prince of Wales (1707–1751) was the first Duke of Edinburgh, from 1726 to his death

The title was first created in the Peerage of Great Britain on 26 July 1726 by King George I, who bestowed it on his grandson Prince Frederick, who also became Prince of Wales the following year. The subsidiary titles of the dukedom were Marquess of the Isle of Ely, Earl of Eltham, in the County of Kent, Viscount of Launceston, in the County of Cornwall, and Baron of Snowdon, in the County of Caernarvon, all of which were also in the Peerage of Great Britain. The marquessate was apparently erroneously gazetted as Marquess of the Isle of Wight although Marquess of the Isle of Ely was the intended title. In later editions of the London Gazette the Duke is referred to as the Marquess of the Isle of Ely. Upon Frederick's death, the titles were inherited by his son Prince George. When Prince George became King George III in 1760, the titles merged in the Crown and ceased to exist.

1866 creation

Queen Victoria re-created the title, this time in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, on 24 May 1866 for her second son Prince Alfred, instead of Duke of York, the traditional title of the second son of the monarch. The subsidiary titles of the dukedom were Earl of Kent and Earl of Ulster, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. When Alfred became the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and 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 Dukedom of Edinburgh and subsidiary titles became extinct upon the elder Alfred's death in 1900.

1947 creation

The title was created for a third time on 19 November 1947 by King George VI, who bestowed it on his son-in-law Philip Mountbatten, when he married Princess Elizabeth. Subsequently, Elizabeth was styled "HRH The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh" until her accession in 1952. The subsidiary titles of the dukedom were Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich, of Greenwich in the County of London; all these titles were in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. 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 the Hellenes 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.

Upon Philip's death on 9 April 2021, his eldest son Charles, Prince of Wales, succeeded to all of his hereditary titles. Upon Charles's accession to the throne on 8 September 2022, the peerages merged in the Crown and ceased to exist.

Prospective creations

It was announced in 1999, at the time of the wedding of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, that he would eventually follow his father as Duke of Edinburgh.

It was expected that a new, fourth, creation would be bestowed on Prince Edward after the third creation reverted to the Crown when Charles III acceded to the throne. In this scenario, James Mountbatten-Windsor, Viscount Severn, would be the heir apparent, as the son of Prince Edward. In July 2021, The Times reported that Charles had decided not to give the title to his brother upon accession. Clarence House stated that "[a]ll stories of this nature are speculation, no final decisions have been taken" and declined to comment further. As of 2023, no announcements have been made for any future creations.

Dukes of Edinburgh

First creation, 1726

Also Marquess of the Isle of Ely, Earl of Eltham, Viscount Launceston and Baron Snowdon.

Duke	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
Prince Frederick House of Hanover 1726–1751 also: Prince of Wales (1729), Duke of Cornwall (1727, created 1337), Duke of Rothesay (1727, created 1469)	Prince Frederick	1 February 1707 Leineschloss, Hanover son of King George II and Queen Caroline	Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha 17 April 1736 9 children	31 March 1751 Leicester House, Leicester Square, London aged 44
Prince George House of Hanover 1751–1760 also: Prince of Wales (1751)		4 June 1738 Norfolk House, London son of Prince Frederick and Princess Augusta	Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 8 September 1761 15 children	29 January 1820 Windsor Castle, Windsor aged 81
Prince George succeeded as George III in 1760 upon his grandfather's death, and his titles merged in the Crown.

Second creation, 1866

Also: Earl of Kent and Earl of Ulster.

Duke	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
Prince Alfred House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha 1866–1900 also: Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1892)		6 August 1844 Windsor Castle, Windsor son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert	Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia 23 January 1874 6 children	30 July 1900 Schloss Rosenau, Coburg aged 55
Prince Alfred and Grand Duchess Maria had one son, who predeceased him; and all his titles became extinct on his death.

Third creation, 1947

Also: Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich.

Duke	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
Prince Philip Mountbatten family/House of Glücksburg (by birth) House of Windsor (by marriage) 1947–2021 also: Prince consort (1952)		10 June 1921 Mon Repos, Corfu son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg	Princess Elizabeth 20 November 1947 4 children	9 April 2021 Windsor Castle, Windsor aged 99
Prince Charles 2021–2022 House of Windsor also: Prince of Wales (1958), Duke of Cornwall (1952, created 1337), Duke of Rothesay (1952, created 1469)	Prince Charles	14 November 1948 Buckingham Palace, London son of Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II	Lady Diana Spencer 29 July 1981 – 28 August 1996 2 children Camilla Parker Bowles 9 April 2005	Living
Prince Charles ascended as Charles III in 2022 upon his mother's death; and his hereditary titles merged in the Crown.

In media

A fictional Duke of Edinburgh appears in the 1983 sitcom The Black Adder. Rowan Atkinson plays the title character, Prince Edmund, who is granted the title Duke of Edinburgh by his father, a fictitious King Richard IV.

See also

• Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh
• Duchess of Edinburgh