Princess of Wales

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Camilla Mountbatten-Windsor, the current Princess of Wales.
Camilla's right to hold the title following her marriage to the Prince of Wales was confirmed by the Lord Chancellor. She is the first Princess of Wales to choose not to use the title.

Princess of Wales is a courtesy title held by the wife of the Prince of Wales since the first "English" Prince of Wales in 1282. Due to the mortality rate and the fact that some Princes of Wales did not marry before ascending to the throne, there have in fact been only ten 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 is 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.^[1] Although Arthur's younger brother and Catherine's future husband Henry became Prince of Wales after Arthur's death, Catherine did not marry him until he had become King as Henry VIII.
Caroline of 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.
Mary of Teck (1901–1910) — queen consort upon accession of husband George V
Lady Diana Spencer (1981–1997) — first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales; when Diana Spencer divorced The Prince of Wales in 1996 she did not lose her title, Princess of Wales. She merely lost the prefix HRH; thus assuming the title Diana, Princess of Wales [1].
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 to choose to use the alternative Duchess of Cornwall as her principal title. ^[2]

Diana Spencer, the 9th Princess of Wales.
Diana was the first non-Princess to hold the title.

Several Princesses of Wales became queens consort. Those who did not 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 did not wish to acknowledge that he had ever been legally married to her.)

Under the form of male-preference primogeniture in use in the United Kingdom, it is very unusual for a woman to be heiress apparent, since it is always theoretically possible for a reigning monarch to have a son to displace a daughter; she is 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 is 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".

1 Princess of Wales is not a princess in her own right
2 Other Titles of the Princesses of Wales
3 Welsh "princesses" of Wales
4 Notes
5 Bibliography

[edit] Princess of Wales is not a princess in her own right

Mary of Teck, the 8th Princess of Wales
As a Princess of Teck as of right, Mary was the last actual princess in her own right to be Princess of Wales.

Contrary to widespread belief, the Princess of Wales is not 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 was not a princess in her own right. Similarly Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, is not 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.

[edit] 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 is 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.

[edit] Welsh "princesses" of Wales

Pre-Conquest princesses, such as Gwenllian of Wales, are sometimes referred to as Princess of Wales, but did not hold this title. There are a handful of others who might have claimed the title, as a result of marriage to native princes who took or aspired to the title of "Prince of Wales". These are:

[edit] Notes

^ Following the controversial annulment of her marriage to Henry VIII Catherine was officially designated the Dowager Princess of Wales until her death.
^ The right of Camilla to the title Princess of Wales was debated prior to her marriage to the Prince of Wales. The Lord Chancellor, having reviewed the case, ruled that as the wife of the Prince of Wales Camilla would automatically become Princess of Wales unless a change in statute law or possibly an Order-in-Council ruled otherwise. No Bill or Order-in-Council was introduced to deny Camilla the title. She however chose not to use it, and instead to use one of the alternative titles possessed by each Princess of Wales. Similarly, as wife of the King she will automatically be queen consort, but intends to use an alternative title, Princess Consort.