'Princess Catherine'? Queen Considers Unprecedented Title

As I reported on November 18, two days after the royal engagement announcement, if Prince William doesn't receive another title before his marriage, his bride will officially become "Her Royal Highness, Princess William of Wales," not "Princess Catherine." The sons of the monarch traditionally receive a dukedom or an earldom when they get married, such as Prince Andrew who was made the Duke of York on the morning of his wedding. Therefore, his bride Sarah Ferguson became Duchess of York, rather than be known as "Princess Andrew."

The latest reports from London is that William has asked the Queen to not give him a ducal title, preferring to remain Prince William. Also at his request, the Queen is considering making Kate "Princess Catherine," which means that she will be a princess in her own right, not just through marriage. If that happens, it will be a huge deviation from royal custom which decrees that only princesses of royal blood have the privilege of being styled a princess with their own name, such as Princess Beatrice of York and Princess Anne.

The only precedent of a non-royal born woman in the British royal family becoming a princess in her own right was in 1974, when the Queen made the widowed Duchess of Gloucester, Princess Alice. However, this was only after Alice had devoted decades of service to the Crown, and the new title helped differentiate her from her daughter-in-law, the current Duchess of Gloucester.

So a decision to allow Kate the "Princess Catherine" title right after marriage will be significant - and a first. Whatever happens, Catherine will become Princess of Wales (Diana's title) in due course when Charles takes the throne, and William becomes Prince of Wales.

By the way, there is absolutely no question of Charles being passed over in favor of William. Public polls may show that many Britons prefer to have William instead of Charles as their next king, however the royal family does not run according to public opinion polls. Not even the Queen can make that kind of decision without the consensus of her government and Parliament.

 

Comments

[Chime Nangchen]

01:29 PM on 01/06/2011

I think that Catherine should be titled HRH Princess Catherine of Wales. It she is not titled HRH Princess "....." she will not be entitled to sit above and be in parades and reviews and such seated and presented above those that do hold the HRH title. As the wife of the future King of England she should have the treatment that gives her precedence over the younger royals even though they were born into their role. And although it would never be pressed, she should definately have precedence over Camilla (in a kind and gentle way). There are too many reasons for her to have and enjoy the role of HRH still enjoyed and required by the older generation of peers that she would be at a disadvantage to not have the appropriate title.

[cluelessbarones]

07:35 AM on 12/27/2010

This seems to be a trend in the Monarchies as Belgium and Spain both now have laws for this and others are looking to do the same. I feel this would be very good in the long run but in the short run will probably create uncertanitny and all out wars between familiy for titles that can now be inherited by women.

I recently inherited my grandfather's title because laws were changed in our home country. A little over a year ago I went from rumours of nobility to a full on title. Such was the case in Spain where titles were recently taken away from men and given to thier woman relatives.

What would all of you do if you recieved a title?

Sophie

www.cluelessbaroness.com

[IhateFOXNews]

05:15 PM on 12/22/2010

William will not automatically become The Prince of Wales if his father takes the throne and it isn't necessary for William to ever receive that title anyway. That title is only given by the monarch when they choose it is time to give it away. Prince Charles wasn't made Prince of Wales until his early 20s.

And I doubt Kate will be Princess Catherine. She is not born a Princess so she must take her husband's style. She will automatically be known as "The Princess William of Wales" upon marriage and if William receives a Dukedom her official title will be "The Princess William, Duchess of...".

[Lozange]

08:36 AM on 12/22/2010

People will call her Princess Catherine anyways. It may be pushing their luck to ask for special treatment. Let's not forget how tough it was, over years, to get to the engagement. It's too much to ask IMO. She's not royal blood. She can wait for the Princess of Wales title.

[SusanParks]

10:47 PM on 12/21/2010

They are an adorable and kind couple- inviting their friends from charities is wise thinking as college tuition costs in England are going up by 3 times what they have been- it puts the monarchy in perspective for the common citizen.

[sir ken g]

09:59 PM on 12/21/2010

British royalty makes a good tourist attraction - that's about it.

[theoriginalmatt]

10:37 PM on 12/21/2010

You clearly know nothing of the English Constitution.

[brodog84]

07:21 PM on 12/21/2010

Oh, the institution of royalty is royal embarrassment!

[missfitz]

05:38 PM on 12/21/2010

This is such nonsense, there is no such thing as "royal" human beings. Their forebears won a war and gained the fiscal spoils.

[delta7777]

03:50 AM on 12/22/2010

.
["This is such nonsense, there is no such thing as "royal" human beings"]

dunno 'bout that.......we have a serious infestation
on Wall Street and in Washington of those
who consider themselves as such...
.

[Ashish Srivastava]

04:18 PM on 12/21/2010

reminds me when as kids we would play doctor doctor.. Brits are still playing king queen

[Draekia]

06:11 PM on 12/21/2010

Yet the Queen/monarchy is largely an object of ridicule. How is that any better/have anything to do with the actual governing?

[saskatoonie]

09:15 PM on 12/21/2010

I of course I meant prefer......musn't try to type so fast.

[Dye]

02:10 PM on 12/21/2010

who cares ?

[gappedtoothgodwarrior]

05:52 PM on 12/21/2010

You do enough to comment on the story.

[Itsy]

10:55 PM on 12/20/2010

Interesting. I saw one report saying the Obamas are not invited to this wedding. I wonder why.

[nashnash]

11:04 PM on 12/20/2010

The wedding is not a State event so Heads of State don't have to be invited for diplomacy's sake.

[mssreader]

11:52 PM on 12/20/2010

Keep up with the news. It's been everywhere. Or just google it..

[JaneQCitizen]

08:28 PM on 12/20/2010

1712 called. They want their titles back.

[nancynancy]

06:45 PM on 12/20/2010

The Queen needs to make Kate a princess in her own right. Referring to this lovely and intelligent young woman as "Princess William" would be horrible. It's the 21st century and time to breathe fresh air into the monarchy.

[nashnash]

12:49 AM on 12/21/2010

Why would it be horrible? It's tradition for princesses marrying into the British royal family to take their husbands' names as their title.

Why should Kate be made a Princess in her own right? Aside from Princess Maxima of the Netherlands, no other future Queen in Europe who was a commoner before marriage to a Prince has been made a Princess on their own, and even then their husbands are already the official heirs to the throne. Kate is neither royal by blood nor is she marrying the heir to the throne.

William should take the dukedom. It will still have the HRH title with it and "Princess William" would only be used as a formal title. Kate can be known as Catherine, Duchess of _____ until Charles is King, and William is the Prince of Wales. By that time, Kate would have performed sufficient amounts of work as a royal and can be 'honored' by making her a Princess in her own right a la Princess Alice as stated in the article above.

[nancynancy]

02:36 PM on 12/21/2010

Quite a bit of what we think of as royal tradition" was made up fairly recently. The Investiture Ceremony for the Prince of Wales was performed for the very first time in 1911, and just forty years ago it was radically modernized for Prince Charles by Anthony Armstrong Jones, whom the Queen made Lord Snowden when he married Princess Margaret.

It's time to modernize Kate's married name, too. Regardless (and maybe even because) of her commoner bloodline, Kate has real star power, and her married name should reflect that. The Queen will probably outlive her mother, which means she'll be with us for at least 17 more years. By that time Kate will be 45 years old. I think the time to make the change is now.

One could argue that the reason William has led a scandal free life is because of his almost decade long relationship with Kate. The two seem very well suited and have had a steadying influence on each other. Giving Kate the title "Princess Catherine" would be a good way for the Queen to reward the patience, discretion, and inner strength of Waity Katie.

[tanx8]

08:55 PM on 12/21/2010

Intelligent, how did you come to that conclusion? She is famous for being a girlfriend and never having a job.

[nancynancy]

09:39 AM on 12/22/2010

I would think that an individual who earns an honor's degree from one of Britian's top schools can be accurately described as "intelligent." Kate has an honors degree in the history of art from the University of St. Andrews. According to the Times of London, this university is ranked 4th in the country.

As far as Kate's being famous for never holding a job, she actually has been employed -- at a company called Jigsaw, as well as at the company her parents founded.

[lee4713]

08:49 PM on 12/22/2010

She also had a huge strike against her when she started looking for jobs in art galleries after graduation - no one wanted to hire her because of all the unwanted publicity which would ensure.

[nik101]

05:31 PM on 12/20/2010

Oh boy, she must truly love this guy. Who would want to live in such a fish bowl?

[mssreader]

11:52 PM on 12/20/2010

nik, who wouldn't want to be a princess!

[Iculus3]

05:42 PM on 12/21/2010

Me.

[Sara Lira]

06:00 PM on 12/21/2010

A disney princess ;)

[LogicCircuit]

04:03 PM on 12/20/2010

lol. I cannot believe a discussion on Royal blood is taking place in US 2010.

[GrownupStewie]

05:05 PM on 12/20/2010

its slightly more interesting than discussing a real housewives of (insert city here) life/marriage/fashion..

or anything about paris hilton or lindsay lohan or miley cyrus....

[mssreader]

05:46 PM on 12/21/2010

fan #85