Palace Makes Embarrassing Blunder About Prince Edward in Royal Circular — And It's Not the First Time
With countless titles, records, and family members to track, even Buckingham Palace occasionally proves that to err is indeed human.
Everyone makes mistakes, and if you're still cringing over a few of your own, take comfort in the fact that even Buckingham Palace isn't immune. Despite having some of the best writers and editorial staff responsible for fact-checking the firm's official records, to err is indeed human. Just ask Prince Edward, who found himself at the center of an awkward mix-up after being mistakenly addressed as 'The Earl of Wessex' in a recent Court Circular. That title actually belongs to his son, James Wessex, making for one rather royal slip-up.
The Court Circular, widely regarded as the royal family’s flawless and meticulously maintained record of official engagements, recently published a rare error that caught the attention of royal commentators. The recent circular mentioning Edward read, "The Earl of Wessex, Colonel, Scots Guards, this morning attended the Regimental Gathering at Somme Barracks, Catterick Garrison." For those unversed, the title of Colonel of the Scots Guards belongs to the Duke of Edinburgh, who had actually attended the event, while the Earl of Wessex is his son James. This was swiftly highlighted by royal expert Richard Eden, who shared a screenshot of the entry on X (formerly Twitter).
After royal fans noticed the gaffe, they took to the comments to mention similar errors made in the past. A netizen said, "The Princess of Wales wasn't recorded for being at the Garter ceremony. Whilst every other spouse of the royals was." In a similar vein, another echoed, "We've seen spelling errors in publicly presented messages by Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, on 2 occasions. Falling standards everywhere." Meanwhile, a person reasoned, "Prince Edward is THE Earl of Wessex. His son James uses the courtesy title Earl of Wessex, without THE, as he's not the holder of the peerage."
This isn't the first time the Palace has slipped up online; their official website has seen its share of blunders. Just days before Princess Anne's birthday last August, Buckingham Palace published a "fun facts" quiz about her life. According to Royal Central, the site claimed Anne was a stepmother to two children, Tom and Amy Lawrence, from her second husband's previous marriage. However, Sir Timothy Laurence has never been married before or had any other children. Following heavy mockery from royal fans, the Palace quietly took the page down to save face. After heavy trolling from fans, the Palace decided to save face and deleted the page.
