Buckingham Palace confirms surprise university plans for James, Earl of Wessex

Dorothy Reddin Thu, August 13, 2026 at 9:26 AM UTC

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| Source: PA

Buckingham Palace has confirmed the surprise university plans for James, Earl of Wessex on A-Level results day.

Having achieved the grades he needed, the Earl of Wessex will be going to the Royal Agricultural University to study Rural Land & Property Management, GB News can confirm.

The People's Channel understands that James, 18, will head straight to the Cotswolds institution without taking a year out.

James was among the thousands of young people collecting their A-Level results across the country today, marking the end of an era for the Royal Family.

All eight grandchildren of the late Queen Elizabeth II have now officially finished their schooling.

The 18-year-old, who sits 17th in the line of succession, has just completed his studies at Radley College, an independent boarding school in Oxfordshire.

His specific grades are unlikely to be made public, mirroring the approach taken when his older sister, Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, received her own results in 2022, with only her place at the University of St Andrews confirmed.

Louise, 22, followed a similar path before starting university, taking on work at a garden centre during her summer break.

She went on to read English and International Relations at St Andrews, and held part-time roles throughout her degree, including assisting at the Royal Windsor Horse Show and officiating at the International Carriage Driving Competition.

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She has now completed her studies and is set to embark on a gap year of her own.

James, Earl of Wessex | Source: PA

Rather than spending his summer relaxing at Bagshot Park, the family's Surrey residence, the Earl of Wessex has been working as a farmhand on the Sandringham Estate.

According to the Sun, his duties have included driving tractors on the royal grounds.

The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh have long instilled in both children the expectation that they would need to forge their own careers rather than depend on the family name.

"You wouldn't know he was royal," one insider remarked about James, adding that this was precisely the outcome his parents had worked towards.

Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor | Source: UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS / PA

Neither James nor Louise has chosen to adopt HRH titles since reaching adulthood, instead opting to live as private citizens.

Their parents left the decision entirely to them, and both have made it clear they have no interest in becoming working royals.

James has held the Earl of Wessex title since 2023, when his father assumed the dukedom of Edinburgh.

Before that, he was known as Viscount Severn.

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