Princess Royal Title

[Duc_et_Pair]

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]

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.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Why was Princess Sophia Dorothea, the daughter of King George I not given the title of Princess Royal?

 

[GondorHasNoPants]

Why was Princess Sophia Dorothea, the daughter of King George I not given the title of Princess Royal?

Because by the time her father became King in 1714, she had been Queen Consort in Prussia for a year and a half. The British title of Princess Royal would have been extraneous.

Editing to add - the title had only been used once at that point, for the daughter of Charles I and Henriettea Maria, so it was not a well-established custom yet.

 

[eejm]

I swear I read that Anne herself saw the title of Princess as an earned one, and that she herself wanted to delay the granting of the title until she felt she deserved it. I’m not sure why 1987 was the right time over any other, but evidently the Queen and Anne both agreed by that point that she’d proven her worth as a working royal.

 

[Stefan]

Why was Princess Sophia Dorothea, the daughter of King George I not given the title of Princess Royal?

She never became Princess of the UK, because when her father became King she had been long married.
Actually she became a Queen before her father.

 

[Diarist]

I swear I read that Anne herself saw the title of Princess as an earned one, and that she herself wanted to delay the granting of the title until she felt she deserved it. I’m not sure why 1987 was the right time over any other, but evidently the Queen and Anne both agreed by that point that she’d proven her worth as a working royal.

Please may I help with a little information?

Context is everything! I remember the time very well. By 1987, it was clear that the marriage of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips was in deep trouble. They rarely appeared in public together and were often linked with other 'romantic partners'. Indeed, as was later discovered, by that time Mark Phillips had in fact already fathered a daughter with another woman in August 1985...

Up until the time that Anne was created Princess Royal it was customary to refer to the Princess as 'The Princess Anne, Mrs Mark Phillips'. Obviously behind the scenes it was obvious that the marriage was going to end in divorce. [Do remember that those days that back then 'royal' marriages did not end in divorce, [it was almost unthinkable] certainly not in what would be termed the 'respectable' marriages - Princess Margaret had divorced, but she was always regarded as somewhat 'flighty' when it came to romance [ Peter Townsend, Roddy Llewellyn, even her husband Tony Armstrong-Jones]. Behind the scenes, the marriage of Charles and Diana was in deep trouble, but generally speaking divorce was hardly countenanced in royal circles - look at the Earl of Harewood. He had a colourful' personal life, with a divorce and a 'pre-marital child'... and post-divorce he was never 'received at Court' again.....

Once Anne became Princess Royal' even though she was still married to Mark Phillips at the time, she was thereafter referred to as 'The Princess Royal', with no more reference to her being 'Mrs Mark Phillips'. By 'breaking the link' between Anne and Mark, the public were in effect being 'softened up' for the separation and subsequent divorce of the couple....

 

[Hallo girl]

Please may I help with a little information?

Context is everything! I remember the time very well. By 1987, it was clear that the marriage of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips was in deep trouble. They rarely appeared in public together and were often linked with other 'romantic partners'. Indeed, as was later discovered, by that time Mark Phillips had in fact already fathered a daughter with another woman in August 1985...

Up until the time that Anne was created Princess Royal it was customary to refer to the Princess as 'The Princess Anne, Mrs Mark Phillips'. Obviously behind the scenes it was obvious that the marriage was going to end in divorce. [Do remember that those days that back then 'royal' marriages did not end in divorce, [it was almost unthinkable] certainly not in what would be termed the 'respectable' marriages - Princess Margaret had divorced, but she was always regarded as somewhat 'flighty' when it came to romance [ Peter Townsend, Roddy Llewellyn, even her husband Tony Armstrong-Jones]. Behind the scenes, the marriage of Charles and Diana was in deep trouble, but generally speaking divorce was hardly countenanced in royal circles - look at the Earl of Harewood. He had a colourful' personal life, with a divorce and a 'pre-marital child'... and post-divorce he was never 'received at Court' again.....

Once Anne became Princess Royal' even though she was still married to Mark Phillips at the time, she was thereafter referred to as 'The Princess Royal', with no more reference to her being 'Mrs Mark Phillips'. By 'breaking the link' between Anne and Mark, the public were in effect being 'softened up' for the separation and subsequent divorce of the couple....

I concur, I do recall hints in the media at the time more or less saying this.
If I remember correctly Anne had spent a great deal of time at Balmoral with her mother, which was commented on by the media at the time, as another sign the marriage was in trouble.

 

[Biri]

Makes sense and it's worked out. If William and Kate have a daughter, she could be created princess royal by that point in her life too. (Anne was 37 when she received it, and as she's 64- she could live as long as the Queen Mother did and the title would still become available by the time a daughter of William turned 40)


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Definitely Princess Charlotte will be created Princess Royal when her great-aunt passes away.