Earl of Wessex

Earldom of Wessex
held with
Earldom of Forfar
Creation date19 June 1999[1]
CreationSecond
Created byElizabeth II
PeeragePeerage of the United Kingdom
First holderGodwin of Wessex
Present holderPrince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh
Heir apparentJames, Earl of Wessex[a]
Remainder tothe 1st Earl's heirs male of the body lawfully begotten.
Subsidiary titlesViscount Severn[1]
StatusExtant
Seat(s)Bagshot Park

Earl of Wessex is a title that has been created twice in British history – once in the pre-Conquest Anglo-Saxon nobility of England, and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. In the 6th century AD the region of Wessex (the lands of the West Saxons), in the south and southwest of present-day England, became one of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (one of the components of the so-called Heptarchy); in the tenth century the increasing power of the Kingdom of the West Saxons led to a united Kingdom of England.

  1. ^ a b "No. 55536". The London Gazette. 28 June 1999. p. 7011.


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