Tongue-rolling well: Prince William, Princess Kate, and of course their Princes George and Louis and their daughter, Princess Charlotte. It all sounds so obvious, all these princely titles, right? But little Charlotte was about to see this princess title pass down her very own little royal nose. Until her grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth, intervened.

Lady Charlotte

Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Wales was born in 2015 and is the second child of the future King and Queen of England, Prince William and Princess Kate. Just like her older brother George, she was given the title of HRH and Princess immediately after birth, but this was by no means a given. The Letters Patent issued by King George V in 1917 stated that Charlotte should live the life of a “lady” and not as a princess.

ancient traditions

How exactly? Well, that’s how it is. The letters patent identifies exactly who within the royal family receives royal titles and who does not. For example, it states that all children of a monarch receive predicates of royal highness and the titles of prince or princess. The monarch’s descendants—provided their father is the son of the monarch—are also eligible for royal titles, such as the eldest son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales (heir to the British throne). Although William now holds that title, Prince Charles was still the Prince of Wales at the time. His eldest son was therefore entitled to a princely title (William), and a princely title was also retained for his eldest son (George).

However, this was not the case for Charlotte. Based on the patents, she has no right to be addressed as Her Majesty or Princess – even if she was born before her brother.

The Queen put an end to it

But we all know that the daughter of Wales lives not as a lady, but as a princess. According to royal historian Marlene Koenig, the Queen took an interest in it. When Kate was pregnant with her first child, the British Queen issued a patent ensuring that all children of the then Ducal Family would be known as Prince or Princess.

“If Charlotte had been born first under the patents of 1917, it would have been Lady Charlotte Mountbatten-Windsor,” Koenig says. pass. This was because she was a great-granddaughter in the male line, and only the eldest son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales was entitled to bear the designation of His Royal Highness. “So the Queen has solved this little problem.” Yes!

Source: Express | Photo: BrunoPress