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The use of the title of Princess Of The United Kingdom Of Great Britain And Northern Ireland is entirely at the will of the Sovereign . Individuals holding the title of princess are styled Her Royal Highness . Since King George V's Letters Patent of 30 November 1917 , the title ''Princess'' and the use of the style ''Royal Highness'' has generally been restricted to the following persons:
There have been several exceptions to these rules, as explained later in this article. PRINCESSES OF THE BLOOD ROYAL AND PRINCESSES BY MARRIAGE Under the current practice, princesses of the blood royal are the legitimate daughters and the 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 Windsor . Princesses by marriage are the recognized wives of the Sovereign's sons and male line grandsons. Generally, these women are entitled to the style Royal Highness by virtue of marriage. They retain the style during their widowhood. However, Queen Elizabeth II issued Letters Patent dated 21 August 1996 that stated that any woman divorced from a Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland with the style "Royal Highness" would no longer be entitled to the style "Royal Highness." This has so far applied to HRH The Princess Of Wales and HRH The 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 King 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, King 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 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." 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 recently 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 , French-born the wife of King 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 King 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. After the accession of George I of Hannover, the princely titles were changed to follow the German practice. The children, male line 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 male line grandchildren) or "Highness" (in the case of male line great grandchilren). 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). LETTERS PATENT, ROYAL WARRANTS, AND IMPLIED GRANTS Since 1864, there are have been several Acts of Prerogative specifically dealing with the titles of princess of the blood royal and princesses by marriage. On 5 November 1905 , Edward VII ordered Garter King Of Arms to gazette his female-line granddaughters, Lady Alexandra Duff and Lady Maud Duff , as Princesses of Great Britain and Ireland with the style Highness and precedence immediately after all members of the British Royal Family styled Royal Highness. On the same day, the King declared their mother, Princess Louise The Princess Royal . Princess Patricia Of Connaught , a male line granddaughter of Queen Victoria, was allowed by King George V's Royal Warrants of 25 February 1919 to "relinquish the style of Royal Highness and the title of Princess of Great Britain and Ireland" and to assume the style of "Lady Patricia Ramsay" (precedence immediately before Marchionesses of England) upon the solemnization of her marriage to Commander The Honourable Alexander Ramsay RN . This change in style and title did not affect Lady Patricia's membership in the Royal Family or her place in the line of succession. On 9 November 1948 , George VI issued Letters Patent granting the title of Prince or Princess of the United Kingdom, with the style Royal Highness, to the children of The Duke Of Edinburgh and The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess Of Edinburgh . Thus, the current Princess Royal was styled "Her Royal Highness Princess Anne of Edinburgh" from birth. Previous to this letters patent, she would have been styled "The Lady Anne Mountbatten" as a child of a duke, although she would have been elevated on the accession of her mother to the throne as a child of the sovereign. In 1974, The Dowager Duchess of Gloucester, widow of Prince Henry, Duke Of Gloucester , was granted a request by Elizabeth II to assume the style Princess Alice, Duchess Of Gloucester . Although not specifically created a Princess by letters patent, the Princess was entitled to style herself as a British princess. The main reason for the change was to distinguish herself from her daughter in law, HRH The Duchess Of Gloucester , wife of HRH Prince Richard, Duke Of Gloucester . Upon their marriage in 1999 , The Earl Of Wessex and Sophie Rhys-Jones decided that their children would not style themselves as a Prince or Princess with the style Royal Highness. Hence, when their daughter Louise was born in 2003 , in place of HRH Princess Louise of Wessex she was styled The Lady Louise Windsor. This was a personal decision, and legally Lady Louise is a Princess of The United Kingdom with the style Royal Highness who choses to be styled The Lady Louise Windsor. In 2005 , when Camilla Parker Bowles married HRH The Prince Of Wales , she used the style ''Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall'' rather than ''Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales'', mainly due to the fact that the latter style was associated with Diana, Princess Of Wales , the Prince of Wales's first wife. STYLING OF PRINCESSES
When a princess marries, she still takes on her husband's title. If the title is higher than the one she possesses, she will normally be styled using the female equivalent. If her husband has a peerage, she may well be styled, HRH Princess X, and then the female equivalent of the peerage, for example HRH The Princess Louise, Duchess Of Argyll or HRH Princess Alice, Countess Of Athlone . LIST OF PRINCESSES OF THE BLOOD SINCE 1714 SEE ALSO |
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