Earl of Wessex rather than a duke. His wife Sophie became "The Countess of Wessex". "The Sunday Telegraph" newspaper reported that he was drawn to the historic title of Earl of Wessex after watching the 1998 film "Shakespeare in Love", in which a character with the title 'Lord Wessex' is played by Colin Firth. The current Earl of Wessex is also Viscount Severn. This subsidiary title is used as a courtesy title by the Earl's son and heir to his title, who was born on 17 December 2007. Earl of Wessex Earl of Wessex is a title that has been created three times
Earl of Pembroke of Henry VII. On 1 September 1532, a few months prior to her marriage to Henry VIII, Anne was granted the Marquesate of Pembroke; she was found guilty of treason and executed in May 1536, at which point the title became either forfeit or extinct at her death without male children. The title was next revived in favour of Sir William Herbert, whose father, Richard, was an illegitimate son of the 1st Earl of Pembroke of the house of Herbert. He had married Anne Parr, sister of Henry VIII's sixth wife, Catherine Parr, and was created Earl in 1551. The