British princess

Princesses of the blood royal and princesses by marriage

Under the current practice, princesses of the blood royal are the legitimate daughters and the legitimate male line granddaughters of a British Sovereign. They are dynasts, that is potential successors to the throne. For these individuals, the title "Princess of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" and the style "Her Royal Highness" is an entitlement for life. The title Princess and the style Royal Highness is prefixed to the Christian name, before another title of honour. From 1714 until 1917, the male-line great granddaughters of the Sovereign were titled "Princess of Great Britain and Ireland" with the style "Highness". Since 1917, the male-line great granddaughters of the Sovereign have held "the style and title enjoyed by the children of dukes". For example, the daughters of the current Duke of Gloucester, a male line grandson of George V, are styled The Lady Davina Lewis and The Lady Rose Gilman.

Princesses by marriage are the recognised wives of the Sovereign's sons and male-line grandsons. Generally, these women are entitled to the style "Royal Highness" by virtue of marriage, and retain the style if widowed. However, Queen Elizabeth II issued Letters Patent dated 21 August 1996 stating that any woman divorced from a Prince of the United Kingdom would no longer be entitled to the style "Royal Highness". This has so far applied to Diana, Princess of Wales, and Sarah, Duchess of York.

Since the passage of the Royal Marriages Act 1772, there have been several instances in which princes of the blood contracted marriages in contravention of that act (which meant they were not legally married) and several instances in which the Sovereign withheld the style "Her Royal Highness" from a prince's wife deemed to be unsuitable. For example, Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, a male-line grandson of George III, married Sarah Louisa Fairbrother, in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act. Although morganatic marriage did not exist in British law, the duke's wife was never titled the Duchess of Cambridge or accorded the style "Her Royal Highness". Instead, she was known as "Mrs FitzGeorge". Most famously, George VI issued Letters Patent dated 27 May 1937 that entitled The Duke of Windsor "to hold and enjoy for himself only the title style or attribute of Royal Highness so however that his wife and descendants if any shall not hold the said title style or attribute".

The wife of a prince of the blood takes her husband's Christian name in her title as do all married royal women. For example, upon her marriage to Prince Michael of Kent in 1978, Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz assumed the title and style of "Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent". Similarly, upon her marriage to then Prince Richard of Gloucester, the former Birgitte van Deurs assumed the title and style of "Her Royal Highness Princess Richard of Gloucester".

The situation is slightly different when a woman is married to a prince who happens to be a peer or the Prince of Wales. Upon marriage, the wife of the Prince of Wales becomes "Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales". Upon marriage, the wife of a royal duke (or earl) becomes "Her Royal Highness The Duchess (or Countess) of X". When Prince Richard of Gloucester succeeded to his father's dukedom in 1974, his wife became "Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Gloucester".

It has been traditional, and is still technically the case, that a princess by marriage cannot be called Princess and her first name. However, Diana, Princess of Wales, was so consistently referred to as "Princess Diana" that by frequent usage (at least in her case) it has come to be accepted occasionally in the media.

History

The use of the titles prince and princess and the styles of Highness and Royal Highness for members of the Royal Family is of fairly recent usage in the British Isles. Before 1714, there was no settled practice regarding the use of the titles prince and princess other than the heir apparent and his wife. From 1301 onward, the eldest sons of the Kings of England (and later Great Britain and the United Kingdom) have generally been created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester. Their wives were titled Princess of Wales.

The title Princess Royal came into being in 1642 when Queen Henrietta Maria, the French-born wife of Charles I, wished to imitate the way the eldest daughter of the French King was styled (Madame Royale). However, there was no settled practice on the use of the title princess for the Sovereign's younger daughters or male-line granddaughters. For example, as late as the time of Charles II, the daughters of his brother James, Duke of York, both of whom became Queens regnant, were called simply "The Lady Mary" and "The Lady Anne". The future Queen Anne was styled princess in her marriage treaty to Prince George of Denmark and then styled "Princess Anne of Denmark" once married. However, in exile at Saint-Germain-en-Laye the deposed James II gave the title of Princess Royal to his last daughter, Louisa Maria (1692–1712).

After the accession of George I of Hanover, the princely titles were changed to follow the German practice. The children, grandchildren, and male line great grandchildren of the British Sovereign were automatically titled "Prince or Princess of Great Britain and Ireland" and styled "Royal Highness" (in the case of children and grandchildren) or "Highness" (in the case of male line great grandchildren). Queen Victoria confirmed this practice in Letters Patent dated 30 January 1864 (the first Act of the Prerogative dealing with the princely title in general terms).

On 31 December 2012, Elizabeth II issued letters patent enabling all children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales to enjoy the princely title and style of Royal Highness, as opposed to only the eldest son.

Princesses of the blood royal

When a princess marries, she still takes on her husband's title. If the title is higher than (or equal to) the one she possesses, she will normally be styled using the female equivalent. If her husband has a lower title or style, her style as a princess remains in use, although it may then be combined with her style by marriage, e.g. HRH The Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll or HRH Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone – if that princess had a territorial designation, she ceases its use. However, some of the lowest styles are not utilised by senior royals — Princess Anne remains HRH The Princess Royal rather than HRH The Princess Royal, Lady Laurence.

Use of the title Princess by virtue of marriage

A woman who marries a Prince does not become a Princess in her own right, but rather is permitted to use the courtesy title "Princess Husband's name"; this is akin to a woman being referred to as "Mrs. John Smith".

Notes

Each of the following women married a royal prince but as their marriages were invalid under the Royal Marriages Act 1772, they did not become princesses:

Although Wallis Simpson married the Duke of Windsor in 1937, and he was a British prince with the style His Royal Highness, having been confirmed as such by letters patent 27 May 1937 from his brother, George VI, Wallis and her descendants from the marriage were expressly denied the style of "Royal Highness" by the same letters patent before she married him. As a duke's wife, she was always styled Her Grace The Duchess of Windsor.

There have been two instances where a British princess married a British prince: first The Princess Mary, daughter of George III, who married her first cousin Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh; and secondly Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife, granddaughter of Edward VII, who married her first cousin once removed Prince Arthur of Connaught. In the first instance Princess Mary was of higher rank and the Duke of Gloucester and his sister were elevated from the style His/Her Highness to His/Her Royal Highness. In the second instance Princess Alexandra had been granted the style Her Highness by her grandfather the King; as the wife of a Prince she received the style Her Royal Highness.

There is also the curious case of Princess Victoria Eugénie of Battenberg, later Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain (the daughter of Princess Beatrice and Prince Henry of Battenberg). Prior to her marriage to Alfonso XIII of Spain in May 1906, she was styled Her Highness Princess Victoria Eugénie of Battenberg. On 3 April 1906 Edward VII, in order to elevate her standing prior to her wedding, raised her status to Royal Highness per royal declaration which read: "Whitehall April 3, 1906. The KING has been graciously pleased to declare and ordain that His Majesty's niece, Her Highness Princess Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena, daughter of Her Royal Highness the Princess Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore (Princess Henry of Battenberg), shall henceforth be styled and called "Her Royal Highness"; And to command that the said Royal concession and declaration be registered in His Majesty's College of Arms." Edward VII concurrently issued a Royal Warrant on the elevation which read: "Our Will and Pleasure is and we do hereby declare and ordain that from and after the date of this Warrant our most Dear Niece Princess Victoria Eugénie Julia Ena, only daughter of Our most Dear Sister Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore (Princess Henry of Battenberg) shall be styled entitled and called "Her Royal Highness" before her name and such Titles and Appellations which to her belong in all Deeds Records Instruments or Documents whatsoever wherein she may at any time hereafter be named or described. And We do hereby authorize and empower Our said most Dear Niece henceforth at all times to assume and use and to be called and named by the Style, Title and Appellation of "Her Royal Highness" accordingly. Given at Our Court of Saint James's, the Third day of April 1906: in the Sixth Year of Our Reign. By His Majesty's Command. M Gladstone" Whether this made her a British Royal Princess is the subject of debate.

The former Lady Diana Spencer lost the prefix of Her Royal Highness upon her divorce in August 1996, and was restyled as "Diana, Princess of Wales". Buckingham Palace issued a press release on the day the decree absolute of divorce was issued, announcing Diana's change of title, but made it clear that Diana continued to be a member of the British Royal Family. This was confirmed by the deputy coroner of the Queen's Household, Baroness Butler-Sloss, after a pre-hearing on 8 January 2007: "I am satisfied that at her death, Diana, Princess of Wales continued to be a member of the Royal Household." This appears to have been confirmed in the High Court judicial review matter of Al Fayed & Ors v Butler-Sloss. In that case, three High Court judges accepted submissions that the "very name ‘Coroner to the Queen’s Household’ gave the appearance of partiality in the context of inquests into the deaths of two people, one of whom was a member of the Family and the other was not."

Common names

Of the above named princesses, there are a great number of shared names:

Others include Charlotte; Alexandra (and Alexandrina); Augusta; Elizabeth; Caroline; Sophie (and Sophia) and Matilda (Maud)