The Magic and Charm of the name EDWARD

 
EDWARD is one of the most popular names of the British royal Princes since the middle ages.

Unlike ordinary folks, the naming of royals is not just like a pick-in-the-book ritual but more on tradition and historical importance. The process is like a kiss-by-decorum, intricately planned, debated and subjected to an intense process of royal protocol.

 

Royals often pick their baby’s names with respect to their custom, ancient traditions and significance in the life of the monarchy. It’s not just simply a name they found in the book or magazine, the name must reflect the prestige of the crown and must symbolize continuity. 

What made the naming of the royal tots a little complicated is the fact that royals, especially the Brits, have this appalling concern on the historical merits and representation of such name. 

For example, the name JOHN has not been used in the royal family since the middle ages. This is because the royals don’t want to remember the reign of King John, the youngest son of King Henry II and Queen Eleanor, who took part in the conflict instigated by his mother and his brothers to oust the aging King, his father, from power. With his tyrant reputation, unscrupulous character and difficult behavior, King John was considered one of the worst Kings in English history, something that the present royals don't want to reminisce. 

There was at least one Prince John (born:1905, died:1919) in the British royal family, the youngest son of King George V and Queen Mary, he was an epileptic and he was secretly removed from the public life of the royal family and kept under seclusion at Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England. Prince John died in 1919 from a severe seizure at the age of 14. Since then, no British Prince was given the name John.

Oh but I love the name John, never mind if the British royals avoided it. If ever I have a son someday I would name him John Paul Karol in honor of my favorite Pope and now saint, St. John Paul II. 

John is one of the most fascinating names I would love to hear, it's very significant in the anal of Christianity.Two of the most beloved and highly revered saints in the Christendom were named John. John the Evangelist and John the Baptist. The former was said to be the favorite disciple of Jesus, in fact he was the only apostle who did not die a martyr. John the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ who had the Lord baptized in the river Jordan. 

There were 23 Popes reigned under the name John and two had coined it with the name Paul. John Paul I chose to include Paul when he was looking for his regnal name after his papal election, he chose it in honor of his predecessor, Paul VI. When Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Poland was elected into the papacy in 1978, he chose the name John Paul II in honor of his direct predecessor. Most European Kings in the medieval times had the name John. Isn't it lovely? Yeah, that's why I love that name, it's very special :-)

Charles is another name frowned by the royal family due to its attachment to the two previous King Charles, both Stuarts. The first Charles irked the parliament with his baffling laws on absolute power. He insisted that the King should be the supreme law of the land, the parliament was furious that he was captured and executed in the Whitehall.

The monarchy was temporarily abolished and Britain was put under the protectorate of the military leader, Oliver Cromwell. Ten years later, on the death of Cromwell, the monarchy was restored and Charles’s eldest son, also named Charles, ascended the throne. The second Charles had another bad reputation,he was a serial adulterer who took many mistresses and reportedly sired 11 children, two of these illegitimates, the Duke of Grafton and the Duke of Richmond, were direct ancestors of Diana, Princess of Wales and Cressida Bonas, the current girlfriend of Diana's second son, Prince Harry.

The current Prince of Wales, according to some accounts, was christened with the name Charles by his father, Prince Philip in honor of King Haakon VII of Norway, the former Prince Charles of Denmark, a distant cousin of both Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II, in addition, Haakon VII married Princess Maud of Britain, younger sister of King George V. 

But it is doubted if the Prince of Wales would really choose his first name to be his regnal name when he ascend the throne, other royal analysts theorized Charles might choose to reign under the name of George (his real name is Charles Philip Arthur George) in honor of his grandfather, King George VI, and two great grandfathers, King George V of England, and King George I of Greece (grandfather of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh).

Okay, back to EDWARD.

Talking about royal family's favorite name. There's at least one that has become the favorite among British Princes.  The name seems symbolizes magic and prestige in the royal family because almost all British monarchs since the reign of King William I in the 11^th century had a son or grandson named EDWARD. 

In fact because of this name the Normans invaded England in the 10th century and killed the last Anglo-Saxon King, Harold II. When he was still alive, King Edward the Confessor had promised the Duke of Normandy, William, who was said to be the bastard son of his brother, Robert, to be his successor to the English throne but when Edward died, the English nobles put the son of Godwin, one of the powerful men in the court, to the throne and reigned Harold II, this circumstance infuriated William.

The Norman duke then launched a siege and conquered England in the Battle of Hastings killing King Harold II in the conflict. William then took the throne and chose Windsor Castle as his seat of court.Since then the English throne was occupied by the Conqueror's descendants.

There were eight English/British Kings in history that bore the name Edward since the Norman Conquest :  

1. Edward I (King of England: 1272-1307, he was known as the Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots), 

2. Edward II (King of England from 1307 until his deposition in 1327, he was the first English prince given with the title of Prince of Wales because he was born at Caernavon Castle in Wales)

3. Edward III (King of England: 1327-1377, he was the one who initiated the Hundred Years of War between England and France due to his constant claim of the French throne)

4. Edward IV (King of England: 1461-1483, he mounted the English throne through a conquest, he was the first York King)

5. Edward V (young son of Edward IV, he reigned only for 2 months, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London at the instigation of his uncle, Richard III, who took over the throne, Edward V and his brother were later known in history as Princes in the Towers, they mysteriously disappeared and believed to be murdered in the Tower)

6. Edward VI (King of England: 1547-1553, he was barely 10 when he succeeded his father, Henry VIII, to the throne, he was a sickly child and died before he reached adulthood)

7. Edward VII (King of England: 1901-1910, son and successor of Queen Victoria)

8. Edward VIII (reigned but not crowned, he abdicated in 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson, an American commoner, he was created Duke of Windsor by his brother and successor, King George VI).

 

In the current British royal family, there are three male royals who have the name Edward: The Earl of Wessex, youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Kent, eldest son of Prince George (paternal uncle of the Queen) who died during World War II and Lord Downpatrick, Edward Windsor, grandson of the Duke of Kent.

Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex

Prince Edward was born 12 years after his mother’s accession in 1952 making him one of the two royal children born to a reigning monarch. He is the youngest child of the Queen and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. In 1999 after his marriage to Sophie Rhys-Jones, it was announced that he would be given a noble title of Earl of Wessex, the announcement surprised most of the royalists because of the breaking of tradition.

His Royal Highness, Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex, 

youngest son of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II of Britain and His Royal Highness, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh

No one in British history that the son of the ruling sovereign was given the title of an Earl, most of the sons of the British monarchs were given the title of a Duke, the highest hereditary noble title in Britain ranking just below a Prince and above an Earl or a Count.

Buckingham Palace press office explained that Prince Edward would inherit his father’s title, Duke of Edinburgh, in due time, and the Earl of Wessex is his secondary title. Upon marriage, his wife assumes the title Countess of Wessex.

Another breaking of royal tradition was the announcement made by the palace that any children born on Prince Edward’s marriage would be identified with the status of children of the British Earl and not grandchildren of the monarch, thus, Edward’s daughter Louise was titled Lady instead of Princess and his only son is titled James, the Viscount Severn, instead of Prince James.

Prince Edward is the only one among the four children of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh whose marriage did not end in divorce.

Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent

Grandson of King George V and a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Edward is the first born child of Prince George, the Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, a first cousin of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

His Royal Highness, Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent

First cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and nephew of Prince Philip

Prince Edward was only six years old when his father died in a plane crash while on active duty with the Royal Air Force during World War II in 1942. He assumed his father’s title immediately and became one of the youngest royal dukes in recent memory. In 1959, he took his seat in the House of Lords in the Parliament.

Prince Edward married Katharine Worsley, daughter of a British Baron, they have three children together: George, the Earl of St. Andrews, Lady Helena Windsor-Taylor and Lord Nicholas Windsor. He is a patron to many charities and organizations in Britain in service to the crown and would perform royal duties occasionally representing his cousin, the Queen. The Duke of Kent is currently 33rd in the line of succession to the British throne.

Edward Windsor, the Lord Downpatrick

As a great grandson in the male line of King George V, Edward is supposed to be included in the line of succession to the British throne but due to the circumstances of his father’s marriage to a Roman Catholic, and for him being confirmed a Catholic, he was subsequently removed from the list of the possible successors of his grandfather’s first cousin, the Queen. 

The law on British succession strictly prohibited all royal family members and descendants who are in communion with Rome (meaning became Roman Catholics) from inheriting the British crown. This law is being supported by the provisions of the Act of Settlement of 1701 restricting the succession only to the protestant descendants of Princess Sophia of Hanover.  

Edward Windsor, the Lord Downpatrick

He is a grandson of the Duke of Kent, though royal by descent, 

he is excluded in the line of succession to the British throne due to his 

Roman Catholic religion.

The British law on succession was repealed in 2013 removing gender bias to the sovereign’s daughters, meaning daughters are given equal rights to the throne and would no longer be pushed by a younger brother in the line of succession. 

The changed on the succession law touched the provision on the Catholic issues for possible successors. The new law stated that royal family members who took Catholic spouses but did not actually change religion should retain their position in the line of succession. Upon taking effect of the law, royals who were removed from the list in the past because of marrying Catholics (e.g. Prince Michael of Kent, George, the Earl of St. Andrews),  would now be reinstated. 

However, the provisions remained unchanged to Catholic-born royals and those who adopted Catholicism. Thus, Edward, the Lord Downpatrick, his sister, Lady Marina Charlotte, and uncle, Lord Nicholas, who are Roman Catholics, are still considered ineligible to succeed, therefore could never take their places in the line of succession.

Such is the name EDWARD in the British royal family. Historic, momentous, astonishing and magical ^____^

Isn't it an ideal name to consider for your next son? Who knows your son might resonate that Princely charm signifies by the name EDWARD. 

Other names, aside from Edward, which are popular among the British Princes are the following:

1. George

2. Henry

3. William

4. Frederick

5. Alexander

6. Richard