View Single Post
  #11  
Old 04-01-2005, 03:51 PM
Elspeth Elspeth is offline
Imperial Majesty
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: ***, United States
Posts: 17,183
Default

Edward VIII had a ceremony when he was invested as Prince of Wales; apparently he was very unhappy at having to get dressed up in his costume, which involved white knee breeches and stockings. At least Prince Charles was allowed to wear his naval uniform!

I think Edward VIII is the first modern Prince of Wales to go through such a ceremony; pretty sure Edward VII didn't, and George V was already an adult with wife and children when he was made Prince of Wales and had been Duke of York for years already.

Princess Elizabeth didn't go through a ceremony because, as Binky said, she was never Princess of Wales or Duchess of Cornwall in her own right; those titles are reserved for eldest sons. I gather that George VI refused to let her use money from the Duchy of Cornwall when she was Heir Presumptive on the grounds that it was only for eldest sons, not daughters, so Parliament had to provide other money for her. That always struck me as a bit mean of him since this was the wartime and postwar era when the country was very short of money. I hope he came to some arrangement with Parliament so that the royal family wasn't hanging on to all the Duchy funds AND expecting the princess to be given extra money, but I have no idea what was actually done.
Reply With Quote