Princess Royal Title

[Curryong]

Princess Mary had to wait until after Louise, the daughter of King Edward VII died, in 1931. Princess Louise had become Princess Royal in 1905, four years after the previous holder, Vicky, the Empress Friedrich of Germany.

Edward adored his older sister and probably wanted to wait a number of years before giving his daughter the title. Vicky had been Princess Royal for sixty years at the time of her death.

[Osipi]

Originally Posted by Skippyboo

The simplest answer seems like the Queen likes to make people wait for stuff. Look at the Order of the Garter.
Philip got it at the time of his marriage from George VI, its automatic for the Prince of Wales, but look at when all the others got them- DoKent (1985), Anne(1994), DoGlouc(1996), Andrew(2006), Edward (2006), Alexandria(2003) and William (2008).

I'd revise your statement to to read "holding off on conferring such honors until such time as they would have more meaning". As HM takes her role as monarch deeply serious, it would stand to reason that the titles and honors she bestows have meaning also to her and aren't playbills handed out just because people are there for the performance. Although she did confer the title of Prince of Wales on Charles at an early age, she also made it extraordinarily special for him by having an investiture ceremony in Wales.

In the case of the title/style of Princess Royal, my own personal opinion is that whatever title Anne had was fine with Anne. Titles are not an area where she has been overly picky about in her lifetime and from the fact that titles/styles were offered at the time of her marriage and when her children were born and refused, I think conferring the title of Princess Royal on Anne was most likely a very meaningful and profound moment between mother and daughter.

[LauraS3514]

Originally Posted by Iluvbertie

You don't 'have to work' for the title but QEII has shown that she expects the younger siblings to do more than the heir to get any honours.

She waited until Anne was well established as a working member of The Firm to give her the title of Princess Royal. She could have done it the day after her aunt died. Edward VII waited a couple of years, as did George V, between the deaths of their respective sisters and the creation of their own daughters.

I seem to recall one royal "expert" suggesting (after the fact) that Anne was elevated to "Princess Royal" once it was apparent to the family that she and Mark Phillips would divorce sooner or later. As "Princess Royal" her style would no longer be "The Princess Anne, Mrs. Mark Phillips"... Her aunt, Princess Margaret, remained "HRH PM, Countess of Snowdon" until her death, even after her divorce. Perhaps HM and HRH wanted to avoid that situation?

[Queen Camilla]

LauraS3514,

I was thinking along those lines.

The Queen did not approve of Mark Phillips and withheld the Princess Royal title.

And in turn, Princess Anne & Mark Phillips turned down a title for their family in a game of tit for tat.

In 1987, when it was clear the marriage was over, the Queen bestowed the title of Princess Royal and Princess Anne accepted.

[tommy100]

Personally I think the Queen waited until Anne has wound down her evening participation before granting her the title Princess Royal. Upon marriage Anne was still eventing and competing a lot and maybe it was felt by all concerned that it was best to not give Anne the extra title of Princess Royal whilst competing. Obviously having an extra title wouldn't be seen as an unfair advantage when competing but maybe they wanted to keep the amount of 'royal-ness' (can't think of a better way to say it) around Anne to a minimum whilst competing - the same has certainly been the case with Zara.

[Duc_et_Pair]

Originally Posted by LauraS3514

[...] Her aunt, Princess Margaret, remained "HRH PM, Countess of Snowdon" until her death, even after her divorce. [...]

That was actually perfect in line with etiquette as -by coincidence- that style befitted a divorced spouse of a Peer. Look at Sarah, Duchess of York. Look at Diana, Princess of Wales. The style The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon is the same.

That the Princess had the same style during her marriage was because she was a Princess of the blood royal and so her royal title always came before her husband's title. Also this is according etiquette. See Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone as a similar example.

[loonytick]

Originally Posted by Queen Camilla

LauraS3514,

I was thinking along those lines.

The Queen did not approve of Mark Phillips and withheld the Princess Royal title.

And in turn, Princess Anne & Mark Phillips turned down a title for their family in a game of tit for tat.

In 1987, when it was clear the marriage was over, the Queen bestowed the title of Princess Royal and Princess Anne accepted.

Or perhaps Anne was offered Princess Royal at the time of her first marriage, but she felt uncomfortable accepting while simultaneously turning down the title for her husband. In fact, she may have even been in a phase of not really wanting the Princess Royal designation.

[CyrilVladisla]

The Seven Princesses Royal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUThUMIQFV4

[Royalguru]

I wonder with the rumours of an imminent announcement of the bestowal of the Dukedom of Edinburgh on Prince Edward whether there will be an announcement of a Dukedom for Princess Anne?

[Curryong]

I doubt it very much. (A) Anne has an old and prestigious styling of her own as Princess Royal and (B) I really can’t see there’s much appetite for the King to create still further royal dukedoms.

[Duc_et_Pair]

Originally Posted by Royalguru

I wonder with the rumours of an imminent announcement of the bestowal of the Dukedom of Edinburgh on Prince Edward whether there will be an announcement of a Dukedom for Princess Anne?

She already has the most prestigious title any princess can have, usually exclusively bestowed on an eldest daughter of a Sovereign (and only when there is no any living Princess Royal around).

[SirGyamfi1]

Originally Posted by tommy100

Personally I think the Queen waited until Anne has wound down her evening participation before granting her the title Princess Royal. Upon marriage Anne was still eventing and competing a lot and maybe it was felt by all concerned that it was best to not give Anne the extra title of Princess Royal whilst competing. Obviously having an extra title wouldn't be seen as an unfair advantage when competing but maybe they wanted to keep the amount of 'royal-ness' (can't think of a better way to say it) around Anne to a minimum whilst competing - the same has certainly been the case with Zara.

How would it have given her an unfair advantage?

[tommy100]

It wouldn't - "Obviously having an extra title wouldn't be seen as an unfair advantage when competing"

My point was while Anne was competing she was, in effect, having another career. If instead of competing she was working for a business it wouldn't have been expected for the Queen to grant her the title Princess Royal while she was doing so. When she wound down her competing and her focus was solely on royal duties her mother may have felt the time was right for the title.