Princess Royal

Princess Royal [ [http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page5660.asp The Royal Family: Royal Titles. "Style and Title of the Princess Royal." - Royal.gov.uk] Retrieved 16 June 2008.] is a style customarily (but not automatically) awarded by a British monarch to his or her eldest daughter. The style is held for life, so a princess cannot be given the style during the lifetime of another Princess Royal (in particular, Queen Elizabeth II never held the title as her Aunt Princess Mary was in possession of the title). There have been seven Princesses Royal in total. [ [http://www.heraldica.org/faqs/britfaq.html#p2-34 Frequently Asked Questions for Alt.talk.royalty: "Who were the princesses who bore the style 'Princess Royal'?" - Heraldica.org] Retrieved 16 June 2008.] Currently Princess Anne is the Princess Royal.

This title came into existence when Queen Henrietta Maria (1609-1669), daughter of Henry IV, King of France, and royal consort of King Charles I (1600-1649), wanted to imitate the way the eldest daughter of the King of France was styled "Madame Royale." The style is granted by Royal Warrant not created by Letters Patent. It is not automatically given to the eldest daughter, but is conferred at the discretion of the reigning sovereign.

Princess Mary (later Queen Mary II of England) (1662-1694), eldest daughter of King James II and wife of William III, Prince of Orange and King of England (1650-1702), and Princess Sophia Dorothea (1687-1757), only daughter of King George I and wife of Frederick William I, King in Prussia (1688-1740) were eligible for this honour but did not receive it.

List of Princesses Royal

The following is a complete list of women officially styled as "Princess Royal":

# 1642-1660 − Princess Mary (1631 - 1660): eldest daughter of King Charles I; wife of William II, Prince of Orange (1626 - 1650)
# 1727-1759 − Princess Anne (1709 - 1759): eldest daughter of King George II; wife of William IV, Prince of Orange (1711 - 1751)
# 1789-1828 − Princess Charlotte (1766 - 1828): eldest daughter of King George III; wife of Frederick I, King of Württemberg (1754 - 1816)
# 1841-1901 − Princess Victoria (1840 - 1901): eldest daughter of Queen Victoria; wife of Frederick III, King of Prussia and German Emperor (1831 - 1888)
# 1905-1931 − Princess Louise (1867 - 1931): eldest daughter of King Edward VII; wife of Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife (1849 - 1912)
# 1932-1965 − Princess Mary (1897 - 1965): only daughter of King George V; wife of Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood (1882 - 1947)
# 1987 − Princess Anne (born 1950): only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II; wife firstly of Mark Phillips (born 1948) and secondly of Timothy Laurence (born 1955)
*Princess Louisa Maria (1692-1712), the last daughter of King James II, born after he lost his crown in the Glorious Revolution, was given the title of Princess Royal during James's exile at Saint-Germain-en-Laye and was so called by Jacobites.

Eldest daughter of the King

Even before the title of "Princess Royal" was granted, the eldest daughter of the King of England had a special status in law. For instance, according to Magna Carta, aids were due from the barons of the realm to finance the first wedding of the king's eldest daughter ["Nullum scutagium vel auxilium ponatur in regno nostro.... nisi.... ad filiam nostram primogenitam semel maritandam" [http://www.magnacartaplus.org/magnacarta/latin.htm] ] ; and by a statute of the 25th year of King Edward III, sleeping with the king's eldest daughter before her marriage constitutes an act of high treason punishable by death ["si home violast la compaigne le roy, ou leigne file le roy nient marie, ou la compaigne leigne fitz et heire le roy.... doit estre ajugge treson a nostre Seigneur le Roi" [http://books.google.com/books?id=ZbkuAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA185] ] .

Eldest daughters of the reigning monarch of England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom who were not granted the title of Princess Royal were:

# 1066 or 1067-1087 Adela of Normandy (1062 or 1067-1137?), daughter of William I of England
# 1102-1135 Empress Matilda (1102-1167), daughter of Henry I of England and wife of Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor and later to Geoffrey V of Anjou, mother of Henry II of England, named as her father's heir 1127-1135, briefly (1141) ruler of England
# 1136-1154 Marie of Boulogne (1136-1182), daughter of Stephen of England and wife of Matthew of Alsace, Count of Boulogne
# 1156-1189 Matilda of England (1156-1189), daughter of Henry II of England and wife of Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony
# 1210-1216 Joan of England (1210-1238), daughter of John of England and wife of King Alexander II of Scotland
# 1240-1272 Margaret of England (1240-1275), daughter of Henry III of England and wife of King Alexander III of Scotland
# 1272-1298 Eleanor of England (1269-1298), daughter of Edward I of England and wife of Henry III of Bar. Died 1298.
# 1298-1307 Joan of Acre (1272-1307), daughter of Edward I of England and wife of (1) Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Hertford and (2) Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron Monthermer. As her sister died during their father's reign, Joan became the eldest daughter of the king then living.
# 1307 Margaret Plantagenet (1275-1333?), daughter of Edward I of England and wife of John II, Duke of Brabant. She was very briefly the eldest living daughter of Edward I between her sister's death in April 1307 and her father's death in July 1307.
# 1318-1327 Eleanor of Woodstock (1318-1355), daughter of Edward II of England and wife of Reinoud II, Count of Guelders
# 1332-1377 Isabella de Coucy (1332-1379 or 1382), daughter of Edward III of England and wife of Enguerrand VII, Lord of Coucy
# 1399-1409 Blanche of England (1392-1409), daughter of Henry IV of England and wife of Louis, son of King Rupert of Germany
# 1409-1413 Philippa of England (1394-1430), daughter of Henry IV of England and wife of Eric of Pomerania, King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. As her sister had died during their father's reign, she became the eldest daughter of the king then living.
# 1466-1483 Elizabeth of York (1466-1503), daughter of Edward IV of England and wife of Henry VII of England, heiress presumptive 1466-1470
# 1485-1509 Margaret Tudor (1489-1541), daughter of Henry VII of England and wife of King James IV of Scotland, heiress presumptive 1509-1511, 1511-1516
# 1516-1547 (but declared illegitimate 1533) Mary (1516-1558), daughter of Henry VIII of England and wife of Philip II of Spain, heiress presumptive 1516-1534 and 1547-1553, and later Queen of England and Ireland in her own right as Mary I 1553-1558
# 1603-1625 Elizabeth of Bohemia (1596-1662), daughter of James I of England and wife of Frederick V, Elector Palatine, heiress presumptive 1625-1630
# 1685-1689 Mary (1662-1694), daughter of James II of England and wife of William III of Orange, heiress presumptive 1685-1688, later Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland in her own right as Mary II 1689-1694
# 1714-1727 Sophia Dorothea of Hanover (1687-1757), daughter of George I of Great Britain and wife of Frederick William I of Prussia; she had already become Queen in Prussia before her father became King
# 1936-1952 Elizabeth (1926-present), daughter of George VI of the United Kingdom and wife of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, heiress presumptive 1936-1952 and later Queen of the United Kingdom in her own right as Elizabeth II, 1952 to present

References