Royal Titles

Instead about talking about the Regency today, I’m going to discuss the new Duke and Duchess of Sussex and how to address them properly.

Let’s start with a little history. During the Regency (you knew I’d slip it in) the royal house of England and Great Britain was called the House of Hanover. The King of England was also the King of Hanover. However, when Victoria took the throne, she could not be the Queen of Hanover. The title went to her uncle. That said, she kept the name Hanover. When her son Albert became King of England, he changed the name to his father’s house, the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. In 1917, due to anti-German sentiments in England (WWI) George V change the name to the House of Windsor. As it is today.

The Royal Surname. The royal surname (that they use only when they have to) was changed to Mountbatten-Windsor. This surname applies to male line descendent of the royal family who do not have another royal title or style. Princess Anne used the surname Mountbatten-Windsor when she signed the register after her marriage.

Here is the part that really seems to confuse people. The queen gave all her sons and her two oldest grandsons deriving from the male line (so not Princess Anne’s children) titles. In order to be called a “Princess) one must have been born a princess. Therefore, the daughters of all of Princess Anne’s brothers are entitled to the title princess. (To be fair, the queen did offer to make Anne’s kids princess and prince, but she turned her down.) None of the queen’s grandchildren use the name Mountbatten-Windsor. The reason for that all their fathers have other royal titles. Here’s the rundown:

The Prince of Wales

The Duke of York

The Earl of Wessex (Edward is another odd one. He turned down the HRH for his kids and liked that title better than whichever duke title was available)

Ever since their birth William and Harry (Henry for the purists among you) have used the last name Wales. Until they were made dukes, their titles were Prince William of Wales and Prince Harry of Wales. Their cousins are Princess Eugenie of York and Princess Beatrice of York.

The change. In order to avoid Kate being titled Princess William, the queen, just like she did with her two other sons, bestowed the royal title of The Duke of Cambridge on William. So he and Kate are properly known as their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Separately, they are HRH the Duke of Cambridge, or Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. If he needs a surname, he now uses Cambridge. Kate is HRH the Duchess of Cambridge. Just to make sure, I contacted Buckingham Palace and verified that Kate cannot be called either Princess William or Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge.

The same rules apply to Harry and Megan. They are Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. He is HRH The Duke of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. Megan is HRH The Duchess of Sussex. As with Kate, she cannot be called Princess Harry or Megan, Duchess of Sussex.

#RegencyTrivia #HistoricalRomance #ReadaRegency

 

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