Title for Camilla - Part 3

[serenissima]

Oh, going back to Camilla, it will cause more disputes and confusions when the Prince of Wales becomes the king. Currently Camilla takes the 4th place in the order of precedence after the Queen, the Princess Royal, Princess Alexandra the Honourable Lady Ogilvy. What will happen when her husband becomes the king will be very interesting. I suppose Charles will naturally wants her to be the first in the order of precedence but this will make Princess Anne & Princess Alexandra who have been enjoying their precedence over Camilla "come down".

I wonder HM will do something about it before the Demise of the Crown takes place ?

[TheTruth]

Originally Posted by serenissima

We were supposed to call Princess Alice "Princess Alice" because she did not like the title of the Dowager Duchess of Kent but were not supposed to call Diana "Princess Diana" but "Diana, Princess of Wales" without "the" prefixed to "Princess" according to the customary for a divorced wife of a peer.

I guess so but people were used to call her Princess Diana when she was still Princess to the eyes of the law. Hard to loose the habit. But she had so many nicknames : Princess Di, Lady Di, etc . The best is to call her Diana and everyone's happy. I believe the same for Camilla.

[Madame Royale]

But still I believe it will confuse people to no end

It willl hardly cause confusion when the matter of Camilla's formal designation, is once and for all settled. If created Princess Consort then that is how she'll be known. If she remain's Queen Consort, then that is how she'll be known.

There is little reason for perplexity and it is only those with an interest, such as ourselves, who really appreciate the measure of things whereas the broader public are generally, and I'm sure will be, pacified by the likes of a press release and perhaps a news bulletin with a follow up story in the evening news.

Currently Camilla takes the 4th place in the order of precedence after the Queen, the Princess Royal, Princess Alexandra the Honourable Lady Ogilvy.

That is only for private occasions, and reflects her position as a royal Duchess and not a Princess (though technically she is as much a Princess as is she is a Duchess). The Duchess however continues to rank second in the Order of Precedence at official ceremonies.

[branchg]

Originally Posted by Jo of Palatine

I believe there is a difference as Marina married after the 1914/1917-decrees which where about the British Royals having foreign titles.

Marina was styled "HRH Princess Marina, The Duchess of Kent" upon marriage with the consent of George V. She was born a princess of Greece & Denmark and retain her right to be titled as such with the consent of The Sovereign.

A similar situation arose with the marriage of HRH The Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh to HIH Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna. Queen Victoria refused to grant her precedence ahead of The Princess of Wales (the German protocol states an Imperial Highness always outranks a Royal Highness), but did grant her the right to be styled "HI & RH Marie, The Duchess of Edinburgh".

The 1917 Letters Patent issued by George V simply clarified earlier letters patent stating only the children and male-line grandchildren of The Sovereign were allowed the style of Royal Highness and Prince/Princess of the UK. The use of "Highness" was eliminated and all German relatives currently using titles from the former duchies and kingdoms were required to reliniquish them.

[serenissima]

Originally Posted by Madame Royale

That is only for private occasions, and reflects her position as a royal Duchess and not a Princess (though technically she is as much a Princess as is she is a Duchess). The Duchess however continues to rank second in the Order of Precedence at official ceremonies.

Really ? However, at the state banquet etc., Camilla seems to take the 4th place accordingly and appeared to be treated as lower than the Princess Royal.

Originally Posted by TheTruth

I guess so but people were used to call her Princess Diana when she was still Princess to the eyes of the law. Hard to loose the habit. But she had so many nicknames : Princess Di, Lady Di, etc . The best is to call her Diana and everyone's happy. I believe the same for Camilla.

Oh, that is true. People call Nikki Graham Princess Nikki though she is not a princess at all.

[Madame Royale]

Camilla was behind her husband who was behind his father who was behind his mother, thus maintaining her place as second lady in the order of precedence during official engagements.

[Jo of Palatine]

Originally Posted by branchg

Marina was styled "HRH Princess Marina, The Duchess of Kent" upon marriage with the consent of George V. She was born a princess of Greece & Denmark and retain her right to be titled as such with the consent of The Sovereign.

.

Do you have a source for this claim? Am mightily interested as I searched quite some time for such a source.

[serenissima]

Originally Posted by Madame Royale

Camilla was behind her husband who was behind his father who was behind his mother, thus maintaining her place as second lady in the order of precedence during official engagements.

Yes, she is always behind her husband if not at his side. She always sits in the same carriage with the Prince of Wales when the Princess Royal et al are in the second carriage etc. However, wouldn't that be because it will look rather unnatural for a married couple to sit separately because of the precedence order - in otherwise it is a mere common practice out of tradition ? Having said that, in those days, things were very different that the order of precedence did mean order. However, nowadays, things are done as though something out of a Disney princesses story.

[branchg]

Originally Posted by Jo of Palatine

Do you have a source for this claim? Am mightily interested as I searched quite some time for such a source.

She usually used the customary style of HRH The Duchess of Kent after marriage, the same as her sister-in-laws, but was always "Princess Marina" in name.

After the death of her husband and prior to her son's marriage in 1961, she formalized her style as "Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent" with The Queen's consent.

[Madame Royale]

Yes, she is always behind her husband if not at his side. She always sits in the same carriage with the Prince of Wales when the Princess Royal et al are in the second carriage etc. However, wouldn't that be because it will look rather unnatural for a married couple to sit separately because of the precedence order - in otherwise it is a mere common practice out of tradition ? Having said that, in those days, things were very different that the order of precedence did mean order. However, nowadays, things are done as though something out of a Disney princesses story.

I'm not quite sure I follow you, but it is what it is and it is as follows...

Privately, Camilla is ranked fourth in the Order of Precedence for female members of the royal family. She is not of the blood royal and so HM The Queen made it that she would take the precedence of a royal Duchess and not a Princess as it is the Duchy title Camilla uses.

Officially, nothing has changed and Camilla is preceded only by HM The Queen.

[branchg]

Originally Posted by serenissima

Really ? However, at the state banquet etc., Camilla seems to take the 4th place accordingly and appeared to be treated as lower than the Princess Royal.

She was clearly in second place after The Queen at the recent state banquet for the President of France. Official precedence is automatic in law and must be followed on state occasions.

Court precedence places her fourth, after The Queen, The Princess Royal and Princess Alexandra, but even here, she is usually photographed following The Queen on royal family occasions. The formalities of court protocol haven't been followed since the reign of George V.

[Jo of Palatine]

Originally Posted by serenissima

Yes, she is always behind her husband if not at his side. She always sits in the same carriage with the Prince of Wales when the Princess Royal et al are in the second carriage etc. However, wouldn't that be because it will look rather unnatural for a married couple to sit separately because of the precedence order - in otherwise it is a mere common practice out of tradition ? Having said that, in those days, things were very different that the order of precedence did mean order. However, nowadays, things are done as though something out of a Disney princesses story.

For me it makes sense that there is an order in which spouses are added next to their husbands, but once they are on their own, they have a different place. I understand that Camilla has a position of her own which is inferior to that of Princess Alice (an honorable position given by the queen) and The Princess Royal as a princess of the blood but higher than all other ladies of the UK but once she is there with her husband, she shares his precedence and is the second lady of the land. I don't think it is important for her, though.

You could see what happened at the Austrian Court when the Crown Prince Rudolf killed himself. His widow was no longer the wife of the Crown Prince, only the daughter-in-law of the emperor and the empress. As she had no rank of her own, she actually had no place in the order of precedence as long as neither the emperor or the empress were present from which to take her own rank. Such a humiliating situation for the young Archduchess, so in the end she refused to go out anymore.

[scooter]

Here's my question. Do you think that the announced 'Princess Consort' role was seriously meant to be her title? Or do you think that it was a pacifier to the masses at the time of the wedding, in order to make the union more palatable, and they always meant for her to really be Queen if and when Prince Charles becomes King?

[branchg]

Originally Posted by scooter

Here's my question. Do you think that the announced 'Princess Consort' role was seriously meant to be her title? Or do you think that it was a pacifier to the masses at the time of the wedding, in order to make the union more palatable, and they always meant for her to really be Queen if and when Prince Charles becomes King?

It was meant to be a "quick fix" answer to public sensitivities to the idea of Camilla taking Diana's place. They took care of the immediate issue by announcing she would not use her senior title as Princess of Wales, an inevitable concession given that Diana died with the style and was the mother of a future king.

But the issue of being known as Princess Consort was quickly challenged by Parliament, since it was not made clear that consent was required to waive her right to be Queen. After fumbling around, it was finally conceded by the Lord Chancellor that legislation would, in fact, be required for Camilla to use a lesser title.

The intention all along was to gloss it over and hope that The Queen would live long enough for people to get used to the idea of Camilla being Queen Consort. Whether this will happen or not remains to be seen.

[branchg]

Originally Posted by Jo of Palatine

For me it makes sense that there is an order in which spouses are added next to their husbands, but once they are on their own, they have a different place. I understand that Camilla has a position of her own which is inferior to that of Princess Alice (an honorable position given by the queen) and The Princess Royal as a princess of the blood but higher than all other ladies of the UK but once she is there with her husband, she shares his precedence and is the second lady of the land. I don't think it is important for her, though.

We don't know if she would have been placed behind Princess Alice in precedence at court since HRH passed away. Diana always came fourth at court (behind The Queen, The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret) while married.

Usually, court precedence places princesses of the blood before princesses by marriage, but not always, particularly for The Princess of Wales, who traditionally always ranked first after a reigning Queen, Queen Consort or Queen Dowager.

[iowabelle]

I think Clarence House should abandon the farce and just acknowledge that when the time comes, we'll have Queen Camilla.

There's no list of "queenly" qualities so, as long as Charles succeeds to the throne, there's no reason Camilla shouldn't be acknowledged as queen.

[Elspeth]

I've never heard the "Diana came fourth" before. If Princess Margaret, as a Princess of the Blood and younger child of a sovereign, outranked Diana then Princess Anne should have done as well.

Every time I heard Diana being mentioned in terms of precedence at Court, it was always as the third lady in the land behind the Queen and the Queen Mother.