Ish
Moderator Emeritus
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2013
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Hey everyone! I'm not sure if this has been brought up in the Cambridge baby threads (I'm a little behind in reading those) but I'm watching the documentary about Edward and Mary: The Forgotten Tudors, and the host (I think it's David... something or other) is talking about how Mary and then Elizabeth were proclaimed Princesses of Wales. Last I checked folks on here were saying that granting the title of Princess of Wales to a female heir had never been done before. Is the host just dramatizing, or were these princesses actually given those titles?
Neither is listed in Wikipedia's list of Princes of Wales or Princesses of Wales (the later of which states that the is a courtesy title for the consort of the Prince of Wales). I believe I've read that at one point during the reign of Henry VIII (presumably before his first divorce) Mary was given many of the privileges of Prince of Wales without being given the title, so it stands to reason that she was treated as such without being such.
Regardless, though, as the birth of Edward proves, neither was the heir apparent at any point in their life. As the children of the monarch they were at best the heir presumptive and could be (and were) displaced by the birth of the monarch's legitimate male heir - and at one point, I believe, there was even talk of displacing Mary in favour of her illegitimate male half-brother. Later in their lives they were each the heir presumptive of the monarch, their sibling, and could be displaced by the birth of a legitimate child (regardless of gender). None of the children of Henry had children themselves, thus each of his legitimate children became monarch in succession.