British princess
The use of the title of Princess of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is entirely at the will of the sovereign, and is now expressed in letters patent.
), predefining who held the title, style and rank of a British Princess[1] to restrict the automatic assignment of the title "princess" and the use of the style "Royal Highness" to the following persons: On 31 December 2012, Queen Elizabeth II issued letters patent enabling daughters of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales to hold the title princess and style Royal Highness, as opposed to only the eldest son (the 1917 patent having extended "prince" to his eldest living son).
For these individuals, the title "Princess of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" and the style "Her Royal Highness" is an entitlement for life.
Since 1917,[citation needed] the male-line great-granddaughters of the Sovereign have held "the style and title enjoyed by the children of dukes".
However, Elizabeth II 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 meant they were not legally married, denying the woman the lawful style "Her Royal Highness", as well as any title in the peerage.
King George VI issued letters patent dated 27 May 1937 that entitled The Duke of Windsor, as Edward was now entitled, "to hold and enjoy for himself only the title, style or attribute of Royal Highness so however that his wife and descendants if any shall not hold the said title, style or attribute".
[3] However, this tradition was broken once in the past century with Elizabeth II's aunt, Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, being referred to—with permission from the sovereign—in official sources as such following the death of her husband.
From 1301 onward, the eldest sons of the Kings of England (and later Great Britain and the United Kingdom) have generally[5] been created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester.
However, in exile at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the deposed James II & VII gave the title of Princess Royal to his last daughter, Louisa Maria (1692–1712).
After the accession of George Louis of Hanover as King George I, the children, grandchildren, and male line great-grandchildren of the British Sovereign were automatically titled "Prince or Princess of Great Britain and Ireland" and styled "Royal Highness" (in the case of children and grandchildren) or "Highness" (in the case of male line great-grandchildren).
Queen Victoria confirmed this practice in letters patent dated 30 January 1864 (the first Act of the Prerogative dealing with the princely title in general terms).
Prior to her marriage to Alfonso XIII of Spain in May 1906, she was styled Her Highness Princess Victoria Eugénie of Battenberg.
"[33] Edward VII concurrently issued a Royal Warrant on the elevation which read: "Our Will and Pleasure is and we do hereby declare and ordain that from and after the date of this Warrant our most Dear Niece Princess Victoria Eugénie Julia Ena, only daughter of Our most Dear Sister Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore (Princess Henry of Battenberg) shall be styled entitled and called "Her Royal Highness" before her name and such Titles and Appellations which to her belong in all Deeds Records Instruments or Documents whatsoever wherein she may at any time hereafter be named or described.
And We do hereby authorize and empower Our said most Dear Niece henceforth at all times to assume and use and to be called and named by the Style, Title and Appellation of "Her Royal Highness" accordingly.
"[35] This appears to have been confirmed in the High Court judicial review matter of Al Fayed & Ors v Butler-Sloss.
[36] In that case, three High Court judges accepted submissions that the "very name 'Coroner to the Queen's Household' gave the appearance of partiality in the context of inquests into the deaths of two people, one of whom was a member of the Family and the other was not.
