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Prince Philip , Queen Elizabeth ’s husband of more than seven decades, passed away Friday morning at Windsor Castle. The late royal was given the title of Duke of Edinburgh by King George VI shortly before his and then-Princess Elizabeth’s wedding in 1947. Now that Philip has died, the Duke of Edinburgh title will be passed on to another member of the royal family.
According to the College of Arms—which has created and maintained official registers of coats of arms and pedigrees since its founding in 1484—Prince Philip’s “peerages are hereditary and on the death of His Royal Highness have passed to his eldest son, HRH The Prince of Wales.”
The College notes that “in the event of the Prince of Wales or any subsequent holder of these titles succeeding to the Crown, these titles and all others held will merge with the Crown.”
The title is expected to eventually go to the Queen and Philip’s youngest son, Prince Edward. When Edward married Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1999, Buckingham Palace announced that the Earl of Wessex would one day succeed his father as the Duke of Edinburgh. At the time, the statement read, “The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh and The Prince of Wales have also agreed that The Prince Edward should be given the Dukedom of Edinburgh in due course, when the present title now held by Prince Philip eventually reverts to the Crown.”
Prince Charles younger brother is Chairman of Trustees of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation and is also a Trustee of the Duke of Edinburgh International Award – United Kingdom. Prince Philip founded The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, a youth awards program that helps young people to develop skills for life and work, in 1956. Per Edward’s page on the royal family’s website, “His work has a particular focus on the development of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, from which he has taken over many responsibilities from his father.”
In 2017, at an engagement at Windsor Castle, Edward spoke about his father’s decision to step back from public duties. He said, “It has been years of staggering service and a huge number of organisations and associations and people he’s helped along the way. And he’s always been immensely helpful and jolly. The great thing about my father is that nobody’s ever forgotten meeting him, so they’ve all got their stories!,” adding, “Wherever he’s been, wherever in the world – people remember him. You can’t really get a better accolade than that.”