According to royal tradition, the only daughter of Wales will not pass down her HRH title to any children she may have.
When 11-year-old Prince George succeeds his father, Prince William, as King of England, his children will automatically get HRH titles – a.k.a. ‘Prince’ or ‘Princess’.
Sadly, despite being third in line to the throne, George’s younger sister Charlotte will not have the same luxury, thanks to a fairly contentious royal tradition dating back generations.
One may believe that being connected to a high-profile member of the Royal Family automatically grants you access to a rather respectable title, especially if you are the son or daughter of a Prince or Princess.
After all, isn’t that why William and Harry received the same title when they were born to the late Prince Charles and his wife Diana?
And the same rule would apply to William and Kate Middleton’s subsequent children, George, Charlotte, and Louis, correct?
Something went wrong.
In fact, only George and Louis, not Charlotte, will automatically pass on the responsibilities of ‘Prince’ and ‘Princess’ to any future children they have.
But why?
As far back as historians can trace, royal titles are only passed down to males born into the family, not females.
Lucy Hume, an etiquette expert, recently explained the tradition to individuals who still don’t understand it.
In an interview with Town & Country, she explained: “Royal titles are inherited through sons, so if Princess Charlotte has children they would not automatically inherit the titles HRH, Prince, or Princess.”
She did, however, add that Charlotte might hand down the titles if she obtained formal consent from a monarch – either her father, Prince William, when he ascended to the throne following King Charles’ d.e.a.t.h, or her brother, Prince George, afterwards.
Such was the situation with the late Queen Elizabeth.
Her two eldest sons, Charles and Andrew, each bestowed the titles ‘Prince’ and ‘Princess’ to their offspring, William, Harry, Beatrice, and Eugenie.
Her youngest son, Edward, was granted the same privilege when he and wife Sophie Wessex welcomed their children, Louise and James, albeit they chose to renounce their children’s titles in order to restrict the number of royals with the same prefix.
As a result, they were bestowed the titles of ‘Lady’ and ‘Viscount’ upon their birth.
In the instance of Queen Elizabeth’s only daughter, Princess Anne, when she and her husband Captain Phillips welcomed children Peter and Zara, the couple had no say in the matter, and the titles transcended them.
Interestingly, the late Queen did offer these grandchildren the titles of ‘Prince’ and ‘Princess,’ but they were turned down.
“For Peter and Zara Phillips, the Queen offered to give them a royal title when they were born, but Princess Anne and Captain Phillips opted to decline this offer,” Hume told the newspaper.
