Questions about British Styles and Titles 1: Ending 2022


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Thanks Ish. It's what I thought, but I do get tangeled up on this thread. I appreciate the assist!

It's easy to get tangled when it comes to the issue of who is and who isn't royal, as well as the general issues of British titles.

The easy way to remember it is that if they're British and have either an HM or an HRH they're royal. If they don't, they're not royal.
 
That was exactly what I meant before: the LPs are outdated in view of the new succession rules that will come into force with the Succession to the Crown Act 2013.

That is why I think that the Queen sent a subtle message about her feelings on the issue with these LPs as the agreement of the changes that the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 will bring it were made in 2011, a year before the new LPs were issued.
 
That was exactly what I meant before: the LPs are outdated in view of the new succession rules that will come into force with the Succession to the Crown Act 2013. Parliament should take the opportunity to repeal the LPs and pass legislation regulating royal titles and styles in line with Continental practice, i.e. restricting HRH status to the monarch's children and children of the heir apparent only. The monarch's consort and the heir apparent's consort could also be made princes or princesses in their own right and the title of Prince/ss of Wales for the heir apparent should also be enshrined in law in line with the titles of Prince of Orange in the Netherlands and Prince of Asturias in Spain. All other members of the Royal Family, including the remaining grandchildren of the monarch who are not born to the heir apparent, would be untitled, or else hold the titles or honorifics to which they would be entitled according to British peerage rules assuming their parents are peers.

This idea comes up periodically, and I have to say I don't think it actually makes sense to do.

First of all, you're claiming that the Continental royals are restricting the use of royal titles and styles... but that's not really true. There are 9 Continental Royal families; the Swedes, Belgians, and Liechtensteiners all grant the same royal titles and styles to the children of the younger sons of the monarch as they do to the heir (actually, the Swedes one up it, as both of the granddaughters of CG are born through female lines, yet both hold royal titles and styles). The Danes allow for the same royal titles but a lesser style (HH instead of HRH), while the Luxembourgers grant a lesser royal title but the same style (they're merely "of Nassau" instead of "of Luxembourg"). The Norwegian king only has one son, and the Spanish king and Prince of Monaco only have sisters. Which means that of the 9 Continental Royal families, the only one that is actually restricting the use of royal titles and styles are the Dutch. That's hardly a huge trend to follow.

Even if the Continentals were restricting the use of royal titles, it still doesn't make sense for the British to do so. I'm not saying that the system in place is perfect - there is sexism at play, and it's going to become a problem when there is a female heir apparent - but it makes sense for the BRF to have a larger family than the Continental Royals. QEII is the monarch of 16 realms and do more than 3,000 engagements a year (according to Bertie's numbers). In order to sustain these kinds of numbers and in order to really pay attention to the 15 realms that the BRF don't actively live in they need more active royals than the Dutch do.

That said, what would happen if Parliament decided to change who has royal titles and styles in Britain (because Parliament has nothing better to do). In stripping the non-direct line grandchildren of the monarch of their titles and styles they would be stripping 9 people of their titles (3 grandsons of George V and their 3 wives, 1 granddaughter of George V, and 2 granddaughters of Elizabeth II, excluding the Wessex children). Of the 6 grandchildren, 3 of them have spent their lives dedicated to the BRF, 2 of whom gave up the possibilities of having their own careers. Do we really need to respond to over 50 years of dedication to the BRF and Britain by going "yeah, okay, that's all fine and dandy, but we're stripping you of your titles." That leaves 3 other grandchildren who haven't served the BRF in a huge capacity, but 2 of them are still in their 20s and who knows what the future may or may not bring.

If the Queen were to issue LPs that granted titles to female line descendants then that would affect, at present, a grand total of 4 people, all of whom are adults, and none of whom seem to actually want royal titles. I am of the opinion that this needs to be addressed, but I don't think it needs to be addressed now - it makes absolutely no sense to grant the children of Princess Margaret or Princess Anne royal titles and styles at this point in their lives. It's something that should be addressed in the future, when a daughter of William or Georges' is pregnant with her first child.

Also, the title Prince of Wales is not a guarantee. It's something that has to be created for each individual heir apparent. The issue of whether or not a female heir apparent can hold it does need to be addressed, but given as there isn't a female heir apparent yet there's no need to rush to it. Likewise, the Duchy of Cornwall (which is actually more important than the Prince of Wales title, as it comes with more than just a fancy name).
 
Doesn't the King of Norway also have a daughter - Martha Louise?

If you are going to make the titles of the heir gender to cover both sexes then the Duke of Cornwall title needs altered to allow for females and non children of the monarch.

For example, if Charles dies today, William becomes the heir apparent. He can be named PoW but is not DoC because the Doc is the eldest son of monarch & heir apparent.
The simplest thing is to change it to heir apparent gets title. The gender doesn't have to change the title. The queen is the Duke of Lancaster not the Duchess.


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He does, sorry. I meant precisely that he only has one son, not that he only has one child. It was a poor choice in wording on my part.

You can't say that they're limiting royal titles and styles there on the basis that Haakon's children have them and Martha Louise's don't when it's unusual for titles to pass on through a daughter.

I don't necessarily agree that the Duchy of Cornwall should be changed so that every heir apparent gets it; I actually kind of like the dual requirements, but I do think the wording should be changed so that the eldest child of the monarch who is the heir apparent gets the title to reflect equal primogeniture. They do need to address who runs and gets the proceeds from the duchy in the event of there not being a Duke, but if the heir apparent still gets that they don't necessarily need the title that goes with it.
 
Doesn't the King of Norway also have a daughter - Martha Louise?

If you are going to make the titles of the heir gender to cover both sexes then the Duke of Cornwall title needs altered to allow for females and non children of the monarch.

For example, if Charles dies today, William becomes the heir apparent. He can be named PoW but is not DoC because the Doc is the eldest son of monarch & heir apparent.
The simplest thing is to change it to heir apparent gets title. The gender doesn't have to change the title. The queen is the Duke of Lancaster not the Duchess.

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LOL, I know what you mean, but "altered to allow for females and non children of the monarch" struck me funny. I saw a bunch of Corgi's.
 
They do need to address who runs and gets the proceeds from the duchy in the event of there not being a Duke, but if the heir apparent still gets that they don't necessarily need the title that goes with it.

This was addressed in the Sovereign Grant Act. It enables the revenues from the Duchy to be passed to the heir if the heir is not the Duke of Cornwall.
 
This was addressed in the Sovereign Grant Act. It enables the revenues from the Duchy to be passed to the heir if the heir is not the Duke of Cornwall.

Thank you. I knew it had been brought up, but I couldn't remember when or if it had actually been resolved.
 
:previous: He was born HRH Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark and confusion existed at court whether he still held those titles

Even before the Queen made it official, Philip was referred to in formal documents as Prince Philip.

The Letters Patent of 19 Nov 1947 granted "Sir Philip Mountbatten, Knight of Our Most Noble Order of the Garter, Lieutenant in Our Navy" the style of HRH .... but then

In the Letters Patent of the 22nd October, 1948, conferring style and title on the children of the marriage of Princess Elizabeth and the Duke, Philip is styled "His Royal Highness. Prince Philip” by the King ... but then

In the Regency Act, 1953, and the Letters Patent of the 20th November, 1953, appointing Counsellors of State during the absence of the Queen and the Duke on their Australian tour, Philip is styled by the King "His Royal Highness Philip, Duke of Edinburgh".

"His Royal Highness Philip, Duke of Edinburgh" is also the style Philip himself used when registering the birth of Princess Anne.

So its difficult to say because there are conflicting documents
 
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There is also the anecdotal story that at Balmoral or Sandringham one year someone wrote in one of the books recording the number of birds/animals shot by each shooter 'Prince Philip xxxx' and George VI crossed out the word 'Prince'.
 
Also the official programme of his three-day visit to the Gambia during his tour of 1956-57, he is referred to throughout as Prince Philip

In 1954, a Royal Society of Arts medal, which he chose, was struck with the inscription "Prince Philip, President"

The big issue for courtiers was if he was HRH and not a Prince then what exactly was he? There has never been in Britain a Royal Highness who was not a Prince, nor a Prince who was not a Royal Highness or Highness

Also well before 1957 the Duke of Edinburgh signed as "Philip" which in Britain is the prerogative of a Prince
 
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There is also the anecdotal story that at Balmoral or Sandringham one year someone wrote in one of the books recording the number of birds/animals shot by each shooter 'Prince Philip xxxx' and George VI crossed out the word 'Prince'.

:lol: Sounds like the King was having a little snit over something his son-in-law had said or done.
 
At the time there was confusion in the Home Office and the College of Arms over whether Philip was a Prince.

DeBretts said he was a prince, Burkes said he wasn't, even the Garter King of Arms at the time said he remains a Prince of Greece and Denmark.

No wonder the Queen had to settle the matter once and for all
 
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I don't think there is too much doubt that he was a Prince of Greece and Denmark. He could stop using those titles and give up his place in the line of succession to the Greek and Danish thrones (which I don't think he ever actually did - the Danes took that right away from him with the changes they made to their line of succession in 1953).


Without a formal statement from the Kings of Greece and Denmark stripping of his right to be still a Prince of both those countries he remained a Prince of Greece and Denmark even after having stopped using them.


In that case he was still a Prince - but until 1957 he wasn't a Prince of the UK.
 
This idea comes up periodically, and I have to say I don't think it actually makes sense to do.

First of all, you're claiming that the Continental royals are restricting the use of royal titles and styles... but that's not really true. There are 9 Continental Royal families; the Swedes, Belgians, and Liechtensteiners all grant the same royal titles and styles to the children of the younger sons of the monarch as they do to the heir (actually, the Swedes one up it, as both of the granddaughters of CG are born through female lines, yet both hold royal titles and styles). The Danes allow for the same royal titles but a lesser style (HH instead of HRH), while the Luxembourgers grant a lesser royal title but the same style (they're merely "of Nassau" instead of "of Luxembourg"). The Norwegian king only has one son, and the Spanish king and Prince of Monaco only have sisters. Which means that of the 9 Continental Royal families, the only one that is actually restricting the use of royal titles and styles are the Dutch. That's hardly a huge trend to follow.


.


Both in Spain, the Netherlands and Norway, the heir apparent's children are the only grandchildren of the monarch who have princely status. That is a trend to me.
 
I think the mix up happened as Philip was a Prince of Greece and Denmark but in the UK, foreign titles aren't recognized and used within the British system. So in the UK, he went from being Lt. Philip Mountbatten to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh on his marriage and then was made a prince in his own right in the UK by his wife and Queen.

I think I got that right. :)
 
I don't think there is too much doubt that he was a Prince of Greece and Denmark. He could stop using those titles and give up his place in the line of succession to the Greek and Danish thrones (which I don't think he ever actually did - the Danes took that right away from him with the changes they made to their line of succession in 1953).


Without a formal statement from the Kings of Greece and Denmark stripping of his right to be still a Prince of both those countries he remained a Prince of Greece and Denmark even after having stopped using them.


In that case he was still a Prince - but until 1957 he wasn't a Prince of the UK.

The Danish Act of Succession 1953 restricted the line of succession to the Danish throne to descendants of King Christian X. Prince Philip descends from Christian IX , who was Christian X's grandfather. He would be excluded from the Danish successiona anyway then under the law.
 
And to add to the confusion he was officially a HRH by Letters Patent in 1947 but wasn't a prince by LsP.
This hadn't occurred before and led to the discussion of if not a prince then what?
 
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The Danish Act of Succession 1953 restricted the line of succession to the Danish throne to descendants of King Christian X. Prince Philip descends from Christian IX , who was Christian X's grandfather. He would be excluded from the Danish successiona anyway then under the law.

Succession would be different from whether he was a Greek Prince. Has any Danish law been enacted since that would strip Philip as a Prince of Greece and Denmark?

Edit: Prince of Denmark

This is a genuine question btw because I have no idea
 
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Both in Spain, the Netherlands and Norway, the heir apparent's children are the only grandchildren of the monarch who have princely status. That is a trend to me.


In Spain and Norway is that an actual policy, or is that simply based on a lack of male lines?

In Norway the King has two children; his son and heir and his daughter. He also has two sisters, but no brothers, and he had no paternal aunts or uncles. As titles don't typically pass through female lines the Norwegian titles being held only by the direct line doesn't mean anything unless there has been an official statement.

Likewise, in Spain, the king only has daughters and only has sisters. He had an uncle who died without issue. The lack of titles being passed on may simply be that there haven't been any men to pass on titles outside of the direct line. Once again, is there an official statement saying that in the future titles will be restricted in this way?

In the Netherlands, things are done differently, as the last monarch did have sons and titles were limited to just the direct line, but this is also a monarchy that has only had female lines for about 100 years. They're different there.
 
Likewise, in Spain, the king only has daughters and only has sisters. He had an uncle who died without issue. The lack of titles being passed on may simply be that there haven't been any men to pass on titles outside of the direct line. Once again, is there an official statement saying that in the future titles will be restricted in this way?

Yes. The title of Infante or Infanta was restricted to children of the King or Queen and children of the Prince or Princess of Asturias by a royal decree published November 12, 1987. BOE.es - Documento BOE-A-1987-25284
 
Diana was called Princess Di or Princess Diana for several years on the headlines and covers of magazines and newspapers. That title was never correct either. Princess Kate is way less annoying than a paper printing Prince William and Kate Middleton to tour the U.S. when you could have just used The Cambridges or Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.


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'Princess Kate' is absolutely wrong way to call her. Middleton is her maiden surname and her future surname for history books. So Kate Middleton is better than artificial Princess Kate.
 
What's wrong with them calling her The Duchess of Cambridge? For some reason the media think the only way to address her is by calling her 'Kate Middleton' or 'Princess Kate.' If they start printing her actual official title, eventually other media outlets will catch on.
 
I stopped reading when I saw "Princess Kate". If a source can't get the simple things correct, the rest is probably baloney too.

That's how People refers to her. Always. So avoid People.

It's an American thing. And it is better than the "Duchess of whassis" or "that girl that married the prince that's lost his hair."
I heard a survey the other day that said Americans thought People Magazine the most subscribed to magazine. It made me shudder. :lol:
 
:previous:Good grief, now for sure all intelligence in this country has gone down the drain if that is the case! I think if everyone called her what she is, The Duchess of Cambridge then people would start identify her with her name, not Kate Middleton, she is married for goodness sake!
 
Personally, I don't understand all the fuss... To me she simply i "Kate"... I have tried to call her "Catherine" but I hve failed everytime... So I rather go with Duchess of Cambridge or Kate :D
 
Princess William is the correct form for a married woman. Just like Mrs John Smith

Kate is still a princess and peeress, she just uses the correct form
 
Princess William is the correct form for a married woman. Just like Mrs John Smith

Kate is still a princess and peeress, she just uses the correct form


Princess William is not the correct form. The Duchess of Cambridge is the correct form. If William did not have a higher title then Princess William would be correct, but as he does then that is the correct form.

This is not because she is a married woman but because she is a woman who is not by birth a British Royal. In comparison, it at no point would have been the correct form to refer to Princess Anne as Princess Timothy or Princess Mark as the correct form for a British princess by blood is Princess [Given Name] regardless of her marital status (if married her husband's title comes after her own).

However American magazines choosing to call Kate "Princess Kate" isn't the worst thing they could do - it's no more inaccurate than referring to Diana as "Princess Diana" and less inaccurate than to refer to the Queen as the Queen of England.
 
The Duchess of Cambridge is the higher form but both are correct.

Princess Anne is of a higher rank than Tim, but the correct form for a married woman in Britain is Mrs John Smith, not Mrs Jane Smith

Hence Princess William and not Princess Catherine

Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia upon marriage became Princess Nicholas of Greece and Denmark
 
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