Earl of Forfar

Earl of Forfar is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of Scotland and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The name of the earldom refers to Forfar, the county town of Angus, Scotland. The current holder is Prince Edward, son of Elizabeth II and brother of Charles III.

Earldom of Forfar
Royal Standard of Prince Edward
for use in Scotland as Earl of Forfar
Creation date10 March 2019[1]
CreationSecond
Created byElizabeth II
PeeragePeerage of the United Kingdom
First holderLord Archibald Douglas
Present holderPrince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh
Heir apparentJames, Earl of Wessex
Remainder tothe 1st Earl's heirs male of the body lawfully begotten
StatusExtant
Seat(s)Bagshot Park

History

The title was first created in 1661 in the Peerage of Scotland as a subsidiary title to the Earldom of Ormond. This first creation of the title became extinct in 1715.[2]

The dignity of Earl of Forfar in the Peerage of the United Kingdom was granted in 2019 to Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, on the occasion of his 55th birthday.[1] This earldom was given in addition to the two titles (Earl of Wessex and Viscount Severn)[3] that he received on his wedding day and afforded Prince Edward and his wife Sophie a Scottish title to use when in Scotland before they had the Dukedom of Edinburgh. [2] Unlike his brother (Prince Andrew, Earl of Inverness) and nephews (Prince William, Earl of Strathearn and Prince Harry, Earl of Dumbarton), Prince Edward did not receive a Scottish title on the occasion of his marriage.[lower-alpha 1]

The County of Forfar, renamed Angus in 1928, contains Glamis Castle, the seat of the Earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne, from whom Prince Edward's grandmother Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother was descended.

In July 2019, the Earl and Countess visited Forfar on their first official visit to the town since the Queen granted the title in March 2019.[4] He was presented with 'Earl of Forfar' tartan, to decorate the Earl and Countess, by a town firm – the Strathmore Woollen Company. The weave is based on the existing Forfar tartan, which it designed in 2004 on the colours from the Forfar coat of arms. The geometry remains virtually the same, but the colours have been strengthened, with Azure blue replaced by the St Andrew's blue of the Scottish flag, and white yarns replaced by a brown to reflect the rich agriculture of the surrounds.[5][6][7]

The couple visited Forfar again in the summer of 2021.[8]

Earls of Forfar, first creation (1661)

Subsidiary title was Lord Wandell and Hartside (Peerage of Scotland, 1661).

Earls of Forfar, second creation (2019)
EarlPortraitBirthMarriage(s)Death
Prince Edward
House of Windsor
2019–present
also: Duke of Edinburgh (2023), Earl of Wessex (1999), Viscount Severn (1999)		 Prince Edward 10 March 1964
Buckingham Palace, London
son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip		 19 June 1999
Sophie Rhys-Jones
2 children		  –
now 59 years, 229 days old

Line of succession

Notes
  1. As heir apparent, Prince Charles (now Charles III) received his former Scottish titles of Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland upon his mother's accession to the throne.

References
  1. "No. 62588". The London Gazette. 15 March 2019. p. 4737.
  2. "Title for the Earl of Wessex". The Royal Family. 10 March 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  3. "No. 55536". The London Gazette. 28 June 1999. p. 7011.
  4. "The Earl and Countess of Forfar visit Forfar". The Royal Family. 1 July 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  5. Brown, Graham (2 July 2019). "'Honour' to be named Earl of Forfar says Prince Edward as town welcomes him with bridies, tartan and fiddles". The Courier. UK. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  6. The Royal Family [@RoyalFamily] (1 July 2019). "His Royal Highness is presented with 'Earl of Forfar' tartan, which has been designed for Their Royal Highnesses to celebrate their new titles" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. "Tartan Details – Earl of Forfar, The". The Scottish Register of Tartans. The National Records of Scotland. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  8. Isle, Jess. "Fore! The Earl and Countess of Forfar hit the links on Scottish visit". Royal Central. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.