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The title of Earl of Wessex was conferred on Godwin by Canute the Great. The Earldom had previously been reserved by the king. The Earldom passed to Godwin's son, Harold II of England, who died in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings. The Earldom was not continued.
The 1998 film Shakespeare in Love, featured an entirely fictional villainous Earl of Wessex played by Colin Firth. He marries Viola de Lesseps (played by Gwyneth Paltrow), who loves William Shakespeare and they move to the American Colonies.
In 1999 Elizabeth II of the United KingdomGolden Jubilee in 2002, wearing her Canadian orders) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary), styled HM The Queen (born April 21, 1926) is the Queen regnant and Head of State of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland an's youngest son, Prince Edward of the United KingdomHis Royal Highness The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex (Edward Antony Richard Louis Mountbatten-Windsor), styled HRH The Earl of Wessex (born March 10, 1964), is a member of the British Royal Family, the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II. He has held the t married Sophie Rhys-Jones. A noble title is to be traditionally conferred upon marriage, Duke of CambridgeDuke of Cambridge is a title frequently conferred upon junior members of the British royal family. It was first used as a designation for the eldest son of James, Duke of York (later James II) James Stewart (1660-1661), who was never actually formally cre being the favourite. However,
Given the Prince's theatrical links and the Royal Family'sThe British Royal Family is a group of people closely related to the British monarch. Although there is no strict legal definition of who is or is not a member of the royal family, and different lists will include different people, those carrying the titl policy of "slimming down" their size — and Edward being seventh in the order of succession to the British throne, the Earl of Wessex was recreated, Earl being a lesser title than DukeThe term duke is a title of nobility which refers to the sovereign male ruler of a Continental European duchy, to a nobleman of the highest grade of the British peerage, or to the highest rank of nobility in various other European countries, including Spa. This was despite there being more senior titles covering the area concerned, such as the Duke of CornwallThe Dukedom of Cornwall was the first dukedom created in the peerage of England. The dukedom remains one of the last in the United Kingdom still associated with an actual duchy (the other is the Duchy of Lancaster). Its income goes to the Duke (or to the and the Duke of Devonshire. It is expected that the Edward, Earl of Wessex may be made Edward, Duke of Edinburgh on the death of his father Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.