_. Her Majesty the Queen has been pleased to confer the Earldom of Forfar upon her youngest son, the Earl of Wessex, on the occasion of the Earl's fifty fifth birthday.
The Earldom in the Peerage of the United Kingdom will be used by Prince Edward when carrying out official duties in Scotland.
In terms of future inheritance, the earldom conferred on Prince Edward follows the usual form of such titles, that is adhering to the rules of primogeniture.
The peerage follows the Viscountcy of Severn and Earldom of Wessex awarded to Edward on his marriage to Sophie Rhys Jones, in June, 1999.
The Earl is now formally HRH The Earl of Wessex and Forfar, following the examples of many other 'double peers' such as the Duke of Richmond and Gordon, the Earl of Suffolk and Berkshire, the Earl of Mansfield and Mansfield, the Earl of Arundel & Surrey, &c.
It is expected that upon the death of the Queen and Prince Philip that the Earl of Wessex will be created Duke of Edinburgh.
Prince Edward is a fifth cousin, albeit nine times removed, of the previous Earl of Forfar, Archibald Douglas, who died in 1715, aged 23, after being mortally wounded at the Battle of Sheriffmuir.
James, Viscount Severn, 11, the Queen's youngest grandson is now heir to the three peerages held by his father.
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