King Charles’ nephew ‘driving tractors’ as he lands unexpected job on royal estate

The king’s youngest nephew has been spotted working at a farm after finishing high school weeks earlier.

Staff employed on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk were surprised to see the Earl of Wessex, 18, “driving tractors”.

The teenager is currently waiting the results of his final exams, due to be released next week, after finishing at Radley College, an independent boarding school in Oxfordshire.

He is then expected to decide whether to study at university or take a gap year.

James’ elder sister Lady Louise Windsor recently graduated from St Andrew’s University in Scotland and is currently on a gap year.

The 22-year-old is expected to pursue a career away from the royal family after her break, which may include a stint in Australia. Her rumoured boyfriend is half-Australian and Lady Louise’s cousins, Prince Harry and Zara Tindall, both spent time Down Under during their gap years.

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Lady Louise and James are the children of Prince Edward and Sophie, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh.

James was known as Viscount Severn until 2023, when his title was elevated to Earl of Wessex following the death of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.

He and his sister have become familiar faces at royal family-related events, including the monarch’s official birthday celebrations in London known as Trooping the Colour, Christmas at Sandringham and Easter at Windsor Castle.

So it was a shock for some workers on King Charles’ private Sandringham estate to see James manning the farming equipment recently.

“I had to do a double take,” one staffer told The Sun, adding the royal was “more than happy to get his hands dirty and muck in”.

“Driving tractors around Sandringham is not an easy task and it can mean long hours. But it doesn’t matter how rich you are, learning a good work ethic at a young age can always help.”

The king, whose passion for the countryside and gardening is well-known, “couldn’t be prouder” of his nephew, the worker added.

In 2022, James’ sister took $13.16-an-hour job in a local garden centre at Windsor before starting university.

According to The Sun, Lady Louise helped out on the tills, greeted customers and pruned and potted plants. One shopper told the newspaper: “I couldn’t believe it was Lady Louise − I had to look twice”.

Another said: “You’d never imagine the queen’s granddaughter would take on a role working behind a till.”

While the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh have increased their official duties significantly since 2020, when Prince Harry and Meghan exited the royal family, their children will follow a very different path by having careers outside of the monarchy.

In 2020, Sophie told The Sunday Times she and Prince Edward had made the deliberate decision to avoid some parts of royal life. “We try to bring them up with the understanding they are very likely to have to work for a living,” Sophie said.

“Hence we made the decision not to use HRH titles. They have them and can decide to use them from 18, but I think it’s highly unlikely.”

Sophie, who ran her own public relations firm before marrying into the royal family, added: “[The children] go to friends for sleepovers and parties. At weekends we do lots of dog walking and stay with friends. I guess not everyone’s grandparents live in a castle, but where you are going is not the important part, or who they are.”