Duchess of Sussex: Future Duties, Roles and Responsibilities

[EllieCat]

I know this is off topic, but I still have one question that baffles me based on prince/princess being a lower style than duke/duchess. Wikipedia says "On 22 February 1957, she [Queen Elizabeth] granted her husband the style and title of a Prince of the United Kingdom by Letters Patent, and it was gazetted that he was to be known as "His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh".[56]" Why would she have give him the title of Prince since he was already a Duke?

Before he married Princess Elizabeth, he had to give up his Danish title and then became Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten. Not a Royal anymore. Upon marriage he became a Royal Duke (but not a Prince). 10 years later Elizabeth gave him back his 'Prince Philip' style, now a Prince of the UK. See here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...e_of_Edinburgh

[Mbruno]

Originally Posted by Pranter

He held the title Prince in his own right since he was a Prince by birth....she just expanded or added to that.


LaRae

He was forced to renounce his title of Prince of Greece and Denmark before he married Elizabeth and King George VI made him only a Duke and an HRH, but not a prince. It was only after QEII issued new LPs in 1957 that he could be called a prince again and in his own right.

[Pranter]

Originally Posted by Mbruno

He was forced to renounce his title of Prince of Greece and Denmark before he married Elizabeth and King George VI made him only a Duke and an HRH, but not a prince. It was only after QEII issued new LPs in 1957 that he could be called a prince again and in his own right.

SMH...forgot all about that!


LaRae

[Chloep]

She is obviously American by birth & cultural background. That will never be taken away from her - nor should it be! She is an exceptional and truly lovely young women. But she is not exactly your "American flag on every clothing item & in every room" type of girl. She has her own hard-earned identity away from her homecountry/nation.

Make no mistake, the prince did not abdicate and move to the US with her. Harry chose her for HIS life and she chose to embrace it and embark on this beautiful journey. She is not just the arm candy of some British celebrity & or even the wife of a British philanthropist - she is marrying an extremely popular, senior member of the Royal British Family.
There is about one thing that there is no room for at the palace & that is national mosaicism or a melting pot. They are by far the most iconinc national representatives of Britishness. Active Americanization(PUBLIC 4th July parties, Thanksgiving, etc) of the Royal British Family is simply completely going against the base concept of the modern BRITISH monarchy. This is not a sign of modernizing the palace - it is destructing it, because in such difficult times, the public will turn against the monarchy if they become anti-monarchian themselves.

This is not about changing Meghan, I reckon she will find her joy and passion in her new country as she did in the past with Canada - only now to a differnt level. I recognize that some people may find giving up the national identity of their homecountry a dealbreaker. Meghan, though, seems to be able to seperate her national pride from her personal identity.
It's not like she is/was not given a choice. She was. And I am very happy she chose to embrace Harry's life and expressed immense excitement at joining in his life.

However, I fully expect her to incorporate her own (American) traditions into their everyday & private lives. I reckon Harry will be very open-minded towards infusing Americanism into their lives to offer Meghan comfort. I bet their rascals will love it too. For sure, she will not be expected to lose her core self :)

[Mbruno]

Originally Posted by Lady Nimue

I for one think it is inappropriate for anyone to suggest she be anyone other than her American self. However, royal history is rife with tragic stories of young royal brides made miserable in their adopted country because the populace just did not like the woman's 'German ways' or whatever it was.

This will be the salting ground for Meghan. She has the hardest audience of her life to win over. Will she sacrifice herself for the role? How will she play it? Luckily she will be the wife of the second son no where near the throne. This is why I had fears for her, fears that her bounteous spirit will be crushed, as we know can happen, as we know has happened with other women who have married royalty. Someone mentioned the transformation of Letizia of Spain, how sparky she was in her engagement interview and what a shadow of that former self she now is.

My hope is that Meghan gets out ever before she allows anything close to that to happen to her, though I have a strong sense that both Harry and Meghan intend for this marriage to work. It's likely (speculation) Meghan will survive by Harry and she 'traveling the commonwealth' as she hinted at. Whatever they do, however they handle it, it is not an insignificant aspect of this marriage. I hope they manage it well, for both their sakes.

Taking your point, Letizia is an interesting example, I am pretty convinced Felipe really loves her; otherwise he would not have gone against centuries of family tradition and moved heaven and earth to marry her. Other than Felipe, she doesn't seem to get along with anybody else in the family : not with King Juan Carlos, nor with Queen Sofia ( on whose shadow she still lives, even as Queen herself) , and much less with Felipe's sisters. Furthermore, she is unfortunately not very popular; some Spanisrds just tolerate her and others actually loarhe her as we see on social média occasionally.

My biggest fears about Meghan were similar to Letizia's case above II e that she would have a hard time with the family and wouldn't be accepred by the British people, So far só good though,,

[jacqui24]

Can we please stop with the over dramatics? No one is trying to change Meghan. She is who she is as a person. The fact is she now lives in UK and have obviously been willing to adopt it as her new home and support an institution that represents so much of its culture. I don't think her citizenship defines her as a person. All Americans are individually different as people, believe it or not.

[Biri]

Originally Posted by Mbruno

I bet she is going to "throw a Fourth of July" party at the Palace in a room where a portrait of King George Iiii is hanging on the wall !

Just for curiosity: Did Princess Grace of Monaco throw such parties in Monaco Princely Palace?

[Isabella]

Originally Posted by Mbruno

Taking your point, Letizia is an interesting example, I am pretty convinced Felipe really loves her; otherwise he would not have gone against centuries of family tradition and moved heaven and earth to marry her. Other than Felipe, she doesn't seem to get along with anybidy else in the family : not with King Juan Carlos, nor with Queen Sofia ( on whose shadow she still lives, even as Queen herself) , and much less with Felipe's sisters. Furthermore, she is unfortunately not very popular; some Spanisrds just tolerate her and others actually loarhe her as we see on social média occasionally.

My biggest fears about Meghan were similar to Letizia's case above II e that she would have a hard time with the family and wouldn't be accepred by the British people, So far só good though,,

I thought about Letizia as soon as I saw Meghan and Harry's interview, because Meghan's confidence and personality stood out to me in much the same way that Letizia's had at her engagement announcement. Usually royal fiancees are (understandably) more reserved in that first interview, but both Meghan and Letizia were very much at ease ... which I perceive as a good thing. For me, it has been very disheartening to see the way that Letizia is regarded by the Spanish people. However, Meghan's situation is fortunately quite different: it's a different country (and, of course, a different royal family) and she's not marrying the future king. Hopefully Meghan will be given a bit more leeway to be herself ... I suspect she will.

[Dani257]

I have a question. Or a few, actually. In the future, maybe after she's proven herself and been accepted, will Meghan be able to have some patronages of her own?

Also, if the majority of her patronages and charities are British, would she be allowed to support a cause that's international or for another country? I'm thinking like Harry has Sentable, which isn't a British cause. Or is that okay because he was born into the royal family? Or is it not a royal patronage, just something he does individually and that makes it okay? And if that's the case, would she be allowed to do something like this one day? If she has a cause like that, that she wants to help with.

[Isabella]

Originally Posted by Biri

Just for curiosity: Did Princess Grace of Monaco throw such parties in Monaco Princely Palace?

I don't know about parties, but on her first July 4th as Princess of Monaco, Grace made her first public appearance in Monaco since her wedding at special mass celebrating (American) Independence Day at the cathedral in Monaco.

[Mbruno]

Originally Posted by Biri

Just for curiosity: Did Princess Grace of Monaco throw such parties in Monaco Princely Palace?

Since there was no former Sovereign Prince of Monaco and direct ancestor of her husband who was denounced as tyrant in The US Declaration of Independence, I don't see why not !

[Biri]

Originally Posted by Isabella

I thought about Letizia as soon as I saw Meghan and Harry's interview, because Meghan's confidence and personality stood out to me in much the same way that Letizia's had at her engagement announcement. Usually royal fiancees are (understandably) more reserved in that first interview, but both Meghan and Letizia were very much at ease ... which I perceive as a good thing. For me, it has been very disheartening to see the way that Letizia is regarded by the Spanish people. However, Meghan's situation is fortunately quite different: it's a different country (and, of course, a different royal family) and she's not marrying the future king. Hopefully Meghan will be given a bit more leeway to be herself ... I suspect she will.

Letizia was a journalist, she got used to speak publicly, it probably helped her a lot.

[Pranter]

Dani I would think so, they all do have their own patronages along with the joint ones.


LaRae

[Osipi]

Originally Posted by jacqui24

Can we please stop with the over dramatics? No one is trying to change Meghan. She is who she is as a person. The fact is she now lives in UK and have obviously been willing to adopt it as her new home and support an institution that represents so much of its culture. I don't think her citizenship defines her as a person. All Americans are individually different as people, believe it or not.

When we really stop and think about it, in Meghan's role and in today's global society, she'll be on the *world* stage. She's not joining a local football team.

[duchessrachel]

Originally Posted by Mbruno

He was forced to renounce his title of Prince of Greece and Denmark before he married Elizabeth and King George VI made him only a Duke and an HRH, but not a prince. It was only after QEII issued new LPs in 1957 that he could be called a prince again and in his own right.

That is what confuses me. If a duke is a higher title than a prince, why did she do it since he already had a Dukedom? i am not saying the should not have. I am still just trying to figure out how all these titles work. Everytime I think I have it figured out, i get confused again :)

[TLLK]

Originally Posted by Dman

I think it’s best to break it all down to The Royal Foundation.

How about just initials TRF..oh wait I think that's already being used. But where have I seen those initials before?

I have a question. Or a few, actually. In the future, maybe after she's proven herself and been accepted, will Meghan be able to have some patronages of her own?

Yes in the months after their wedding, we'll likely hear about the patronages that she'll take on.

[Osipi]

This is just my off the wall guesstimation but at the onset of the marriage, Philip did have the feeling of being "a bloody amoeba" and one that wasn't allowed to pass his name onto his children.

With the Queen issuing letters patent creating him The Prince Philip, it also raised him in precedence so that of all royal males, he would be the highest. She also, further down the line, issued letters patent declaring that those of her and Philip's descendants that did not bear the HRH and needed a surname would be known as Mountbatten-Windsor.

Over the years, the Queen has done these things here and there to honor and show her appreciation as a monarch to her "strength and stay" of so many years. I love it.

[cepe]

Originally Posted by TLLK

Yes I did understand that as a fiance this wouldn't have been considered her engagement, but at times the CC will note that a royal was "accompanied by ___________."

When Catherine accompanied William on the engagements before the wedding she was not mentioned in the CC at all - just as if she hadn't attended.

[Mbruno]

Originally Posted by duchessrachel

That is what confuses me. If a duke is a higher title than a prince, why did she do it since he already had a Dukedom? i am not saying the should not have. I am still just trying to figure out how all these titles work. Everytime I think I have it figured out, i get confused again :)

Duke is not a higher title than prince. The confusion arises because some senior princes also happen to be dukes.

[royal rob]

Originally Posted by Isabella

I thought about Letizia as soon as I saw Meghan and Harry's interview, because Meghan's confidence and personality stood out to me in much the same way that Letizia's had at her engagement announcement. Usually royal fiancees are (understandably) more reserved in that first interview, but both Meghan and Letizia were very much at ease ... which I perceive as a good thing. For me, it has been very disheartening to see the way that Letizia is regarded by the Spanish people. However, Meghan's situation is fortunately quite different: it's a different country (and, of course, a different royal family) and she's not marrying the future king. Hopefully Meghan will be given a bit more leeway to be herself ... I suspect she will.

Well they have both had careers in front of a camera !! Of course they are excellent