In 2017, Elizabeth II and her husband will celebrate their seventieth anniversary. During these long years, not a single public scandal occurred between them. The couple raised three sons and one daughter.
The youngest son is Edward, Earl of Wessex. It will be discussed in the article.
Mother
Elizabeth Alexandra Maria was born 04/21/1926. She is known in the world as Elizabeth II, is the reigning queen of Great Britain. She began to rule in 1952. It comes from the Windsor Dynasty.
Education future queen received at home. It had a humanitarian focus. She studied historical disciplines, from childhood she was engaged in horse riding. She still has an interest in history and horses.
In 1934, the young lady met her distant relative Philip, who after many years became her husband. Elizabeth's parents wanted a more profitable candidate for their daughter, but did not oppose marriage. The ceremony took place in 1947. Edward, Earl of Wessex appeared in their family when Elizabeth was thirty-eight years old.
Elizabeth originally took third place in the succession to the throne. But fate turned out differently. At twenty-five, she ascended the throne.
Father
Philip Mountbatten was born on 06/10/1921. He belonged to the reigning Danish family, which at one time ruled Greece. He has family ties with many European rulers. So Philip is the great-grandson of Christian the Ninth (King of Denmark), the great-great-grandson of Victoria (Queen of England) and Nicholas I (the ruler of the Russian Empire).
Due to political events, his family was expelled from Greece. Philip lived in France, England, Germany, Scotland. He decided to associate his life with the navy.
Before marrying Elizabeth, Philip took the name Mountbatten. To do this, he used his mother's surname, changing it in the English manner. He also had to change religion and accept British citizenship. From Greek Orthodoxy he had to go to Anglicanism and abandon his previous titles. He ceased to be the prince of Greece and Denmark, and became the Duke of Edinburgh, as well as the Earl of Merionet, Baron of Greenwich. Such titles were awarded to Philip George Six.
The father of Edward, Earl of Wessex, completed his service in the Navy at the age of thirty. Since 1952, he devoted his life to serving the royal family.
Edward's childhood
The youngest son of the royal family, Edward, Earl of Wessex (born on 04/10/1964) cannot be a monarch. He escaped this burden of responsibility. This is due to the succession system. With each new child, grandson, and so on, who will be born in the families of his two elder brothers, he will fall lower and lower on the succession list.
Studying at school, Edward studied rather mediocre. This did not stop him from entering and graduating from Cambridge University. He received a diploma in history, and a couple of years later he became a master of arts.
Career
Upon graduation, Earl of Wessex, Edward, whose biography is associated with the British crown, decided to try his hand at military affairs. This path turned out to be very difficult for him. He underwent twelve-month training at the Royal Marines, but during this time the media regularly wrote that he was incapable of performing military service. He was often called the "Mama's son." Once, the Marines put on T-shirts, which made up a phrase that humiliated Edward. In a free translation, it sounds like "You can make a frog a prince, but you can not make a prince a marine."
Despite all the difficulties, Edward received the rank of colonel. Sometimes it can be seen in the naval uniform.
Failures in military service forced the son of Elizabeth to change activities. He decided to try himself in the field of entertainment. He began to work in an organization that was engaged in theatrical productions. In 1993, Edward founded his own company. She was engaged in the production of television films. By 2002, he resigned as managing director. The case did not bring him success. In addition, the media accused him of using the Queen's influence to advance his affairs.
Today, he has concentrated his efforts on the affairs of the royal family.
Personal coat of arms
Since Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, belongs to the royal family, he has his own coat of arms. It is based on the symbol of the monarch of the United Kingdom.
The main elements of the coat of arms:
- coat of arms of Scotland;
- coat of arms of England;
- coat of arms of Ireland;
- a lion;
- unicorn;
- leopard.
A member of the British royal family has the crown of the monarch’s children on the coat of arms.
Wife and kids
Edward met his future wife Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1993. They met for about four years, until the queen intervened. Elizabeth even allowed Sophie to sleep at Buckingham Palace.
The engagement took place in 1999. In the summer of the same year, a marriage took place. He was held at Windsor Castle, in the chapel of St. George. From now on, the Queen’s youngest son became known as His Royal Highness the Earl of Wessex.
The family lives in a house with fifty-three rooms, which is located in Surrey. They rented it for a hundred and fifty years.
In 2001, Sophie was urgently hospitalized with suspected ectopic pregnancy. Surgically, the fetus had to be removed from the fallopian tube. So ended the first pregnancy for thirty-six-year-old Sophie.
Two years later, Sophie became pregnant again. This time everything went well. Pregnancy did not even prevent her from riding. A month before the expected date of birth, the woman felt a sharp pain in the abdomen. In the general turmoil, several hours were lost. When Sophie was taken to the hospital, the doctor decided to do an emergency cesarean section. It turned out that Sophie had placental abruption. The born girl needed medical attention, and her mother was saved by a blood transfusion. The girl was named Louise Alice Elizabeth Mary.
The next child appeared in the family only in 2007. Sophie went through several IVFs and achieved a result. A boy was born, who was named James Alexander Philip Theo.
The children of Edward, Earl of Wessex, occupy an important place in the life of his father. He could be seen rolling children in a stroller, at home they like to watch their favorite TV shows together. The advent of the children changed Edward's views on the role of the family in his life.
