Duchess of Edinburgh

Duchess of Edinburgh is the principal courtesy title held by the wife of the Duke of Edinburgh. There have been five Duchesses of Edinburgh since the title's creation. Following the accession of Charles III in 2022, the 3rd creation of the Dukedom of Edinburgh merged in the Crown. Following his parents’ wishes, on 10 March 2023, Charles III conferred the title Duke of Edinburgh on his youngest brother, Prince Edward, and his wife, Sophie, became the Duchess of Edinburgh.

1736 first creation
Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha was also Princess of Wales between 1736 and 1751, and Dowager Princess of Wales thereafter. Princess Augusta's eldest son succeeded as George III of the United Kingdom in 1760, as her husband, Frederick, Prince of Wales, had died nine years earlier.

1874 second creation
Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia was the fifth child and only surviving daughter of Tsar Alexander II of Russia and his first wife Tsarina Maria Alexandrovna. She was the younger sister of Tsar Alexander III of Russia and the paternal aunt of Russia's last Tsar, Nicholas II. In 1874, Maria Alexandrovna married Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert; she was the first and only Romanov to marry into the British royal family. In August 1893, Maria Alexandrovna became Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha when her husband inherited the duchy on the death of his childless uncle, Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The new Duchess of Edinburgh was celebrated by rose grower Henry Bennett who named a bright crimson double hybrid tea rose he had bought from another grower (Schwartz) after her.

1947 third creation
Elizabeth II was Queen of the United Kingdom from her accession in 1952 to her death in 2022. Her husband Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark was created Duke of Edinburgh just before their wedding on 20 November 1947. From their marriage until her accession as Queen, Elizabeth was styled "Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh."

Upon the death of Prince Philip on 9 April 2021, Prince Charles acceded to the dukedom. Thus, his wife, Camilla, became Duchess of Edinburgh. Upon the death of Elizabeth II, Charles became king, making Camilla queen consort and his titles merged in the Crown.

2023 fourth creation
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. Edward was granted the dukedom on his 59th birthday, 10 March 2023, by his brother King Charles III. Prince Edward's wife, Sophie, became Duchess of Edinburgh. This creation however is for life and non-hereditary, meaning that James, Earl of Wessex will not inherit the dukedom.

First holder
Subsidiary titles: Marchioness of the Isle of Ely, Countess of Eltham, Viscountess of Launceston, Baroness of Snaudon.

House of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (by birth) House of Hanover (by marriage) Gotha, Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg – daughter of Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Princess Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst Frederick, Prince of Wales 9 children aged 52
 * Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
 * Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Princess of Wales by Charles Philips.jpg
 * 30 November 1719
 * 8 May 1736
 * 8 February 1772
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Second holder
Subsidiary titles: Countess of Kent, Countess of Ulster.

House of Romanov (by birth) House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (by marriage) Alexander Palace, St. Petersburg – daughter of Alexander II of Russia and Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine Prince Alfred 5 children aged 67
 * Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia
 * Maria Alexandrovna of Russia duchess of Edinburgh.jpg
 * 17 October 1853
 * 23 January 1874
 * 24 October 1920
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Third and fourth holders
Subsidiary titles: Countess of Merioneth, Baroness Greenwich.

House of Windsor Mayfair, London – daughter of George VI and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon Philip Mountbatten 4 children aged 96 Shand family (by birth) House of Windsor (by marriage) King's College Hospital, London – daughter of Bruce Shand and The Hon. Rosalind Cubitt Charles, Prince of Wales No royal children now 77 years, 2 days old
 * Princess Elizabeth 
 * Elizabeth II and Philip (cropped).jpg
 * 21 April 1926
 * 20 November 1947
 * 8 September 2022
 * Camilla Shand
 * Camilla Shand
 * Queen Camilla in Aotearoa 2019.jpg
 * 17 July 1947
 * 9 April 2005
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Fifth holder
Subsidiary titles: Countess of Wessex, Countess of Forfar, Viscountess Severn

Rhys-Jones family (by birth) House of Windsor (by marriage) Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford – daughter of Christopher Rhys-Jones and Mary O'Sullivan Prince Edward 2 children now 59 years, 174 days old
 * Sophie Rhys-Jones
 * Countess of Wessex UK in NL Embassy 2023 (cropped) (cropped).jpg
 * 20 January 1965
 * 19 June 1999
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