It is Inorrect To Call The Princess of Wales “Princess Catherine.”

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Catherine Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, HRH The Princess of Wales, King Charles III of the United Kingdom, Peerage title, Prince William, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Royal Family, Style

Like yesterday’s post concerning how is a Queen Consort is refered to, I will look at how a Princess of Wales is addressed.

I do want to stress that the Princess of Wales is a Princess of the United Kingdom by virtue of her marriage to Prince William. In British Law the wife of a British Prince takes on the feminine form of her husband’s titles. Therefore, when Catherine Middleton married Prince William she became a Princess of the United Kingdom, also Duchess of Cambridge. Now she is the Princess of Wales.

However, she was not born royal and that does matter in how she is addressed and referenced.

Princess of Wales (Welsh: Tywysoges Cymru) is a courtesy title first held by the wife of a native Prince of Wales. Since the 14th century, it has been used by the wife of the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. The current title-holder is Catherine, wife of William, Prince of Wales.

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, and their wives have been titled Princess of Wales.

HRH The Princess of Wales

Although not granted the title in her own right, the future Queen Mary I was, during her youth, invested by her father, King Henry VIII, with many of the rights and properties traditionally given to the Prince of Wales, including use of the official seal of Wales for correspondence.

For most of her childhood, Mary was her father’s only legitimate heir, and for this reason, she was often referred to as “the Princess of Wales”, although Henry VIII never formally created her as such. For example, Spanish scholar Juan Luis Vives dedicated his Satellitium Animi to “Dominæ Mariæ Cambriæ Principi, Henrici Octavi Angliæ Regis Filiæ”.

In modern times Welsh politicians suggested Princess Elizabeth (future Elizabeth II) be made Princess of Wales on her 18th birthday, but King George VI rejected the idea because he felt such a title belonged solely to the wife of a Prince of Wales and the Prince of Wales had always been the heir apparent.

Camilla, Charles III’s second wife, was the Princess of Wales from 2005 to 2022 but did not use the title due to its popular association with her husband’s first wife, Lady Diana Spencer.

Queen Elizabeth II of United Kingdom issued Letters Patent dated 21 August 1996, stating that any woman divorced from a Prince of the United Kingdom would no longer be entitled to the style “Royal Highness”. This has so far applied to Diana, Princess of Wales, and Sarah, Duchess of York. No longer being married to a Prince of the United Kingdom they are no longer

Thier Royal Highnesses The Prince and Princess of Wales

When a British prince marries, his wife also becomes a British princess; however, she is addressed by the feminine version of the husband’s most senior title on his behalf.

For example, William, was created Duke of Cambridge by the Queen on the day of his marriage to Catherine Middleton. Upon the wedding she was called HRH The Duchess of Cambridge.

And as mentioned above when a British prince marries, his wife also becomes a British princess.

Then once Charles became King his eldest son was (briefly) officially styled His Royal Highness The Duke of Cornwall and Cambridge while his wife Catherine became Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall and Cambridge, omitting both the ‘prince’ and ‘princess’ titles and their first names.

When addressing a person with a peerage title, whether they be royal or a member of the aristocracy, first names are omitted and replaced with their Style (form of address) in this case His/Her Royal Highness. That is followed by thier title.

The next day when William was then created Prince of Wales, that became the senior title held in his own right, and he and Catherine are styled His/Her Royal Highness The Prince/Princess of Wales.

However, despite being a Princess of the United Kingdom as the wife of a British Prince, a wife is not to be called Princess in front of her first name. That privilege is for members who are Prince/Princess of the Blood. In other words, those born into the Royal Family who are a Princess of the United Kingdom from birth.

Examples of this are: Princess Anne, the Princess Royal (HRH The Princess Royal), Princess Eugenie of York, Princess Beatrice of York and Princess Alexandra of Kent. These women were born members of the Royal Family.

If William, or his brother Harry, had not been elevated to a peerage title then thier wives would have gone by thier husband’s first names. In this case, Princess William and Princess Harry respectively. Remember the wife of a British Prince is addressed by the feminine version of the husband’s most senior title on his behalf.

Another example of this case is Princess Michael of Kent, the wife of the King’s first cousin once removed, Prince Michael of Kent. Although she is a Princess by virtue of her marriage to a British Prince, since he does not have a peerage title she is called Princess Michael of Kent. This is much like how a wife will be known by her husband’s name. Technically my wife could be known as Mrs Liam Foley.

HRH The Princess of Wales

There is also the case when a princess of blood royal marries a British prince. She also becomes a princess by marriage and will be addressed in the same way; an example of this situation was the late Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife: when she married the cousin of her mother, Prince Arthur of Connaught, she became Princess Arthur of Connaught, Duchess of Fife.

Therefore in conclusion the current Princess of Wales is simply addressed simply as HRH The Princess of Wales. Since she was not born a Princess of the blood royal it is incorrect to refer to her as “Princess Catherine” just as it was incorrect to refer to Diana as “Princess Diana” despite how she was called by the Press.

Incidentally, calling her Catherine, Princess of Wales is also incorrect because, as we have seen, that would indicate that she was divorced.

Dynasty ~ Royal Houses

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Act of Settlement 1701, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este, Dynastic Marriage, Dynasts, Dynasty, King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, King Louis XIV of France and Navarre, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands., Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Queen Maria II of Portugal, Royal Family, Royal House

I will be examining the history of Royal Houses, or Dynasties, from time to time but before I do I’d like to examine just what is a Dynasty?

A Dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. Alternative terms for “Dynasty” may include “House”, “Family” and “Clan”, among others.

The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, otherwise known as the Yamato dynasty, whose reign is traditionally dated to 660 BC. The current Japanese Emperor is Naruhito. He acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne on May 1 2019, beginning the Reiwa era, following the abdication of his father, Emperor Akihito (the Showa Emperor). He is the 126th monarch according to Japan’s traditional order of succession.

The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a “noble house”, which may be styled as “imperial”, “royal”, “princely”, “ducal”, “comital”, “baronial” etc., depending upon the chief or present title borne by its members.

Prior to the 20th century, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. In nations where it was permitted, succession through a daughter usually established a new dynasty in her husband’s ruling house. This has changed in some places in Europe, where succession law and convention have maintained dynasties de jure through a female.

For instance, the House of Windsor will be maintained through the children of Queen Elizabeth II, as it did with the monarchy of the Netherlands, whose dynasty remained the House of Orange-Nassau through three successive queens regnant. The earliest such example among major European monarchies was in the Russian Empire in the 18th century, where the name of the House of Romanov was maintained through Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna.

By the marriage of Duke Franz of Lorraine to Maria Theresa of Austria in 1736, and with the success in the ensuing War of the Austrian Succession, the House of Lorraine was joined to the House of Habsburg, and was now known as Habsburg-Lorraine. Franz, his sons Joseph II and Leopold II, and grandson Franz II were the last four Holy Roman Emperors from 1745 to the dissolution of the empire in 1806. Habsburg-Lorraine inherited the Habsburg Empire, ruling the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary until the dissolution of the monarchy in 1918.

Queen Maria II of Portugal

This also happened in the case of Queen Maria II of Portugal, who married Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, but whose descendants remained members of the House of Braganza, per Portuguese law. In Limpopo Province of South Africa, Balobedu determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mother’s dynasty when coming into her inheritance. Less frequently, a monarchy has alternated or been rotated, in a multi-dynastic (or polydynastic) system – that is, the most senior living members of parallel dynasties, at any point in time, constitute the line of succession.

Dynasts

Louis XIV (seated) with his son le Grand Dauphin (to the left), his grandson Louis, Duke of Burgundy (to the right), his great-grandson Louis Duke of Anjou, and Madame de Ventadour, Anjou’s governess, who commissioned this painting; busts of Henri IV and Louis XIII are in the background.

A ruler from a dynasty is sometimes referred to as a “dynast”, but this term is also used to describe any member of a reigning family who retains a right to succeed to a throne. For example, King Edward VIII ceased to be a dynast of the House of Windsor following his abdication.

In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a “dynast” is a family member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchy’s rules still in force. For example, after the 1914 assassinations of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his morganatic wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, their son Maximilian, Duke of Hohenberg, was bypassed for the Austro-Hungarian throne because he was not a Habsburg dynast.

Even since the abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Duke Maximilian of Hohenberg and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. Although its senior agnates are the Dukes of Hohenberg, the house is currently headed by Charles von Habsburg-Lothringen (born 1961), oldest grandson of the last emperor Charles I.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este

The term “dynast” is sometimes used only to refer to agnatic descendants of a realm’s monarchs, and sometimes to include those who hold succession rights through cognatic royal descent. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people. For example, David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon, a nephew of Queen Elizabeth II through her sister Princess Margaret, is in the line of succession to the British crown; in that sense, he is a British dynast, but since he is not a patrilineal member of the British royal family, he is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor.

On the other hand, the German aristocrat Prince Ernst August of Hanover, a male-line descendant of King George III of the United Kingdom, possesses no legal British name, titles or styles (although he is entitled to reclaim the former royal dukedom of Cumberland). He was born in the line of succession to the British throne and was bound by Britain’s Royal Marriages Act 1772 until it was repealed when the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 took effect on March 26, 2015. Thus, he requested and obtained formal permission from Queen Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco in 1999.

Yet, a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time, stipulating that dynasts who marry Roman Catholics are considered “dead” for the purpose of succession to the British throne. That exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Roman Catholic.

A “dynastic marriage” is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, so that the descendants are eligible to inherit the throne or other royal privileges. The marriage of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands to Queen Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child Princess Catharina-Amalia is expected to inherit the Crown of the Netherlands eventually. However, the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau to Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau in 2003 lacked governmental support and parliamentary approval. Thus, Prince Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession to the Dutch throne, lost his title as a “Prince of the Netherlands”, and left his children without dynastic rights.

HM King Carl XVI Gustaf limits the members of the House of Bernadotte.

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Act of Succession, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, House of Bernadotte, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Kings and Queens of Sweden, Royal Family

Today, October 7, 2019, HM King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden limited the members of the House of Bernadotte. These personages will still be members of the Swedish Royal Family, but only official members of the House of Bernadotte will be expected to work in representing the King.

Styles such as His/Her Royal Highness have been stripped from non working royals. According to the Marshal of the Realm, the princely titles will be regarded as personal. Future spouses and children are not entitled to use those titles.

The Act of Succession has not been change. The requirement that they have to be brought up in Sweden has not been abolished.

Below is the decree released by the Marshal of the Realm.

Here is a previous list of the Members of the House of Bernadotte with the now current members.

Here is a picture of the King and his children, their spouses and grandchildren. Below that is a picture of the King, his daughter Crown Princess Victoria and her eldest daughter and heir Princess Estelle.

HRH Princess Beatrice of York is engaged!

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Duke of York, Engagement, Prince Andrew, Princess Beatrice, Princess Beatrice of York, Royal Family, Sarah Furgeson

Buckingham Palaced released the information that HRH The Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York announce the engagement of their daughter HRH Princess Beatrice of York and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi are now engaged!

Wedding will be in 2020 more details to follow.

The Royal Wedding

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Actress, American, Edward III of England, Kings and Queens of England, Kings and Queens of Ireland, kings and queens of Scotland, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Prince Henry of Wales, Queen Elizabeth II, Robert II of Scotland, Royal Family, royal wedding, the prince of Wales

The Royal Wedding between HRH Prince Henry of Wales and Ms Meghan Markle will be this Saturday May 19, 2018 at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. This will be a first in the British Royal Family. She will be the first American to marry into the British Royal Family. She is also divorced but she isn’t the first member of the Royal Family to marry someone that has been divorced. Meghan will also be the first member of the Royal Family who will be of mixed race. Meghan is half white and half African American. However, she is not the first member of the British Royal Family of African ancestry. A little more on that later. Personally I am very happy that she will be accepted into the the Royal Family for the days of racism are over.

Here is some background information on Meghan Markle.

Rachel Meghan Markle was born August 4 1981 (ironically the same birthdate as Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon [4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002]) in Los Angeles, California. Her mother, Doria Loyce Ragland, a social worker and yoga instructor, lives in View Park–Windsor Hills, California. Her father, Thomas Markle Sr., who lives in Rosarito, Mexico, is a Daytime Emmy Award-winning retired lighting director, whose profession resulted in his young daughter often visiting the set of Married…with Children. Markle’s parents divorced when she was six years old. She has two older paternal half-siblings, Thomas Markle Jr. and Samantha Grant.

Describing her ancestry, Markle said: “My dad is Caucasian and my mom is African American. I’m half black and half white. … I have come to embrace [this and] say who I am, to share where I’m from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident, mixed-race woman.” Her mother is descended from Africans enslaved in Georgia, and her father from Dutch, English, and Irish settlers.

It also appears that Meghan and Prince Harry have common ancestry. Among her father’s ancestors are Captain Christopher Hussey, King Robert I of Scotland, Sir Philip Wentworth and his wife, Mary Clifford, a descendant of King Edward III of England.

After graduating from Northwestern University with a degree in theatre and international studies in 2003, she played small roles in several American television series. From 2011 to 2018, she portrayed Rachel Zane on the legal drama series Suits. Markle’s film credits include Remember Me and Horrible Bosses.


Markle began a relationship with actor and producer Trevor Engelson in 2004. They married in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, on September 10, 2011, and divorced in August 2013.

Beginning in June 2016, Markle has been in a relationship with Prince Harry, met on a blind date that a mutual friend set up. The press began to report the relationship in October 2016. On November 8, 2016, the British royal family’s communications secretary released an official statement that addressed a “wave of abuse and harassment” directed toward Markle. The statement described sexism, racism and defamatory stories directed at her, including an unspecified “smear on the front page of a national newspaper”. During a September 2017 interview with Vanity Fair, Markle spoke in public for the first time about her love for Prince Harry.

Later that month, they made their first public appearances together at an official royal engagement at the Invictus Games in Toronto. 
Markle’s engagement to Prince Harry was announced on November 27, 2017. By then, she had met Queen Elizabeth II, Harry’s paternal grandmother, several times. The ring Harry gave Markle consists of a large central diamond from Botswana, with two smaller diamonds from the jewellery collection of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales. Following the engagement, Markle announced she would retire from acting.

As I said earlier, Meghan may be the first member of the Royal Family of direct mixed race, she is not the first member of the Royal Family to have African ancestry, that distinction goes to Her Serene Highness Princess (Sophia) Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of King George III of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King of Hanover.

HSH Princess Sophia Charlotte was born on May 19, 1744. (May 19 is also the date of the wedding) She was the youngest daughter of Duke Karl-Ludwig-Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1708–1752; known as “Prince of Mirow”) and of his wife Princess Elisabeth-Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen (1713–1761). Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a small north-German duchy in the Holy Roman Empire.


According to Mario de Valdes y Cocom, Charlotte may have had African ancestry, via descent from Margarita de Castro e Souza, a 15th-century Portuguese noblewoman, who traced her ancestry to King Afonso III of Portugal (1210–1279) and one of his mistresses, Madragana (c. 1230–?).

In a 2009 episode of the PBS TV series, Frontline, Valdes speculated that Scottish painter Allan Ramsay emphasized the Queen’s alleged “mulatto” appearance in his portrait of her to support the anti-slave trade movement, and noted that Baron Stockmar had described the Queen as having a “mulatto face” in his autobiography and that other contemporary sources made similar observations.

Critics of Valdes’s theory point out that Margarita’s and Madragana’s distant perch in the queen’s family tree – nine and 15 generations removed, respectively – makes any African ancestry that they bequeathed to Charlotte negligible and even doubt whether Madragana was black. In addition, Charlotte shared descent from Alfonso and Madragana with a large proportion of Europe’s royalty and nobility.

The House of Windsor has never denied Queen Charlotte’s claimed African ancestry. David Buck, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson, was quoted by the Boston Globe as saying “This has been rumoured for years and years. It is a matter of history.

incidently, Prince Harry is descended twice from Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, via her two sons, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge. She is his 6x Great-Grandmother from the former Duke of Kent and a 5x Great-Grandmother from his descent from the former Duke of Cambridge.

Tomorrow, or maybe a day or two later, I will discuss the possible future title for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.






The Duchess of Cambridge leaves hospital.

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Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Duke of Cambridge, HRH The Prince of Wales, Prince, Royal Family, St Mary's Hospital

Copied from the Royal Family Facebook page.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have left St Mary’s Hospital in London with their new arrival, a baby boy.
Their Royal Highnesses have thanked all staff at the hospital for the care and treatment they have received, and thanked members of the public for their warm wishes.

This afternoon a notice was placed on the forecourt of Buckingham Palace following the announcement of the birth.

The notice will be on display for the next 24 hours for the public to view.
Find out more here > https://www.royal.uk/baby

Her Majesty’s Sapphire Jubilee

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King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, King George VI of the United Kingdom, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of Scotland, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Victoria, Royal Family, Sandringham Estate, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

In a few short weeks, on February 6, 2017, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will celebrate 65 years on the throne technically inaugurating 2017 as her Sapphire Jubilee Year. In September 2015 she surpassed her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, to become the longest-reigning British monarch and the longest-reigning queen regnant and female head of state in world history. In October 2016, she became the longest currently reigning monarch and head of state following the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. Her Majesty became Queen on February 6, 1952 when her father, King George VI, passed away in his sleep at the Sandringham estate.

From what I have read there will be no official celebration for her Sapphire Jubilee and I for one think this is a good idea. On April 21 of this year Her Majesty will also be 91 and although this dedicated monarch will continue to carry out her royal duties there are already signs that she will be slowing down a bit as she hands off some of her duties to other members of the Royal Family. I think this is a good idea. After a long battle with a severe cold, which can be be quite serious for the elderly, I would like to see Her Majesty slow down a bit and take care of herself. I do not want to see her abdicate and nor will she ever, I just would like to see her slow down a little.

 

 

 

Wonderful picture of HM the Queen with HRH The Prince of Wales!

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Elizabeth II, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Photograph, Prince Charles, Royal Family, the prince of Wales, The Queen

Taken earlier this year! Not sure who took this picture but it is wonderful! Wonderful picture of HM the Queen with HRH The Prince of Wales!

EDIT: Info from my friend Karen. The photo was taken by photographer Nick Knight back in May, in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle before the night of the celebrations at the Royal Windsor Horse Show.

Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee royal barge trip on the Thames

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Annie Lennox, BBC Concert Orchestra, Buckingham Palace, Diamond Jubilee, Elizabeth II, Elton John, England, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of Scotland, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Kylie Minogue, NY., Queen Elizabeth II, Renee Fleming, Rochester, Royal Family, Sir Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, the Thames, Tom Jones

Despite the rainy weather Her Majesty looked elegant as she and other members of the Royal Family sailed down the Thames on her royal barge, the Gloriana, accompanied by a 1,000 ship flotilla. 

Tonight, Monday evening, a concert will be held outside Buckingham Palace to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee. Some very well know musicians are set to perform. Elton John will be playing three song, “Your Song,” ”I’m Still Standing” and “Crocodile Rock.” Welsh singer Singer Tom Jones will perform two classic tunes, “Why? Why? Why?” and “Delilah,” while Annie Lennox perform one piece, “There Must Be An Angel.”

Australian singer Kylie Minogue and American Stevie Wonder will play a medley of greatest hits. Sir Paul McCartney will play “Live and Let Die,” from the James Bond movie of the same name. American soprano Renee Fleming will perform with the BBC Concert Orchestra. My friend, George pointed out to me that Renee Fleming brings a local connection to the celebrations as she is from Rochester, NY.