Who’s Who in the Royal Family
HM The Queen |
HM The Queen, Elizabeth II, was born HRH Princess Elizabeth of York in Mayfair, London, on April 21, 1926. Her parents were TRH The Duke and Duchess of York (later George VI and Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother). Called “Lillibet” by her family, Princess Elizabeth was raised and educated at home alongside her sister, Princess Margaret. In 1936, after the death of George V and the abdication of Edward VIII, she became HRH The Princess Elizabeth, heiress presumptive to the throne. Princess Elizabeth worked as a mechanic in the second World War. Not long after the war ended, she was engaged to her royal cousin, Prince Philip of Greece. The two married in 1947 and have four children, Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward, and eight grandchildren. When her father died on February 6, 1952, HRH The Princess Elizabeth became HM The Queen. She was crowned at Westminster Abbey on June 2, 1953. She reigns not only over the United Kingdom but also over the sixteen Commonwealth nations. At 82, she is the longest-lived British monarch and one of the longest reigning British monarch, after Victoria and George III. She celebrated her Silver Jubilee in 1977 and her Golden Jubilee in 2002. The Queen is an animal lover. She has a famous pack of treasured corgis as pets, and she has a keen interest in horse racing. She also reportedly enjoys traditional Scottish music and dancing. The Queen and Prince Philip divide their time between Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Sandringham House, and Balmoral Castle. |
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh |
HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was born HRH Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark on June 10, 1921, in Corfu, Greece. His parents were TRH Prince and Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark (his mother, born HSH Princess Alice of Battenberg, was a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria). Prince Philip’s early life was fractured; his parents separated, the Greek monarchy was exiled, and he spent time at boarding schools in England and with his sisters and their families in Germany. Following in the footsteps of his uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten, Philip joined the Royal Navy in 1939. He eventually earned the rank of lieutenant and saw action during the second World War. After World War II ended, he married his second cousin, Princess Elizabeth. Before the wedding, Philip became a naturalized British subject and adopted the surname “Mountbatten.” He received the style of His Royal Highness and the title of The Duke of Edinburgh on his marriage to Elizabeth. After Elizabeth acceded to the throne in 1952, The Duke began to support his wife in her royal duties as well as embarking on an agenda of his own. He has been especially involved in supporting initiatives to promote the development and success of young people, including the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. He also serves as a Privy Counsellor. |
HRH The Prince of Wales |
HRH The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales was born HRH Prince Charles of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace on November 14, 1948. His parents are HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh (then TRH The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh). He became HRH The Prince Charles, Duke of Cornwall and heir apparent to the throne when his grandfather died in 1952. Prince Charles was created HRH The Prince of Wales by his mother, HM The Queen, in 1958. After graduating from Cambridge, Charles served in the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. In 1981, he married Lady Diana Spencer in a ceremony that was televised worldwide. The couple had two children, William and Harry, before divorcing in a maelstrom of media coverage in 1996. He lost favor with the British people when it was revealed that he had conducted a long-term affair with Camilla Parker Bowles while married to Diana. Diana died in a car crash in 1997; Prince Charles married Mrs. Parker Bowles in a civil ceremony at Windsor in 2005. The Prince of Wales has taken a significant role in many charitable causes, including environmental initiatives and urban planning projects. He heads the Prince’s Trust, an organization that aims to help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. He also often represents the sovereign at events like funerals and investitures. The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall divide their time between Clarence House, Highgrove House, Birkhall, and Llwynywermod. |
HRH The Duchess of Cornwall |
HRH The Duchess of Cornwall was born on July 17, 1947, to Major Bruce and Mrs. Rosemary Shand (née Cubitt). She attended school in Sussex, Kensington, and Switzerland before marrying Andrew Parker Bowles in 1973. The couple has two children, Tom and Laura, and two granddaughters. Brigadier and Mrs. Parker Bowles divorced in 1995. Camilla and The Prince of Wales began a romantic relationship that pre-dated both of their first marriages, and that reportedly continued while they were married to others. Their adultery was aired in the press during the separation and divorce of The Prince and Princess of Wales. After their divorces and the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, Charles and Camilla married in a civil ceremony in 2005. Mrs. Parker Bowles became HRH The Princess of Wales on her marriage, though she has chosen to use one of her husband’s subsidiary titles as HRH The Duchess of Cornwall. The Palace has announced that she will be called “HRH The Princess Consort” when her husband becomes king rather than the “HM The Queen” title and style she would be entitled to use. The Duchess acts as patron of numerous charities, including the National Osteoporosis Society, the Wiltshire Bobby Van Scheme, the Langford Trust for Animal Health and Welfare, and the London Chamber Orchestra, St Johns, Smith Square. She is the Royal Colonel of the 4th Battalion The Rifles and the Commodore-in-Chief of Naval Medical Services. |
HRH Prince William of Wales |
HRH Prince William of Wales was born on June 21, 1982, in London. He is the elder son of TRH The Prince and Princess of Wales (later Diana, Princess of Wales). He has been second in line to the British throne since his birth. His mother was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997, when he was fifteen. His stepmother is HRH The Duchess of Cornwall. Prince William was educated at Eton College and attended the University of St Andrews after spending a gap year doing service work. He was commissioned as an army officer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in December 2006, and he has also served in various capacities with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. He is currently training with the RAF to become a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot. William also has official royal duties. He is the patron of numerous charities, including Centrepoint and the Tusk Trust. William is also the president of The Football Association. He became a Counsellor of State when he turned 21, and at 26, he became the 1,000th Knight of the Garter. Prince William has been dating his girlfriend, Catherine “Kate” Middleton, since the pair were students and housemates at St Andrews. |
HRH Prince Henry of Wales |
HRH Prince Henry of Wales, called “Harry,” is the second son of HRH The Prince of Wales and the late Diana, Princess of Wales. His stepmother is HRH The Duchess of Cornwall. Prince Harry was born on September 15, 1984, in Paddington, London. He is third in line to the British throne. Harry followed his older brother, William, to Eton College, and then chose a career in the military over university. He made a film, The Forgotten Kingdom, which documented the plight of orphans in Lesotho during his gap year. He completed his officer’s training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2006, and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in 2008. Prince Harry was secretly deployed to Afghanistan in 2008 with his regiment, serving as a Forward Air Controller. His cover was blown when an Australian magazine violated a media blackout and published a story about his deployment, and he was forced to return to England. He received the Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan for his efforts in the war. Currently, Prince Harry is training to become a helicopter pilot with the Army Air Corps. He also undertakes royal duties and is the patron of a range of charities, most notably Sentebale, which he helped to found in 2006. The charity benefits orphans in Lesotho. |
HRH The Duke of York |
HRH The Prince Andrew, Duke of York was born on February 19, 1960, at Buckingham Palace. He is the third child and second son of HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. He is the first child born to a reigning British monarch since Queen Victoria gave birth to Princess Beatrice in 1857. His style and title at birth was HRH The Prince Andrew. Prince Andrew attended Gordonstoun and the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth. He joined the Royal Navy in 1978, and also learned to fly helicopters with the navy and the Royal Air Force. He was serving on the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible when the Falklands War broke out in 1982, and he flew helicopter missions during the conflict. Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson on July 23, 1986; the pair were created TRH The Duke and Duchess of York on their wedding. They have two daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie. Andrew and Sarah divorced in 1996. The Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York have maintained a close relationship since their divorce, co-parenting their children and even at times living under the same roof. After retiring from his naval career in 2001, The Duke now serves as Special Representative for International Trade and Investment for the United Kingdom. In this capacity, he represents the interests of the UK at trade fairs and conferences. He is also fond of golfing and is the Captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews. He lives at Royal Lodge, Windsor; his ex-wife owns Dolphin House, located next door. |
HRH Princess Beatrice of York |
HRH Princess Beatrice of York was born in London on August 8, 1988. She is the elder daughter of TRH The Duke and Duchess of York (now Sarah, Duchess of York). She is the fifth person overall and the first female in the line of succession to the throne. Princess Beatrice attended Upton House School and Coworth Park School and was head girl at St George’s School, Ascot. She took a gap year before beginning studies at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she is working toward a degree in history and history of ideas. Beatrice often appears at royal events with her family, including the annual Trooping the Colour festivities in London. She has also worked with the Springboard for Children and Teenage Cancer Trust. The princess reportedly has an interest in fashion, and she will soon make her feature film debut with a cameo role in The Young Victoria. The film, about the early years of Princess Beatrice’s great-great-great grandmother, was produced in part by her mother, Sarah, Duchess of York. Princess Beatrice is in a relationship with Dave Clark, an American who works for Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic division. |
HRH Princess Eugenie of York |
HRH Princess Eugenie of York is the younger daughter of The Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York. She was born on March 23, 1990, in Portland Hospital, London. She is sixth in line to the British throne and was the first royal baby to be christened in public. Princess Eugenie was six years old when her mother and father divorced, though she has praised their parenting and their friendly relationship. Eugenie suffered from scoliosis as a child and underwent surgery to correct her spinal curvature in 2002. Eugenie attended Upton House School and Coworth Park School; she attended St George’s School, Ascot for a time before moving to Marlborough College, a boarding school. She achieved the highest A-levels of any member of the royal family. She is currently taking a gap year before attending university. Like her sister, Princess Eugenie does not undertake royal duties, though she often appears with members of the royal family at public events. She has traveled with her parents, appearing at trade conferences with her father and charity visits with her mother. |
HRH The Earl of Wessex |
HRH The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex is the youngest child and third son of HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. He was born at Buckingham Palace on March 10, 1964, and held the title of HRH The Prince Edward at birth. He is seventh in line to the British throne, after his brothers and their children. Prince Edward attended Gordonstoun and took a gap year in New Zealand before returning to England to study at Cambridge. He graduated in 1986 and went on to work with various theatre production companies including his own television production company, Ardent Productions. Prince Edward married his longtime girlfriend, Sophie Rhys-Jones, on June 19, 1999. He is the only one of The Queen’s children not to have been divorced. The couple were given the style and title of TRH The Earl and Countess of Wessex on their marriage, with the understanding that Edward would eventually follow his father as HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. The Wessexes have two young children. The Earl now works full-time supporting The Queen, undertaking a schedule of royal duties. He is slowly taking the reins of his father’s charitable interests, including the role of president of the Commonwealth Games Federation and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. He is also patron of a large roster of charities. The Earl and Countess of Wessex and their children live at Bagshot Park in Surrey. |
HRH The Countess of Wessex |
HRH The Countess of Wessex was born on January 20, 1965, in Oxford. She is the daughter of Christopher and Mary Rhys-Jones. She has one sibling, a brother, David. Sophie trained as a secretary before embarking on a public relations career. After working for a number of firms, she launched her own PR company, RJH Public Relations. She continued to pursue this career after her marriage, until the “Fake Sheikh” scandal revealed her using her new royal connections to attract clients. She left the firm in 2002. Sophie became HRH The Countess of Wessex when she married HRH The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex in 1999 at Windsor. The couple has two young children, Louise and James. Though they are legally entitled to the style of HRH and the title of prince/princess, the Wessexes have instead chosen to style their children as the son and daughter of an earl, calling them Lady Louise Windsor and Viscount Severn. Viscount Severn’s descendents will be the first line of the family legally to hold the last name “Mountbatten-Windsor.” The Countess undertakes a regular schedule of royal duties and acts as patron for a number of charities, specifically organizations concerned with children, disabilities and communication problems. |
HRH The Princess Royal |
HRH The Princess Anne, Princess Royal is the only daughter of TRH The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh (later HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh). She was born on August 15, 1950 at Clarence House, and was titled HRH Princess Anne of Edinburgh at birth. She was third in line to the throne at birth, but is now tenth, behind her three brothers and their six children. Princess Anne attended Benenden School. From an early age, she has had a keen interest in equestrian pursuits, and won the European Eventing Championship when she was 21. She also rode with the British team at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec. Princess Anne married fellow equestrian Captain Mark Phillips on November 14, 1973. As he did not receive (or declined) a royal title, their two children, Peter and Zara Phillips, are the only grandchildren of The Queen without royal titles. A failed kidnapping attempt on Princess Anne earned worldwide attention in 1974, shortly after the pair were married. In 1987, Anne was given the title of HRH The Princess Royal. Captain Phillips and Princess Anne divorced in 1992; the same year, Anne married Commander Timothy Laurence (later Vice-Admiral Laurence). The Princess Royal is known as one of the hardest-working members of the royal family, undertaking a vast number of royal engagements every year in support of The Queen. She lives with her husband at Gatcombe Park. |
Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly Phillips |
Peter and Autumn Phillips are the son and daughter-in-law of HRH The Princess Royal and Captain Mark Phillips. His stepfather is Vice-Admiral Timothy Laurence, and his stepmother is Sandy Pflueger. Peter was born on November 15, 1977, in Paddington, London. He was the first grandchild of a sovereign in history to be born without a royal title. Autumn Kelly was born on May 3, 1978, in Montreal, Quebec, to Brian and Kitty Kelly. Peter attended Gordonstoun, following in the footsteps of his grandfather and uncles, and earned a sports science degree from the University of Exeter. Autumn graduated from St. Thomas High School and McGill University, where she focused on East Asian studies. The pair met at the 2003 Canadian Grand Prix; Peter was working as an accounts manager for the WilliamsF1 racing team. Autumn moved to the UK to be closer to Peter, and the pair married at Windsor on May 17, 2008. Autumn converted from Roman Catholicism to Anglicism before the wedding, and as a result, Peter remains eleventh in the line of succession. The couple now lives in Hong Kong, where Peter works for the Royal Bank of Scotland. |
Zara Anne Elizabeth Phillips |
Zara Phillips was born on May 15, 1981, in Paddington, London. She is the only daughter of HRH The Princess Royal and Captain Mark Phillips. Her stepfather is Vice-Admiral Timothy Laurence, and her stepmother is Sandy Pflueger. Zara is the only granddaughter of The Queen not to be entitled to a royal style or title; she is twelfth in line to the throne. Like her mother, Zara is a champion equestrian. After attending Gordonstoun and the University of Exeter, she won gold medals at the 2005 European Eventing Championship and the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games, earning her the title of Eventing World Champion. She has qualified twice for the British equestrian Olympic teams, for the Athens and Beijing Olympics, but was forced to drop out each time after injuries to her horse, Toytown. Though she has no royal title, Zara does occasionally undertake royal duties. She has participated in ship-naming ceremonies with her mother, and she frequently appears with the royal family at public events. She is also personally involved with several charitable organizations. Zara is currently in a long-term relationship with English rugby player Mike Tindall. |
