Everything about Princess Of Wales totally explained
Princess of Wales is a
courtesy title held by the wife of the
Prince of Wales since the first "English" Prince of Wales in 1283. Due to the mortality rate and the fact that some Princes of Wales didn't marry before ascending to the throne, there have in fact been only ten Princesses of Wales. The present Princess of Wales is
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, who chooses not to use the title Princess of Wales, which for some people remains associated with her predecessor,
Diana, Princess of Wales.
Princesses of Wales
The ten Princesses of Wales (and the dates the individuals held that title) are as follows:
- Joan of Kent (held title 1361–1376) — became dowager princess when her husband, Edward, died as Prince of Wales.
- Anne Neville (1470–1471) — through her marriage to Edward of Lancaster, though there's no record of her having used the title. She became queen consort when her second husband became King Richard III of England.
- Catherine of Aragon (1501–1502) — became dowager princess when her first husband, Arthur, died as Prince. She became queen consort when she married Arthur's brother, King Henry VIII.
- Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1714–1727) — became queen consort when George II ascended to the throne.
- Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (1736–1751) — dowager when husband Frederick, Prince of Wales died.
- Caroline of Brunswick (1795–1820) — became queen consort on the accession of her husband George IV
- Alexandra of Denmark (1863–1901) — queen consort upon accession of husband Edward VII. The longest anyone has ever held the title (37 years, 10 months and 12 days).
- Mary of Teck (1901–1910) — queen consort upon accession of husband George V
- Lady Diana Spencer (1981–1996) — first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. When Diana divorced The Prince of Wales in 1996, she lost the style of HRH and assumed the style of a divorced peeress, that is, her personal name immediately followed by her former title. Had Diana remarried, any use of the title Princess of Wales would have been lost permanently.
- Camilla Parker-Bowles (2005–present) — the second wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. Though legally Princess of Wales, Camilla is the first Princess of Wales whose husband earlier had another official consort known as Princess of Wales, and so chose to use the alternative Duchess of Cornwall as her principal title.
Several Princesses of Wales became queens consort. Those who didn't generally took the title of "Dowager Princess of Wales" after the deaths of their husbands. (Following the annulment of Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Catherine officially reverted to her earlier title of Dowager Princess of Wales, as the widow of Henry's older brother,
Arthur, Prince of Wales, because Henry didn't wish to acknowledge that he'd ever been legally married to her.)
Under the form of male-preference
primogeniture in use in the United Kingdom, it's very unusual for a woman to be
heiress apparent, since it's always theoretically possible for a reigning monarch to have a son to displace a daughter; she's almost always
heiress presumptive. The only exception to this would be if a monarch's heir apparent were to have only female children and then the said heir apparent were to die; the eldest (female) child would then be heiress apparent.
In reality, there are times when it's perfectly obvious to all that an
heiress presumptive will in due course inherit the throne (most obviously the youth of the present Queen
Elizabeth); but none of these has ever been created "Princess of Wales".
Princess of Wales isn't a princess in her own right
Contrary to widespread belief, the Princess of Wales isn't a princess in her own right. While some past princesses, for example Catherine of Aragon and Alexandra of Denmark, were called
Princess Catherine and
Princess Alexandra, that was because they were already princesses (of
Spain and
Denmark respectively) when they married. Though Diana, Princess of Wales was commonly called
Princess Diana after her marriage to
Charles, Prince of Wales, it was officially incorrect, as Diana herself pointed out, because she wasn't a princess in her own right. Similarly Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, isn't
Princess Camilla.
When a title was sought for the future Queen
Elizabeth II, the possibility of investing her as Princess of Wales in her own right was raised. This suggestion was rejected, because Princess of Wales is a courtesy title held by the wife of the Prince of Wales. If it were used by Princess Elizabeth, it would have degraded her right as a Princess of the United Kingdom unless
Letters Patent or
Legislation were introduced to the contrary.
Other Titles of the Princesses of Wales
A Princess of Wales, by virtue of her marriage to the Prince of Wales, also takes all of the Prince's subsidiary titles. Thus a Princess of Wales is also:
Duchess of Cornwall
Duchess of Rothesay (by which title she's known in Scotland)
Countess of Chester
Countess of Carrick
Baroness of Renfrew
Princess of Scotland
Of all these titles usually only Princess of Wales has been used officially, a princess being of a higher rank than the peerage titles. However, as noted with the example of the current Princess of Wales, Camilla, a subsidiary title may just as easily and legally be used. For example, when Diana, Princess of Wales opened a new section of Chester Zoo in 1984 she was referred to as "HRH The Princess of Wales, Countess of Chester".
In some cases the heir to the throne had yet to be created Prince of Wales, so his wife was referred to as Duchess of Cornwall until then. Mary of Teck was known as The Duchess of York after her 1893 marriage to Prince George (then Duke of York, later George V), and was known as The Duchess of Cornwall and York from January of 1901 (the death of Queen Victoria and the ascension of Edward VII) to November of 1901 (when George was created Prince of Wales).
The Princess is known as Duchess of Rothesay in Scotland, as the Prince of Wales is known as Duke of Rothesay there, the dukedom being the title historically associated with the heir to the Scottish throne.
Welsh "princesses" of Wales
Pre-Conquest princesses, such as Gwenllian of Wales, are sometimes referred to as Princess of Wales, but didn't hold this title in the English legal sense. There are a handful of others who might have claimed the title, as a result of marriage to native princes who took, were given or aspired to the title of "Prince of Wales". These include:
Joan, Lady of Wales
Eleanor de Montfort
Elizabeth Ferrers
Margaret Hanmer
Further Information
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