This Under-the-Radar Royal’s Future Plans are Very Prince William-Coded—And His Secret Summer Job Now Makes a Lot of Sense

Duchess Sophie and Prince Edward’s son James, the Earl of Wessex, recently graduated high school, and after Buckingham Palace announced his future plans, his hands-on summer job explains a lot. The Sun recently revealed that James, 18, was secretly working as a farmhand on King Charles’s Sandringham estate this summer driving tractors, much to the shock of fellow workers. But it turns out that his gig has everything to do with his college major.

“Having achieved the grades he needed, The Earl of Wessex will be going to the Royal Agricultural University to study Rural Land & Property Management,” a statement from the palace read.

While many royals take a gap year between high school and university, the palace noted that James “will head straight there without taking a year out.”

The soon-to-be college freshman chose not to follow in his big sister Lady Louise’s footsteps by attending the University of St Andrews, but James is taking on an interest shared by St Andrews alumnus Prince William.

In 2014, William completed an agricultural and land management course at the University of Cambridge to prepare for his roles as the Prince of Wales and King. Currently, he manages the Duchy of Cornwall estate, which spans more than 130,000 acres, and when he becomes King, he’ll be in charge of the Duchy of Lancaster.

However, unlike Prince William, James is not a working royal and is not expected to be in the future, meaning he’s free to pursue his own career path once he graduates from university.

As for his summer job, a Sandringham estate worker told the Sun that they were impressed by James's drive. “He might be The King’s nephew but he is more than happy to get his hands dirty and muck in,” the staffer said. “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.”