James Alexander Philip Theo Mountbatten-Windsor, Viscount Severn (born 17 December 2007) is the younger child of

Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Forfar Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Forfar, (Edward Antony Richard Louis; born 10 March 1964) is a member of the British royal family. He is the youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the youngest sibl ...

, and

Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Forfar Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Forfar, (born Sophie Helen Rhys-Jones, 20 January 1965) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Forfar, the youngest brother of King Charles III. She grew u ...

. He is the youngest grandchild of

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

and

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

, and a nephew of

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

. He is 14th in the

line of succession to the British throne Succession to the British throne is determined by descent, gender, legitimacy and religion. Under common law, the Crown is inherited by a sovereign's children or by a childless sovereign's nearest collateral line. The Bill of Rights 1689 a ...

Birth and baptism

Viscount Severn was born on 17 December 2007, at Frimley Park Hospital in Frimley, Surrey. The names James Alexander Philip Theo were announced on 21 December. He was

baptised Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

on 19 April 2008, in the Private Chapel of

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original c ...

by David Conner, the

dean of Windsor The Dean of Windsor is the spiritual head of the canons of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, England. The dean chairs meetings of the Chapter of Canons as ''primus inter pares''. The post of Dean of Wolverhampton was assimilated to the dea ...

, and his godparents were Alastair Bruce of Crionaich, Duncan Bullivant, Thomas Hill, Denise Poulton and Jeanye Irwin. He wore a newly made replica of the

royal christening gown A royal christening gown is an item of baptismal clothing used by a royal family at family christenings. Among those presently using such a gown are the royal families of the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Sweden. ...

originally used by

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, the eldest child of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

, in 1840. It has been worn for most royal christenings since then, and the original gown has now been preserved. , Viscount Severn attended Eagle House School, a coeducational preparatory school near Sandhurst in Berkshire.

Official appearances

In April 2015, James and his sister, Lady Louise, participated in their first overseas engagement by accompanying their parents on a trip to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. In September 2020, James participated in the Great British Beach Clean with his family at

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea is not a separate town as all of Portsea Island's s ...

Beach in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, in support of the

Marine Conservation Society The Marine Conservation Society is a UK based not-for-profit organization working with businesses, governments and communities to clean and protect the oceans. Founded in 1983, the group claims to be working towards "cleaner, better-protected, h ...

. In March 2022 James attended the memorial service for Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. In June 2022 he attended the Platinum Jubilee National Service of Thanksgiving and the Platinum Party at the Palace. On 17 September 2022, during the period of official mourning for Queen Elizabeth II, James joined his sister and six cousins to mount a 15-minute vigil around the coffin of the late Queen, as it lay in state at

Westminster Hall The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...

. On 19 September, he joined other family members at the state funeral.

Titles, styles, and honours

Titles and styles

James is styled as ''Viscount Severn'', a courtesy title that is his father's subsidiary title. The creation of this viscountcy acknowledged the Welsh roots of Sophie's family: the River Severn rises in Wales. Letters patent issued in 1917 assign a princely status and the style of ''

Royal Highness Royal Highness is a style used to address or refer to some members of royal families, usually princes or princesses. Monarchs and their consorts are usually styled ''Majesty''. When used as a direct form of address, spoken or written, it t ...

'' to all children of a monarch's sons. When his parents married, Buckingham Palace announced that their children would be styled as the children of an earl, rather than as prince or princess. Thus, court communications refer to him as ''Viscount Severn''. In 2020, the Countess of Wessex and Forfar stated that James and his sister

Lady Louise Windsor Lady Louise Alice Elizabeth Mary Mountbatten-Windsor (born 8 November 2003) is the elder child of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Forfar, and Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Forfar, both members of the British royal family. She is a granddau ...

retained their royal titles and styles and will make a choice on whether to use them when they each turn 18.

Honours

6 February 2012:

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (french: Médaille du jubilé de diamant de la reine Elizabeth II) or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

Peter Phillips, Zara Tindall, The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Sussex, Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn have mounted a vigil around their grandmother’s coffin at Westminster Hall
/ref> * UK Queen EII Platinum Jubilee Medal ribbon

UK Queen EII Platinum Jubilee Medal ribbon

6 February 2022:

Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal (french: Médaille du jubilé de platine de la reine Elizabeth II) or The Queen's Platinum Jubilee Medal is a commemorative medal created to mark the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accessi ...

In June 2008, to recognise a visit by his father to the Canadian province of

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

, the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba named a lake in the north of the province after James.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Severn, James, Viscount 2007 births Living people 21st-century English people English Anglicans English people of Danish descent English people of German descent English people of Greek descent English people of Russian descent English people of Scottish descent British courtesy viscounts James James, Viscount Severn James People educated at Eagle House School People educated at St George's School, Windsor Castle People from Bagshot People from Frimley James, Viscount Severn James