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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. The title is held through matrimony alone; it arrives with marriage and is forfeited with divorce. 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) — but marriage possibly not solemnised; no record of her having used the title, but 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.Following the controversial annulment of her marriage to Henry VIII Catherine was officially designated the Dowager Princess of Wales until her death.
- 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)
- Diana Spencer (1981–1996) — first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales; forfeited title upon divorce.Diana was given the title Diana, Princess of Wales following her divorce in 1996.
- 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. 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.
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".
Princess of Wales is not a princess in her own right
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.
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 Windsor, 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.
Welsh Princess of Wales
It is sometimes said that the last "true" Princess of Wales was Gwenllian, granddaughter of Simon de Montfort. However, her position was not analogous to the post-conquest holders of this title.Gwenllian was the daughter of Llywelyn the Last and his wife Eleanor de Montfort, daughter of Simon de Montfort. Her mother died in childbirth at the palace of Pen-y-Bryn, in Abergwyngregyn near Bangor, Gwynedd on 12 June 1282, and her father was killed at Irfon Bridge a few weeks later.
There were no sons to inherit the title of Prince of Wales, but as the daughter of Prince Llywelyn, Gwenllian was considered by many as the heiress of the Princes of Gwynedd and the royal family of Aberffraw. She therefore represented a danger to King Edward I of England, who placed her in Sempringham Priory in Lincolnshire, where she remained until her death.
Edward kept the title of 'Prince of Wales' for the crown, bestowing it upon his son Edward who was crowned in Caernarfon in 1301 aged 17 years. Hence the title passed as a grace title bestowable by the English, and later British, monarchy.
Notes
Bibliography
- Princesses of Wales by Deborah Fisher. University of Wales Press, 2005.
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"Princess of Wales"